You are suffering with the very common and incurable Fishkeeps' Dilemma.
Setting up my second loach tank.
- Thread starter MultipleTankSyndrome
- Start date
You are suffering with the very common and incurable Fishkeeps' Dilemma.
Whilst I see the draw of roselines I find them an interesting choice as “a dither fish” which is meant to calm other occupants. Roselines by nature charge around the tank much of the time, like Rohini or filament barbs, they do not give other occupants the feeling of security like true dither fish do which are out and about slowly doing their business unless a predator is around at which point they go into a form of hiding.
I will be interested to hear how roselines work for this purpose.
Personally I would not be too concerned about 9 Odessa barbs pushing the stocking of the second tank up for a few months to grow them on before swapping them over and would probably go with that option albeit never kept Odessa’s with neons before so don’t know how that will go either.
Of course you could always increase filtration for a few months even just adding an air driven filter in a corner if you are really concerned on stocking.
Also like the idea of a garden tub but not all folks have the outdoor space for that or the weather.
Unfortunately
Midwater
is correct and this kind of dilemma doesn’t go away when you run 20 tanks or Over 5000 litres of tank water space and a further 5000 litres of tropical pond, believe me, it just gets worse!!!
I will be interested to hear how roselines work for this purpose.
Personally I would not be too concerned about 9 Odessa barbs pushing the stocking of the second tank up for a few months to grow them on before swapping them over and would probably go with that option albeit never kept Odessa’s with neons before so don’t know how that will go either.
Of course you could always increase filtration for a few months even just adding an air driven filter in a corner if you are really concerned on stocking.
Also like the idea of a garden tub but not all folks have the outdoor space for that or the weather.
Unfortunately
Midwater
is correct and this kind of dilemma doesn’t go away when you run 20 tanks or Over 5000 litres of tank water space and a further 5000 litres of tropical pond, believe me, it just gets worse!!!Thanks to all for the ideas. After talking to my cousin, it looks like they'll be grown out in the 110 liter, just with extra maintenance (like I have been doing with the black kuhli loaches before they can go in this tank).
I'll keep a log on their growth in this thread.
Oh well. This dilemma was easily enough solved.
I hope it's the worst I encounter from here on! Having encountered very bad ones in the past (which do of course get worse and have no cure!), I know what it's like.
On the topic of roseline sharks as dither fish: Yes, I will absolutely keep tabs in this thread on how well they work.
Funny enough, the old 795 liter display tank that the pet store used to have had a mix of roselines and filament barbs. I never once saw any charge around, in fact they calmly went about their business like true dither fish would. And I can see how just calmly doing business will give loaches more security instead of charging around.
What happens with my roselines seems like it will be well worth keeping those tabs on.
I'll keep a log on their growth in this thread.
Oh well. This dilemma was easily enough solved.
I hope it's the worst I encounter from here on! Having encountered very bad ones in the past (which do of course get worse and have no cure!), I know what it's like.
On the topic of roseline sharks as dither fish: Yes, I will absolutely keep tabs in this thread on how well they work.
Funny enough, the old 795 liter display tank that the pet store used to have had a mix of roselines and filament barbs. I never once saw any charge around, in fact they calmly went about their business like true dither fish would. And I can see how just calmly doing business will give loaches more security instead of charging around.
What happens with my roselines seems like it will be well worth keeping those tabs on.
Last edited:
I'm curious how you came to choose Odessa Barbs and Roseline Sharks for this tank. I've had about a dozen Odessas in a community tank with a couple species of Gymnogeophagus, a couple species of Goodeid livebearers, a handful of Scleromystax barbatus cats and a few others; all these fish were chosen as well-suited to a seasonal drop in temperature during winter, when the tank drops down into the 60F range for a few months. I don't have any Roselines, but only recently learned that they too would be candidates for that seasonal temp variation, and since I find them extremely attractive I may someday get a group of them as well if they ever show up locally.
