Need feedback on this 120-gallon tank

Hey guys! I've rescaped this tank once a year since I bought it in 2020, not because of anything major, just cause I can't seem to find a look that brings the whole living space together. I've added a picture of what it looks like right now. It's stocked with black and regular neon tetras and a handful of female golden dwarf cichlids.

I'm redoing the whole thing again and would like all your feedback for what I have planned.

I'll be giving the fish back to the local fish store that I bought them from, tearing down all the hardscape and replacing it with new stumps and roots from the woods around my house (that's where I got the current ones), and keeping all of the plants.

I'm using a Fluval FX4 right now but hate the look and performance of it, so I'm putting it on FB market place and buying two UNS Delta 120 filters.

I'm planting mostly epiphytic plants and some crypt species.

For stocking I want to keep Asian species since I've really only kept south american fish. This is what I'm thinking:

• Celestial pearl danios
• Kuhli loaches
• Sparkling gouramis
• Chili rasboras and/or harlequin rasboras
• Dwarf chain loach
• Amano and cherry shrimp

The water chemistry from the well is perfect, I'll just have to raise the hardness a little bit for the shrimp.

Based on my research, these fish should all get along, but I don't have any experience with them. I've heard the celestial pearl danios like slow-moving water but how "slow" do they mean?

I have a heater so I can keep them at the temperatures they need.

Love to hear what you guys think, sorry for such a long post.

I think you need to post some more pics!

Why such small fish for a big tank?

Ceez said:

I think you need to post some more pics!

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I'll post some more when I get back home to the states. I've been out of country for the last month and that was the most recent picture

Naughts said:

Why such small fish for a big tank?

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I've always liked watching the behavior of fish in large schools. I've thought about trying out a larger species at some point - what species would you keep in this tank?

The Aquarium Home said:

I've always liked watching the behavior of fish in large schools. I've thought about trying out a larger species at some point - what species would you keep in this tank?

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I agree that shoaling fish look amazing in big groups and if it were my tank I would be definitely aiming for that aesthetic.

But in 120 gallon (what are the dimensions?) you will have probably have large wood/rock pieces and large plants. If you have tiny fish like chilli rasbora and CPD they could ‘disappear’ in the scape, especially with timid fish like CPD. Cherry shrimp too. You also limit tank mates as these are bite size fish/shrimp for anything upwards of 3” or so.

The Aquarium Home said:

The water chemistry from the well is perfect, I'll just have to raise the hardness a little bit for the shrimp.

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What are the parameters? How much flow will there be?

Naughts said:

I agree that shoaling fish look amazing in big groups and if it were my tank I would be definitely aiming for that aesthetic.

But in 120 gallon (what are the dimensions?) you will have probably have large wood/rock pieces and large plants. If you have tiny fish like chilli rasbora and CPD they could ‘disappear’ in the scape, especially with timid fish like CPD. Cherry shrimp too. You also limit tank mates as these are bite size fish/shrimp for anything upwards of 3” or so.


What are the parameters? How much flow will there be?

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Dimensions of the tank are 48" L, 24" W, 24"H.

I've attached sketches of what I'm thinking for what I want the tank to look like. I'm planting with java fern species, abubias species, crypt parva, java moss, bolbitis, and maybe a valisneria species - I haven't decided yet.

And I completely agree about the fish "disappearing," especially the shy species. I was thinking if the shoals are large enough (maybe upwards of 10 for each), that they' be comfortable. To be honest I wasn't planning on keeping anything larger than 3 inches in here besides the loaches, unless you have a cool species you would suggest.

In terms of flow, whatever works for the fish. I'll be running 2 UNS Delta 120s with adjustable flow.

The first thing I would do is put a picture on the back of the tank. If you want fish that aren't black to stand out, then use a black background. If you like plants then use a planted background. If you want black fish, use a blue or green background.

You could grow Vallis, Ambulia or Hygrophila polysperma along the back.

