My new 36G bowfront is cycled, stocked, and doing well~

[turbokev]

I'm happy to report that the new 36 gallon tank is up and running great. It took about 4 weeks to cycle with 2 Plecos and 10 Harlequin Tetras living in it while it did that. I used some of the filter media from my old tank when I set up the new Fluval 304 and I think that helped to establish the bacteria colonies quickly. I did several partial water changes over the first 4 weeks and now, on week 6, everything is testing great and the fish are doing well. I added 5 more last night..here's the setup:

Acrylic 36 G bowfront, 30w x 21h
Fluval 304
2mm black substrate
large African rootwood
Slate cave/rock area
1 bubble tower

Fish:

(2) 4" L333 Goldline Tiger Plecos
(1) 2" L187b stripped "Widemouth" Bulldog Pleco (Chaetostoma Thomasi)
(1) 4" Khuli Loach
(10) Harlequin Tetras
(4) Dwarf Gouramis (2 blue, 2 red)

Here are a few pictures~














I havn't been able to get a picture of the bulldog yet..he's still young, 2" tops. This is what he looks like though~




Well, just wanted to share.. back to watching them ;)

[Crazie.Eddie]

Cool tank. Love the bowfront.

Word of warning. The tank is overstocked. The general rule is 1" of fish per 1 gallon, which pertains to fishes that are about 3"-4". Larger fish require more space. You can probably read my other replies regarding overstocking tanks on another thread. I don't want to repeat myself here. The filter might not be able to handle the heavy load. Basically, more water changes would be required. Otherwise, add another filter.

[turbokev]

Ed,

I did read other posts by you on this subject. but I feel I'm within reason..

My filter is a Fluval 304..good for a 70 gallon tank and Ive got half that. I think this overkill on the filter will take care of the number of fish in the tank.. The harlequins are all 1 inch long and I don't expect that they'll get any larger. The Gouramis are dwarfs and are unlikely to reach 4"..so I calculated them at 3.5 each. The bioload the Khuli Loach puts on the tank is much less than a typical 4" fish..

I figured it like this (using maximum size)

9 inches for the 2 L333 plecos
4 inches for the 1 L187 pleco
10 for the 10 Harlequin Tetras
14 inches for the 4 Gouramis
2 inches for the 4 inch Khuli

39 inches total.. yes, slightly over the general rule. However I think the larger surface area due to the bowfront and the filter that's twice as much as I 'need' will make living conditions just fine for the tank. Of course, time will tell..I test the water every 3 days and will do partial water changes as needed.