What did you do with your tank(s) today?

DMD123

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Been looking at fish for the bowfront and have to remind myself its only 46 gallons! I know I want to keep my female marble angel because of her looks and personality. I have a female 3 spot and red flame gourami that will go in there. A group of 7 monk tetra, active and peaceful but not the most colorful. Those are all for sure.

Here is my dilemma, the clean up crew. I have a male and female albino BN and my glass on the 65B is spotless so I assume they would do well in the 46. But then it will have live plants and I thought SAE would help keep them clean along with the black beard algae the pops up on the spiderwood but having a school of these seems too much for only 46 gallons, Ive heard of them being kept solo but not sure. I decided no Raphael cats since they hide all day, so not coming over from the 65B. I want active cats like a solo hoplo or a group of cory cats. Now the bottom of the tank is getting very full, and quickly!

Would appreciate thoughts from you guys an a active and effective clean up crew for this tank. Can a solo SAE work? 2 BN pleco worth it? Other fish that might work, in algae clean capacity?
 

lloyd378

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I picked up two from AP, healthy and happy and they do spend a ton of time together and are a lot of fun to watch
 

sir_keith

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SAE's are the best algae eaters out there. They don't get as big as all the claims, and 3-4 SAE's in a 46 would be fine. I have groups of 6-7 in 55s, with no issues. People do keep solo SAE's, but personally I would never keep a schooling fish as a solo specimen; it's just too sad.
 

DMD123

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Ive seen a ton of posts on MFK that say they have had 5” SAE’s. Of course without pics Im guessing some of those may actually have been CAE that do get quite sizeable and aggressive. I saw a bunch of SAE at AP today so I know I can get them locally. I kind of like the reticulated SAE but would have to place an order for those. Would not be to big a deal except I still need to rehome some fish before I place any orders.
 

sir_keith

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Apparently you need a monster tank with abundant circulation to grow SAE's that big. The pic I posted earlier shows a group of 6 SAE's that I've kept in a 125 (with an FX-6, an Eheim 2217, and two AC110's) for about 5 years, and they are all ~2.5"TL. Similar groups of the same age in other 100+ gallon tanks are about the same size, and all these tanks get fed 2x daily, so I really don't think you need to worry about them outgrowing your 46. But if you believe what is posted online, the reticulated SAE's do not get as large as the SAE's, and if you don't like them, I'll take them. :)
 

fishguy1978

Legendary Member
I have a solo SAE due to the other jumping ship. I have kept multiples of them in the past in various size tanks. They are great for keeping hair algae in check. I like pairing them with BNP for a more complete algea offense package. They aren't super aggressive but enough to hold their own. If you need more BNP let me know.
 

DMD123

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The centerpiece wood does get a black hair algae on it so an SAE would be a good choice. Ive heard mollies will eat that too?

@fishguy1978, appreciate the BNP offer but Ive got two albinos from you that are doing great. Plus I still have the big male in the 90
 

Jexnell

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Today is water change day/filter clean. Both 125s have 2x AC110's. So each water change one of the ACs gets the sponge cleaned.
Caspers tank
20210302_094430.jpg
He gets fin level water changes.
The Nanolutae tank 20210302_111817.jpg
They get 75% water changes.
 

DMD123

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Lots of water changes today. All 7 tanks in fact, so Im tired! lol

@lloyd378 stoped by and picked up a few plants, a couple of the Anubias Hastfolia from my Buce plant order a while back, also some of the Java fern I had recently propagated.
 

lloyd378

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And they look good in my planted tank... which is starting to look like a jungle.

though I will admit that dmd’s tank looked amazing with all of the same or very similar looking plants .

I’ll post up a video a little later
 

DMD123

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And they look good in my planted tank... which is starting to look like a jungle.

though I will admit that dmd’s tank looked amazing with all of the same or very similar looking plants .

I’ll post up a video a little later
Thanks, been months of prep... Obtaining the centerpiece wood, researching plants and fish, getting it ready for this application! Anyway here it is with sand.
IMG_20210303_133541083.jpg
Just a super simple layout. Will move fish in after a bit of quarantine time. I did decide to increase my monk tetras from 7 to 9. They are peaceful, active and swim in the upper area in a nice tight school so a couple more wouldn't hurt. Might even take it to 11...
 

DMD123

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Went to Petco and got 4 Monk tetras to add to my school. They were buy 3 get 1 free so now my school will be up to 11. This should look super active. Stopped by Petsmart too, got 3 red wag platies. These are very noticeable in the 46 bowfront just due to the red color. I think its going to be a great fish too for activity.
 

lloyd378

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Cleaned all the garage tanks today ( gravel vac and 40% water change ( since I skipped a week).... I got too excited to show you all, so I shot this video prior to cleaning the glass off.... I figure you’ll be able to get the gist of it

 

DMD123

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Ive never kept cory cats before, are they always so hyper? lol

They calmed down after eating some frozen brine shrimp but was glass surfing soon afterward.
 

fishguy1978

Legendary Member
Picked up the microworms culture last night. I traded some susswassertang for a deli container portion. I checked the culture this morning and the sides and lid were covered. Definitely time to divide into multiple containers. Fed some to the Redhead tapajo fry and the juvenile multies. The Sumbu dwarves didn't appear interested.
 
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