The Odessas display some red colour all year, even in the cool-off time...and when temps heat up in the summer the males are real show-stoppers as they colour up much further. I always wanted to try this species, but now, after less than 2 years with them...meh. I'm certainly going to keep them for their remaining years, but likely won't bother trying to breed them, unless it's just by tossing them into a stocktank outside for the summer and letting nature take its course. Maybe the Roselines will be more exciting...time will tell...
Did you choose these species with an eye towards their somewhat non-typical temperature preferences/tolerances?
Edited to add: I've heard by word of mouth that I may have metric Odessas, who are so busy doing volumetric and temperature conversions in their heads that their normal sparkling behaviour is negatively impacted. If I get any Roselines I will be sure to confirm that they are imperial fish that don't need to worry and will be comfortable in my gallons//Fahrenheit tanks. Something to think about for you!
The Odessas display some red colour all year, even in the cool-off time...and when temps heat up in the summer the males are real show-stoppers as they colour up much further. I always wanted to try this species, but now, after less than 2 years with them...meh. I'm certainly going to keep them for their remaining years, but likely won't bother trying to breed them, unless it's just by tossing them into a stocktank outside for the summer and letting nature take its course. Maybe the Roselines will be more exciting...time will tell...
Did you choose these species with an eye towards their somewhat non-typical temperature preferences/tolerances?
Edited to add: I've heard by word of mouth that I may have metric Odessas, who are so busy doing volumetric and temperature conversions in their heads that their normal sparkling behaviour is negatively impacted. If I get any Roselines I will be sure to confirm that they are imperial fish that don't need to worry and will be comfortable in my gallons//Fahrenheit tanks. Something to think about for you!
I didn't, I chose based on color and activity level. But it seems that those non-typical temperature preferences/tolerances are a pretty fortunate bonus, considering that the loaches (the tank's main focus) also do best in slightly cool temperatures of the 21-26 degree range!
Thanks for cracking one of your JJJokes by the way! ?
This thread needed some humor and you delivered magnificently.
Thought I might ask here since I haven't heard of many other people doing it. Is there anyone still active who has (or will have) a tank with the same flow setup as this one to keep riverine and still water species together?
That concept has always been interesting to me, but it seems so rarely done. I wonder why?
That concept has always been interesting to me, but it seems so rarely done. I wonder why?
I think it's actually done all the time, but perhaps not with the express intention of simulating a riverine environment. Plenty of folks use powerheads or wavemakers to direct water this way or that way, often for purposes of preventing dead spots where debris would accumulate. It's common to play with these devices, getting the orientation and aim just right to assist one's filter or sump overflow to capture waste and debris rather than just letting it sit somewhere out of the current. The fact that a riverine environment is being created is, for many or most users, strictly coincidental.
Here's a link to a gizmo you might want to look at:
This thing seems too good to be true! I finally ordered a couple to try out and was reminded of this thread while doing so. A concern of mine is that it is marketed, and perhaps best suited, for a marine tank, where it would mimic the constantly changing surge of currents in and around a reef environment, rather than a river environment where the flow directions are much more "fixed" and less variable. I think that, regardless of the currents it creates, there will always be a number of low-flow rest points in just about any scape and so it should work out nicely...or at least I hope so.
Whatever...I plan on trying the idea out and thought you might be interested as well.
Here's a link to a gizmo you might want to look at:
This thing seems too good to be true! I finally ordered a couple to try out and was reminded of this thread while doing so. A concern of mine is that it is marketed, and perhaps best suited, for a marine tank, where it would mimic the constantly changing surge of currents in and around a reef environment, rather than a river environment where the flow directions are much more "fixed" and less variable. I think that, regardless of the currents it creates, there will always be a number of low-flow rest points in just about any scape and so it should work out nicely...or at least I hope so.
Whatever...I plan on trying the idea out and thought you might be interested as well.
I find the concept absolutely ludicrous.
A random flow generator with no moving parts. Which then goes on to say pre-configured flow kits for just about every……….
