Post by mish on Jul 19, 2004 5:51:18 GMT -5
Hello, advise needed! I am in the (exciting) process of setting up a new 250 litre (55 gallon I think) freshwater community tank. This is out of necessity to find larger lodgings for my BGK. I plan to move across my BGK, the 3 platys and 2 catfish currently in a tank with her (him? sex actually unknown), and to get a second BGK. My query has two elements, basic tank knowhow and BGK specific queries.
Over the weekend I set up the basic tank (gravel, caves, plants) but am struggling with the following:
1. how many plants?
2. how to feed the different fish – my BGK lives off bloodworms which keep her satiated and non aggressive, and the others share her bloodworms supplemented by flakes and algae pills
3. am I correct to feed small amounts twice a day?
4. other suitable community fish - and how many to a tank?
5. How do I go about the weekly gravel cleaning and water changes for a tank this size? Do I still change 20% of total water? And how close to the caves / plants do I use the siphon?
6. should I wait a full 3 weeks for the tank to cycle before I add fish? I have seeded the tank with water siphoned from the gravel of my existing tank
7. should I have more than one thermostat in the tank – the current one seems to leave the tank with a sever temperature gradient! (tank is 1.24m long x 450cm x 450 cm)
Secondly, how to integrate the two BGK. From the forum, it appears that two well fed BGK's of different sizes should be able to co-exist happily if there are sufficient hiding places.
What is sufficient?
What can i use as a large cave for the BGK (she is now about 15 cm long, has outgrown all her rock caves, and a drainpipe seems so impersonal!)
I plan to adda much smaller BGK - should this one be placed in the tank first and allowed to familairise itself with hiding holes before my old lady is added?
Can i vary the BGK diet?
Is it too late to train both BGK to take food by hand?
Any other advice or recommendations would be welcomed
Over the weekend I set up the basic tank (gravel, caves, plants) but am struggling with the following:
1. how many plants?
2. how to feed the different fish – my BGK lives off bloodworms which keep her satiated and non aggressive, and the others share her bloodworms supplemented by flakes and algae pills
3. am I correct to feed small amounts twice a day?
4. other suitable community fish - and how many to a tank?
5. How do I go about the weekly gravel cleaning and water changes for a tank this size? Do I still change 20% of total water? And how close to the caves / plants do I use the siphon?
6. should I wait a full 3 weeks for the tank to cycle before I add fish? I have seeded the tank with water siphoned from the gravel of my existing tank
7. should I have more than one thermostat in the tank – the current one seems to leave the tank with a sever temperature gradient! (tank is 1.24m long x 450cm x 450 cm)
Secondly, how to integrate the two BGK. From the forum, it appears that two well fed BGK's of different sizes should be able to co-exist happily if there are sufficient hiding places.
What is sufficient?
What can i use as a large cave for the BGK (she is now about 15 cm long, has outgrown all her rock caves, and a drainpipe seems so impersonal!)
I plan to adda much smaller BGK - should this one be placed in the tank first and allowed to familairise itself with hiding holes before my old lady is added?
Can i vary the BGK diet?
Is it too late to train both BGK to take food by hand?
Any other advice or recommendations would be welcomed