# 265 tank makeover with quarantine and other questions



## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Hi, I'm in the process of revamping my 265 gallon and making it an all male Hap and Peacock display. The tank has been in existence for about 12 years and was originally intended for this purpose. BUT after dealing with some disease issues and the birth of two children my interest waned and time became scarce. The kids are now 11 and 9 and I'm able to do uninterrupted water changes (well there are still interruptions but not of the diaper changing variety) and my enthusiasm is sky high. The tank definitely suffered from some "old tank syndrome" but I have the parameters almost all the way back to ideal. Fish that have been in the tank since the beginning are 6 Syno Multis and 4 large clown loaches (originally 7). I introduced a group of Yellow Labs that I won at a fish auction back in 2010 that has turned into a colony of 30+ fishes. I will leave the Multis and Clowns but I'm not sure yet if I'll be removing the whole Lab clan or just leaving a small group. If I leave a small group I'm hoping the addition of the Haps and Peacocks will limit the amount of fry that survive. Or I guess I could just keep some male Labs instead.

Ok, here is my main question after that long introduction. I have found an online wholesaler who I will be purchasing my fish from when my tank is ready. They will be young adult males that are 3"- 5" in size. I would like to stock about 30- 35 adults and would prefer to add most of them at one time, maybe two different purchases of 15-16 fish. I have learned the hard way about quarantining fish after having treated this tank for ich and bloat on two different occasions. The last group I quarantined was back in 2010 and consisted of about 8 large peacocks if I remember correctly. I used a 55 gallon with an Eheim 2217 filter that had been on my main tank for a couple months. I remember thinking the fish were kind of cramped in the tank and seemed stressed. I ultimately moved them to the 265, possibly prematurely and had some issues arise that I was never fully able to figure out the cause. I had major flashing issues with all the fish, including the clown loaches. Long story short, I treated for ich, gill flukes, other external and internal parasites with no results. Removed all rocks and sand from the tank at one point, did individual salt dips on all the cichlids and still the flashing and what I would call twitching and spasms occured. The clown loaches eventually stopped rubbing against the filter intakes and the Multis never seemed to be bothered so I really don't know what it was. My thinking after doing searches on this forum and others is that it possibly could be the alkalinity. It's not super low- it measures 9 kh out of the tap and it's 6 kh in the tank right now. I am thinking I would like to slowly bring the kh up to about 11 kh and 18 GH with a pH of 8.2 because that is what the supplier keeps his fish in. I have noticed some flashing from a few of the Yellow Labs but nothing too worrisome at this point but I am definitely paranoid about it now haha. I have a couple 55's and 30's laying around that I could dig up some filters for but need to find enough heaters. It would be kind of a pain to setup that many quarantine tanks but at this point if I'm going to spend this much money on really nice fish I'm not going to take any shortcuts. How many fish of 3-5 inch size in each of those tanks do you think would work? I'm anticipating keeping them in quarantine for at least two weeks. I will also ask the wholesaler his opinion. Appreciate any thoughts, comments or concerns on anything I have written. Thanks, Jim


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the 265G?

I would omit the clown loaches...they are not a great fit with Malawi and are susceptible to ich/itchiness more than the Malawi. After all those treatments, any fish would be itchy.

The KH is not the problem...mine has always been 7 and no problems after 15 years.

I would move the multipunctatus and labs into the 55G.

Then I would stock all at once and treat the 265G as the quarantine tank. Wait three weeks or more.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

DJ, tank dimensions are 84" × 24" × 30". Those treatments weren't done all at once or even back to back. I would try a treatment at the recommended dose and length of time. I would do water changes during treatment as directed and when it was complete I would do major water changes and add carbon to remove all meds. Then I would wait and pray that it worked. This went on over a few years of trying different treatments and methods. It was painstaking really and obviously drained me of my passion for the hobby. I had some nice fish too, especially a 10 inch male F. Rostratus. I understand your reluctance on the Clowns but they have been in the tank since almost the beginning with no negative interactions with any Haps, Peacocks or Mbuna that I have previously kept. I agree 100% that they are very susceptible to Ich so I know that I definitely don't have it in the tank right now because they would be the first to show signs. Curious as to why you recommend moving the Multis and Labs though. Just for space reasons? I really don't want to keep a full time 2nd tank as the only location would be in the basement where I don't spend any time. I had planned on bringing any extra Labs to the local fish store. I also get your point as using the 265 as the quarantine tank, I just hate having to potentially treat it...again. But you have definitely given me some things to think about. I am definitely taking my time with this. Appreciate your input.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Right you need a huge tank for quarantine of new fish so make use of the 265G.

I have NEVER had to treat an illness after quarantine. Should you choose a different vendor?

Move the multipunctatus and labs....and I guess clowns...because they smaller number of fish are the ones you are trying to segregate from any new illnesses. Less fish, smaller tank.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

This would be a different vendor I'm looking at now. His fish look amazing and his prices are competitive. Would it be ok to PM you for your opinion? And just so I understand you think I should pretty much get all the fish I want in one shot, quarantine them in the 265 for three weeks or so and then add back the Multis and Labs if want? Would you say 30 fish is about right?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes to all. I might limit to 24 males, counting the labs. Maybe even less with the clowns, they like to be in groups of six and are 13" fish. It will be hard to get 24 that look different. If you choose fish that mature larger than six inches I would have less fish. Always welcome to send me a PM.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

PM sent. Thanks for your help


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

How are you going to get that many haps and peacocks that look nothing alike? I struggle to get 18. Maybe fill in with breeding groups of labs and acei.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Is it possible to keep 2 or 3 males of some of the more peaceful species? I have seen tanks on here and YouTube that might have multiple Ngara Flametail, Oropharynx Z-Rocks and Star Sapphires for example. Don't know the results long term obviously but I figure it could work in larger tanks. I do like the Acei as well.


