Choosing fish

[sylvia]

That should be fine but I'd suggest only 3 guppies to keep stocking to a minnimum. Gouramies like floating plants (silk if necessary) - the khulis would be ok if you added some pvc pipes for tunnels or made them some caves - a clay pot would also work. Also, the bristlenose would appreciate some driftwood in the tank.

 

[DylFunk]

i have some driftwood in there and i might get some bogwood aswell. i'm thinking of doing a DIY project with making some caves. do floating plats get moved around alot by the current from the filter?

 

[sylvia]

They'll usualy clump in areas with less current or in corners etc. That isn't realy a bad thing though as it can look more natural and your gouramies wont find themselves with no gaps to breath if the urface becomes over-grown Alternatively, you can use string to attach the plants to each other or ornaments so they stay in a specific place. There are fake floating plants with suction cups - both to keep them in place and to keep them afloat I just choose larger-leaved varieties and put just a few in so they don't look unnatural if they are moved by the current - or you can try duck-weed

 

[DylFunk]

is duck weed hard to take care of?

 

[sylvia]

nop - it grows like crazy and is impossible to get rid of - great for gourami breeding tank IMO

 

[DylFunk]

so basically just put it in and it grows? i guess if its floating it doesnt have roots right?

 

[jflowers]

Yes you just put it in, long as you have lights, and these dont need much, it will grow. It does have roots, they just hang underneath each plant.

Jon

 

[DylFunk]

yeah thats the only problem, i dont have lights.

 

[sylvia]

If there is a window near by it'll grow

 

[DylFunk]

well the tank is about 10 ft away from a door and our door has a oval shaped glass window so it gets a little bit of sunlight. do you think that will be enough?

 

[sylvia]

I can't say for certain but I have a breeding tank with no lights in my bedroom, on my desk. There is a window near it (across the room) but the amount of light is not that great. Still, the plant grows like mad and I can't ever seem to get rid of it. Duck weed is cheap and easy to find usualy so you might as well give it a try and see what comes of it.

 

[DylFunk]

yeah i think ill give it a try

 

[DylFunk]

so with

6 khulie loaches
7 zebra danios
9 cardinal tetras
1 bristlenose plec
3 guppies

do you think that i would have any more room? i do have an emperor 400 so i have some extra filtration.

 

[DylFunk]

i was thinking about adding a red tailed shark to the tank if i have room.

 

[jflowers]

An RTBS should go with your fish, however I would think twice about adding one as it will cut down what you can add later and while only usually agrresive to its own kind, there are some accounts where it is aggresive to other fish too. Suggest you google it and read up, look here...

http/www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gbicolor.html

for a start

Jon