Advice Needed Please :)

Hiya guys, just looking for some advice really so here go's
I have a juwel rio 300 which is a 350 ltr tank and so far stocked with 12 black widow tetras, 7 yellow tetras, 10 corys a mixture of pepper, albinio and bronze, 5 guppys and a red tailed shark.
The tank is planted with a 48" package from plants alive, some of the plants have died and some are doing ok. I have added plants alive gro tabs and liquid flora boost. The substrate is very small 3mm dorset pea gravel.

I have been doing regular testing and the water quality is fine, i have also been doing weekly water changes.
So anyway what i would like advice about is:

Plants, if anybody has any ideas of plants that would do well in my tank without a co2 system, or advice about a suitable co2 sytem that wont break the bank.
I have also noticed im starting to get quite a bit of what i think is thread algae, do i need to do anything with this? will it overgrow everything?

Stocking, i need to add more colour to the tank as although i like what i have it just looks a bit dull and needs something that stands out. I have been thinking about a shoal of cardinal tetras and maybe a couple of feature fish.

The tank has been running for about6 months, 4 months with fish and plants in.

I'm not really good at putting what i want to say into words so i hope this comes accross ok. Thanks for your time and i look forward to hearing back from you all, thanks jim

Have you thought about going down the diy co2 route, on your size it would mean multiple bottles but it makes such a difference on the plants, as for stocking I love the pencil rasboras they are great charachters in a shoal and so peaceful.

There's no way you'd get stable CO2 on a tank that size wih DIY yeast; you'd be asking for black brush algae! I'd either go pressurised (fire extinguisher, regulator, diffusor etc) or non-CO2 with plants like cryptocoryne, anubias, Java fern, mosses. The growth wil be slower without Co2 but more manageable. You could go liquid carbon but unless you're made of money a tank that size would be expensive. It's really up to you, though you may get more responses in the planted section further down. If you could post a pic of the algae it would be helpful as they can have different causes and methods of eradication.

They look like a nice fish, they are just a very similar colour to what i have.
The DIY co2 might be worth looking into as long as i dont have coke bottles all over the house lol,, i was thinking of one of these
http/tmc-ltd.co.uk/planted-tank/aquagro-sets.asp
but i think you can only use them in aquariums upto 150 ltrs

myrtle said:

There's no way you'd get stable CO2 on a tank that size wih DIY yeast; you'd be asking for black brush algae! I'd either go pressurised (fire extinguisher, regulator, diffusor etc) or non-CO2 with plants like cryptocoryne, anubias, Java fern, mosses. The growth wil be slower without Co2 but more manageable. You could go liquid carbon but unless you're made of money a tank that size would be expensive. It's really up to you, though you may get more responses in the planted section further down. If you could post a pic of the algae it would be helpful as they can have different causes and methods of eradication.

Click to expand...

i think im going to have to find out what type of plants i can grow without co2, so if anybody has anymore suggestions i would be greatful, thanks for for yours myrtle

Just thought i would TRY and add a few pics lol

another, it will only let me do one per post

the tank is higher a the back so it has two levels

another lol

and heres a pic of the algae, hope everybody likes, look forward to hearing your comments

how about cardinals or rasboras? I think it's better to go to the lfs and see what they offer, since most of us are at the mercy of lfs when it comes to stocking a tank

what are rasboras?
i will probably know what they are when i see them lol

http/www.google.com/images?hl=&q=rasbora&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGLL_enUS402US402&ie=UTF-8&biw=1280&bih=609

http/www.fishlore.com/profile-harlequinrasbora.htm

i really like the galaxy rasbora, that looks a lovely fish but i can't say that i have seen any in the shops

just looking at the pics again and you really do have to look hard to see the fish, it really does need some fish that stand out

i have just realised my lemon tetras are actually xray tetras lol anyway i have increased their numbers up to 12.
so what does everybody think of the set up so far? any ideas greatfully excepted

I like the layout in your tank and the background is great!
I have the same tank which is cycling at the moment but i have gone for artificial plants as it is my first big tank.
I have put bog and mopani wood but it is a deep tank.

Therefore i am going to put a shoal Melanotaenia boesemani - Boeseman's rainbowfish in first as they will use the height of the tank.
Still scratching my head for other ideas but thinking about some Mikrogeophagus altispinosus - Bolivian Rams as well.
Using below sites to help me decide:

http/www.aquariumlife.net/fishprof.asp

http/www.seriouslyfish.com/kb.php

http/www.badmanstropicalfish.com/species-gallery/gallery_main.html

The plants look great in there, hope you can keep them going.