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

I believe member SteveC in here has a 240 with multiples of some species and his tank has been going for awhile, pretty heavily stocked too. With an 8ft tank you can look into alot of the larger fish like champsochromis and buccochromis.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Thanks. My tank is actually 7'. Looking to keep fish that aren't quite as big for the most part.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes you can try 3 of each. I've never done it. Have a rehoming plan and extra tanks.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

james1983 said:


> I believe member SteveC in here has a 240 with multiples of some species and his tank has been going for awhile, pretty heavily stocked too. With an 8ft tank you can look into alot of the larger fish like champsochromis and buccochromis.


Yep I have multiples of male haps in my 240g tank. Some are larger ones such as my pair of 8"-10" venustus. Also have pair of good sized male Moorii's as well as some nice sized white knight males, pair of male deep water haps, pair of male livingstonii, and few others where I have more than one of each. My 240g is actually 6ftx30"x24" but it does work even with the heavy stock I have and some of the big boys like the 11" Champsochromis and 10" Fossochromis. Dj's advice is always good advice, I think if you want a tank that won't give you trouble and isn't going to be a lot of work then like he says go with no doubles, don't mix certain ones and such. Now with that said, it doesn't mean that you can't have double and mix some fish together others wouldn't, it just means you may have to be open to rehoming or moving fish if it comes to that.

My 240 has been up and running for about 2 years now. There's a few things that help to make it work. One thing is lots of sight breaks. That works for my tastes anyway because I like a take that is very natural looking so I add things like branches and silk plants and other things to my 240g which not only pleases my eye but all that stuff actually works to make the stock work better together. Also my 3d background I made to stick out as much as 8" in some spots plus has some stalagtites and such which all help line of sight breaks. With so many sight breaks and larger fish most chases don't last more than about 1-2 seconds in my tank. Also over stocking helps. I have lost count but counting all the fish total, I'd say I have around 50 fish.

You can see how I have numerous sigh breaks. Actually hard to tell well from the vid but if you looked in from the side of the tank you'd see a ton of stuff sticking out to break the line of sight- 




With that many fish though you need to keep water quality up so it takes a lot of filtration. I have two FX5's, an Eheim Pro 3, and multiple wavemakers and bubblers all to aggitate the surface. Another thing that helps me is I keep my temp a bit lower than most people. While most guys seem to stay around 78-79f temp I keep my 240g at 74-75f all the time. That is a good temp for them and being a couple degrees lower it helps to keep them from getting all worked up and too aggressive. Sometimes in the heat of the summer when the basement itself gets to 78-80 when the outside temp is smoking hot I actually notice a bit more aggression. So I feel a bit lower temp helps.

With all the things I mentioned above, I have had basically no problems with keeping multiples of males in this tank. But I do have other tanks running as well as guys in my fish club that I can rehome fish to in the event someone just can't get along with a look a like. So if you want to try multiple males it can be done but you just have to tweak a few things as well as have a back up plan like Dj said in case someone needs to be removed and rehomed.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

BTW my acrylic 240g tank is the tank I replaced my big glass tank with. Know what my big glass tank was? 7ft 265 just like yours. Kind'a funny I think you're the first guy I have seen/talked to that had a 7ft 265 like I use too. That is a HEAVVVVY tank I can tell ya that! lol. Took four of us to get that 7ft tank down my stairs :lol:


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Steve, thanks for posting. That tank is very cool and alot of great looking fish. How many Clown Loaches do you have? I have 4 ranging from 6- 9 inches that I would like to keep with the cichlids. I'm running 2 FX-5's and would like to add an Eheim 2260 if I can ever figure out why the pump is leaking. Also, looking to add one of these sponge filters I found online today if they can custom make one. http://www.aquaticasuperstore.com/2018/ ... tenfilter/

Darn right that thing is heavy. I bought it used from someone about two hours away. Took 4 of us to load it into my buddy's pickup. Then I had reinforcements waiting at the house to help. Backed the truck up to the front door, took off both doors and somehow squeezed it in to the living room. Also helped not having the wife there to supervise.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

He is currently the only clown in the tank. I normally have had them in the past in most my tanks in groups of 4-6. But this guy was one that I picked up a couple years ago with some other fish I got and I always intended to get him a few more clown's to go with him, but never got around to it. Eventually I will but it's just one of those things where you mean to do it, but every auction I either forget, or the only clowns there go for too high a bids. Funny thing is he's kind of a rule breaker as well, as everyone says they have to be kept in groups or they will hide and not do well. This guy even being the sole loach is just always active, eats up top with the other fish, and has claimed the round rock in the center of the tank as his own and always sits on top of it and never hides. I've even caught him chasing some of the mbuna at times. I believe he thinks he's a cichlid lol


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Clowns are great. I'm usually able to fit them into almost any type of tank that I'm keeping. Mine have gotten a little more reclusive as they've gotten older. I usually feed them before I turn the lights on or right after i turn them off.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

I do love clowns. I've had them in just about all my tanks in the past as well. When I had a group of 6 of them a few years ago it use to crack me up how they would "click" when I would feed them zucchini lol. Just wish they grew faster. Seems like it takes forever to get one to ever get past 6".


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