compatible fish

[Mollymomma]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing great! Anyhow I will be getting a 125gal. in about 2 weeks..Will be setting it up slowly . This will be a community tank, fully planted with lots of hiding area's..

What are the best tankmates for mollies, platies & tetra's.. oh I also have 1 pleco at the moment & will be getting him a buddy soon.

With such a large tank what is my best option's for filtering systems?

How many smaller fish varieties will a 125gal. hold without any crowding problems?

This is a huge jump since the tank I own now is only 10gals. LOL
The 10 gal will become Qtank..

I was only planning to get 55 gal but hubby says look at this tank...It's nice...my little heart about stopped from shock! Yippy Skippy getting a huge tank

Oh about plants...which ones(live) are the easiest to maintain and what about lighting?

Tanks in advance for all your help

 

[LesGerber]

Molly,
As far as fish I have platys and 2 different types of tetras(black skirt and serpae) I would recommend some swordfish and cory cats.


As far as filtration, I have heard nothing but praise over the fluval 404 model canister filter
Congrats on the 125, Nice size,
With fish you want to calculate 1 inch of full grown size per gallon of water, and that does not count the tail

HTH


Les

 

[Kryten]

Corys make a brilliant addition to a community tank. They are lively and totally non aggressive. I go for the albino corys as they are a wonderful color and add to any tank. Best to keep four or more, they will grow to 5 centimetres

A combination of Neon and Glowlight Tetras, say ten of each will make a beautiful shoal, the contrast between the two fish makes a beautiful shimmer under a good light. Just wish I had a tank to hold this many tetras They grow to 5 cm

Add to this list for definite a pair of Siamese Fighting fish. The males have beautiful finnage, and the females are just graceful, best even to get two females and a male, that way you will get breeding and a few beautiful fish. Males have the very long fins, while the females have recognisably much shorter fins. Just DO NOT have two males, as this will show you why they are named fighting fish

 

[Fishsmurf]

With fish you want to calculate 1 inch of full grown size per gallon of water, and that does not count the tail

On a community tank with a larger quantity of small fish this "rule of thumb" would prob be ok, but as general rule I don't like it. The bio-load from 1 x ten inch Oscar is gonna be so much higher than the bio-load from ten x 1 inch neon tetras. Still the same ten inches but a heck of diff on the load of your filters / tank.....

Just some food for thought......

 

[LesGerber]

FishSmurf, I agree that it isnt the best guide as there are some heavy load fish out there, But I was offering it as a general rule of thumb.


Les

 

[Fishsmurf]

FishSmurf, I agree that it isnt the best guide as there are some heavy load fish out there, But I was offering it as a general rule of thumb.


Les

Les,

Hi, I didn't mean to cause offence so I hope I didn't, however when it's in a "beginners forum" I just think it is a good idea to quantify things, at least that way any mis-conception can be erradicated before it moves from mis-conception to belief.... Hey, prob just me being pedantic.

 

[LesGerber]

No offence taken Fish, The reason I posted it the way I did was simply this....Not very many new people to the hobby are going to start with big oscars......lol Molly as said she had mollys and platys, and with that said I was pretty certain that she wasnt going to drop a fish that would love his new tank mates.
If she would come out and said that she was going to go bigger that what she has now then by all means yes and I would have said something to the effect. The whole purpose of us more experienced fish keepers being here are to help those in need. Your information was right on the money, and it was great that you was able to come in behind me and clarify that.



Les

 

[Mollymomma]

Tanks a bunch Les, Kryten, & Fishsmurf...

I was thinking along the lines of the tetra's & cory's... I have decided to stick with the peaceful community tank with only smaller friend's. That way the kids can each pick their favorite species and we will have alot of variety.

How many pleco's should I keep? Do they do better in a group or solitary? Yep I already know they can get to be 15in.(Right? lol)

Thanks for the heads up on the filter Les..That was really bugging me since I've never had such a large system before.

I can't wait!!

Kryten I have Betta's love them! I don't have any females, really don't want to deal with breeding them right now (space) I may set up another 10 gall. divided for my pretty boys

Everyone is very helpful and the opinon's and experience is greatly appreciated.

 

[Fishsmurf]

Mollymomma,

Yep the common plecs can get to be pretty big. I'm not a lover of them. An alternative maybe to be look at getting a number of smaller Ancistrus, most of them only get to 7 or 8 cm. If you fancy having a look this site has some great pics, once you have seen the one you like you can go find out bit more of the net......

http/www.aquajapan.com/encyc/index_e.html

I have a few of the White Edge Busy Plecs and they are great.

Anyway HTH some......

 

[wetwetwet]

As Fs says go for some of the smaller plecs - theres loads to choose from - Gibbo should be the man here.

The common plec (gibbeceps) does get big and can damage plants....

What are the dims of this tank?

And whats your local water like? - this may have a bearing on the fish to keep

 

[wetwetwet]

Here a link to the PFK test on external filters - don't know if you get the same makes/models over there, but worth a look anyway

EXTERNALS


hth

 

[Mollymomma]

thanks WWW

Don't have the exact dims yet...gonna get the tank in say another week (waiting for carpet to be installed in new house)

Thanks for the external filter info It just helps to know what your looking at lol

I'll let ya know more on the tank once I have it in the house... I do know it's 6 foot long( had to messure the diningroom wall, thank God it fit)

 

[upchuck55]

Swordtails! my mollies fend for my F sword, so maybe yours will fend for the tetras, cuz a Platy could eat it pretty fast. (my M platy nips my F sword)

 

[Angel Lady]

at the rate my mollies are going it wont take six months to fill a tank that big they are cute fish but the sure are a lot to deal with,I am talking about all those babies and having to have the salt and all which pleco cannot stand it is nearly impossible to house those fish with the scaless ones I think platys have to have the salt to I may be wrong on this but I dont think so

 

[LesGerber]

One furthe note Molly, You might be interested in going with sand as your substrate, especially if you go with corys. Mine are a ytip to watch now as they bury their heads in it looking for food. Not to mention that since I have switched to sand my tank look awesome.

Les