Inspired by Martin Thoene's excellent write up on how he set his up: https://www.loaches.com/articles/my-clown-loach-aquarium
In this thread will be the following, as listed here:
-The backstory of how the tank came to be.
-A 'before' picture of the (as-is unsuitable for loaches) tank (will come later today).
-An 'after' picture, when the tank's issues are fixed (will come in the next few weeks).
-A 'ready-for-fish' picture with the water, decor, etc (don't expect this until July-August 2022).
-Pictures of the new fish (don't expect this until July-August 2022).
-Pictures of the fish settled in (don't expect this until July-September 2022).
The backstory:
A good time had finally come to upgrade my existing clown loaches and their tankmates out of their growout and into a permanent 473 liter tank. Naturally, I was wanting some more fish with a bigger tank, but was not aware of AqAdvisor and the like at the time so had to go to the local aquarium store to ask.
Looking back on it, it's very unsurprising that 6 zebra loaches, 6 yoyo loaches, 6 Burmese loaches, 3 weather loaches, 6 roseline sharks, and a red tailed shark would overstock a 473 liter if they were kept with my clown loaches and tankmates, although at the time I left the store somewhat dejected (but undeterred).
When the plans were layed out and it came time to go on the hunt for a 473 liter tank, I was very.....enthusiastic with replying to ads.
So much so that, long story short, I ended up applying to multiple and was unable to back out of them all, leaving me with the purchase of 2 tanks. My cousin who lives with me was not at all happy about having a pair of 473 liter tanks (he wasn't even particularly happy about having 1), so he was absolutely shocked when I ended up having to bring both home and insisted upon selling the 2nd one.
He was very insistent that I shouldn't have jumped at so many ads, and I jokingly implied that maybe I should have all the other loaches and sharks that I wanted in it. Little did I know how things would become.....
For some time beforehand, however, my cousin wanted me to go on an international vacation with him. I am not very interested in international vacations plus I had lost fish to a vacation before and didn't want it to happen again, so I couldn't think of much to make a deal with.
We eventually decided on a 1 week international vacation with him being enough for me to keep a 2nd 473 liter, although he wanted to sell the 1st one because he did not like the stand and neither of us had much experience. It was a deal (and this vacation is why you won't be seeing the fish until July-August 2022, I'm not getting them until after I return to prevent hiccups from killing them).
As time passed, the aquarium would not sell. My cousin noticed this, and came to agree with my occasional proposals between then and now that we should just keep the tank instead of sell it and get a new one, having done research on how to convert salt to fresh.
And that's how it came to be that I have a pair of 473 liter tanks. Stay tuned for images.
In this thread will be the following, as listed here:
-The backstory of how the tank came to be.
-A 'before' picture of the (as-is unsuitable for loaches) tank (will come later today).
-An 'after' picture, when the tank's issues are fixed (will come in the next few weeks).
-A 'ready-for-fish' picture with the water, decor, etc (don't expect this until July-August 2022).
-Pictures of the new fish (don't expect this until July-August 2022).
-Pictures of the fish settled in (don't expect this until July-September 2022).
The backstory:
A good time had finally come to upgrade my existing clown loaches and their tankmates out of their growout and into a permanent 473 liter tank. Naturally, I was wanting some more fish with a bigger tank, but was not aware of AqAdvisor and the like at the time so had to go to the local aquarium store to ask.
Looking back on it, it's very unsurprising that 6 zebra loaches, 6 yoyo loaches, 6 Burmese loaches, 3 weather loaches, 6 roseline sharks, and a red tailed shark would overstock a 473 liter if they were kept with my clown loaches and tankmates, although at the time I left the store somewhat dejected (but undeterred).
When the plans were layed out and it came time to go on the hunt for a 473 liter tank, I was very.....enthusiastic with replying to ads.
So much so that, long story short, I ended up applying to multiple and was unable to back out of them all, leaving me with the purchase of 2 tanks. My cousin who lives with me was not at all happy about having a pair of 473 liter tanks (he wasn't even particularly happy about having 1), so he was absolutely shocked when I ended up having to bring both home and insisted upon selling the 2nd one.
He was very insistent that I shouldn't have jumped at so many ads, and I jokingly implied that maybe I should have all the other loaches and sharks that I wanted in it. Little did I know how things would become.....
For some time beforehand, however, my cousin wanted me to go on an international vacation with him. I am not very interested in international vacations plus I had lost fish to a vacation before and didn't want it to happen again, so I couldn't think of much to make a deal with.
We eventually decided on a 1 week international vacation with him being enough for me to keep a 2nd 473 liter, although he wanted to sell the 1st one because he did not like the stand and neither of us had much experience. It was a deal (and this vacation is why you won't be seeing the fish until July-August 2022, I'm not getting them until after I return to prevent hiccups from killing them).
As time passed, the aquarium would not sell. My cousin noticed this, and came to agree with my occasional proposals between then and now that we should just keep the tank instead of sell it and get a new one, having done research on how to convert salt to fresh.
And that's how it came to be that I have a pair of 473 liter tanks. Stay tuned for images.