Surely the concept of randomness is exactly that, how can random flow be created with pre configured parts. All I see is producing still fixed but not one directional flow, which is essentially what we all do in multiple different ways, using multiple sources. To be random the direction would have to be constantly changing, the amount of flow would have to be constantly changing, etc, etc. not sure fitting a pre shaped nozzle to a fixed flow one directional power head would produce anything like random flow but happy to be proven wrong.
Of course, all irrelevant as not sure I would want a tank with random flow anyway, even a marine one. We all need to have some uniformity and some expected outcome/ behaviours and our fish do too. They need to know where the quiet areas of the tank are, and where they are going to remain.
Too much flow all over, randomly or not, will not be beneficial to the occupants.
I personally use the Jabao 6000 on my 66x22x24” community setup with angels, yo-yo loach, plecs, hoplos, synodontis and a gar along with an 1800 l/hr power head. Intakes are on the left, returns are on the right. This gives good strong flow which is mainly one directional but due to the decor and to some extent the fish, the flow becomes “mixed”. It’s not meant to be riverine but has strong areas and calm areas and even the angels and gar seem “happy” (ooo there’s that observational term again).
It’s not “the same” flow setup but what are the chances of ever having the same. Even with the same size tank, the same pumps the same decor, the same fish, you will only ever have similar setups, “the same” cannot be achieved.
A random flow generator with no moving parts. Which then goes on to say pre-configured flow kits for just about every……….
Surely the concept of randomness is exactly that, how can random flow be created with pre configured parts. All I see is producing still fixed but not one directional flow, which is essentially what we all do in multiple different ways, using multiple sources. To be random the direction would have to be constantly changing, the amount of flow would have to be constantly changing, etc, etc. not sure fitting a pre shaped nozzle to a fixed flow one directional power head would produce anything like random flow but happy to be proven wrong.
Of course, all irrelevant as not sure I would want a tank with random flow anyway, even a marine one. We all need to have some uniformity and some expected outcome/ behaviours and our fish do too. They need to know where the quiet areas of the tank are, and where they are going to remain.
Too much flow all over, randomly or not, will not be beneficial to the occupants.
I personally use the Jabao 6000 on my 66x22x24” community setup with angels, yo-yo loach, plecs, hoplos, synodontis and a gar along with an 1800 l/hr power head. Intakes are on the left, returns are on the right. This gives good strong flow which is mainly one directional but due to the decor and to some extent the fish, the flow becomes “mixed”. It’s not meant to be riverine but has strong areas and calm areas and even the angels and gar seem “happy” (ooo there’s that observational term again).
It’s not “the same” flow setup but what are the chances of ever having the same. Even with the same size tank, the same pumps the same decor, the same fish, you will only ever have similar setups, “the same” cannot be achieved.
Lol, don't beat around the bush! What do you really think?
Frankly, I don't understand how the thing works either, or if it works at all. The mailorder shop with whom I have dealt in the past with complete satisfaction seems to think it does what it claims. If all it does is produce 3 or 4 different directions of flow, bouncing around between them at random...or even in a repeating set pattern!...I think it might have merit. I already use the Loc-Line product in a couple of tanks, because I like the ease with which I can change flow direction; this will apparently just snap right on, so for about $30 I will give it a try.
It's certainly not going to turn my tanks into dishwashers. I have only so many GPH available, which I can now direct in only one way at a time...actually two ways, since I have a splitter and two separate nozzles in those tanks. There will still be quiet spots for the fish to avoid flow when they wish.
I rarely buy anything for aquarium use unless I cannot make it myself...such as tanks, sumps, etc. This is a product that I cannot duplicate myself, so I am actually prying my wallet open, releasing a few moths and spending a bit of cash to try it out...don't harsh my mellow!
Apologies, I think for what you/ we want or rather need in a tank it could be ideal. It’s their marketing I don’t agree with. We don’t want random, we want fixed mixed, and for that it could be ideal. Please keep us informed.