The driftwood is too big for the tank. If you put it near the back it might be better because the front would be open for the fish to swim around and the wood and plants would create a backdrop for them. Otherwise small bits of wood (one in each back corner) might work better. It all depends on what you want from the tank. Do you want a heavily planted aquarium or an open tank with bigger visual fish?

A couple of groups (consisting of 10-20) of small fish might show off better than 3 or 4 groups of 6 small fish.

Colin_T said:

The first thing I would do is put a picture on the back of the tank. If you want fish that aren't black to stand out, then use a black background. If you like plants then use a planted background. If you want black fish, use a blue or green background.

You could grow Vallis, Ambulia or Hygrophila polysperma along the back.

The driftwood is too big for the tank. If you put it near the back it might be better because the front would be open for the fish to swim around and the wood and plants would create a backdrop for them. Otherwise small bits of wood (one in each back corner) might work better. It all depends on what you want from the tank. Do you want a heavily planted aquarium or an open tank with bigger visual fish?

A couple of groups (consisting of 10-20) of small fish might show off better than 3 or 4 groups of 6 small fish.

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I'm going with a fairly heavily planted tank, but the front half-ish of the aquarium will be open for the fish. I haven't completely decided on the wood yet. I live in the country so I have tons of access to oak trees outside. I've considered getting black backgrounds for the back - where can you get those from?

Aquarium backings can be bought from any pet shop or online (ebay). You can also use a plastic bin liner, piece of material or black card. It just gets taped to the back on the outside of the tank. Some people even paint the back but you need the tank empty and outdoors when you do that so not recommended for an aquarium that is already set up.

I bought a black vinyl backing on Amazon that came with glue on one side. I just peeled off the paper covering the glue side and stuck the vinyl backing onto a 4 foot long tank. The vinyl was thick so it added some insulation.

I hate when people say the water is perfect rather than actually report what the water contain (gh/kh/tds/whatever); btw water is never perfect it is just sometime better than other times.

A couple of comments:
Don't be shocked if those loaches hunt down the shrimps and they are small enough they can probably find them no matter where they hide.

There is no species of fish called 'golden dwarf cichild'; are these goldeneye dwarf cichild; some random species of dwarf cichild that is golden or something totally different (hopefully they are not yellow labs which require hard water which is not very compatible with the softwater fishes you have).

Personally, in a large tank, I like a mix of big and small fish. If I were doing a 125 gallon, planted tank with a Southeast Asia theme, I'd do:
10 Pearl gourami
40-50 harlequin or espei rasbora
20 dwarf chain loaches
20+ amano shrimp
20 kuhli loaches.
Or maybe skip all the loaches and get a school of two-spot catfish (Mystus bimaculatus)
That's what I'd do.

Colin_T said:

The driftwood is too big for the tank. If you put it near the back it might be better because the front would be open for the fish to swim around and the wood and plants would create a backdrop for them. Otherwise small bits of wood (one in each back corner) might work better. It all depends on what you want from the tank. Do you want a heavily planted aquarium or an open tank with bigger visual fish?

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Don't listen to Colin. Huge driftwood pieces are wonderful. But he's right about fewer species but bigger schools. In a tank this size, you could have some stunningly big schools.

anewbie said:

I hate when people say the water is perfect rather than actually report what the water contain (gh/kh/tds/whatever); btw water is never perfect it is just sometime better than other times.

A couple of comments:
Don't be shocked if those loaches hunt down the shrimps and they are small enough they can probably find them no matter where they hide.

There is no species of fish called 'golden dwarf cichild'; are these goldeneye dwarf cichild; some random species of dwarf cichild that is golden or something totally different (hopefully they are not yellow labs which require hard water which is not very compatible with the softwater fishes you have).

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Sorry, I should've been more specific:

• GH: 2dGH
• KH: 1dKH
• pH: 6.5
• TDS (if you need it): 65ppm
• temp: 78F

Thanks for the headsup about the loaches - didn't know they'd go after shrimp like that.

And golden dwarf cichlid (nanacarra anomala) is a species from Suriname. They just might not be a very popular species, but I like the blues and golds on the male's sides.