Few ideas

[sharky&george]

I have had my tank for while now, but would like to make some changes in there, but i am not sure what can go with what. Would quite like angel fish but not sure if there ok with the fish i have, which are:
5 Guppies
2 Black mollies
2 Clown loaches
1 Plecostomus
4 Tetras
2 Gourami(not sure of the name)

So thats the 1st one if angel fish can be with my fish, and also is there any special requirments they need?
2nd thing is can aquarium sand be used with these fish i have, and how do you go about cleaning the sand.
3rd thing is tank lights, i have a normal colour light which ones have a dramatic effect?
And last of all plants i recently brought a couple of plants but they are dying rappidly, how can i get them to grow and spread, would like to get rid of all my plastic plants.

 

[Lateral Line]

You do not say how big your tank is, so commenting on what you can add is actually impossible, but some general points...

1. Angel fish will, when large enough, regard things like guppies and small tetras as food items.

2. I use swimming pool filter sand, but other people use different kinds of sand. Sand is in many respect easier to clean then gravel because the crud sits on the top of the sand rather then dropping between the gravel stones and rotting. Clean the surface material off with a siphon or dip tube. Keep the sand open to prevent anaerobic development, I prod mine about with a chop stick from time to time. How often and how much depends on the sand.

3/4. If you want to grow live plants you will need full spectrum, (5500K - 6500K) fluorescent lights at least 2 Watts per gallon turned on for 10-12 hours a day. That will give you "Medium" light and there are many plants that will grow. If you want lights for dramatic effect, you probably won't be able to keep live plants.

 

[sharky&george]

You do not say how big your tank is, so commenting on what you can add is actually impossible, but some general points...

1. Angel fish will, when large enough, regard things like guppies and small tetras as food items.

2. I use swimming pool filter sand, but other people use different kinds of sand. Sand is in many respect easier to clean then gravel because the crud sits on the top of the sand rather then dropping between the gravel stones and rotting. Clean the surface material off with a siphon or dip tube. Keep the sand open to prevent anaerobic development, I prod mine about with a chop stick from time to time. How often and how much depends on the sand.

3/4. If you want to grow live plants you will need full spectrum, (5500K - 6500K) fluorescent lights at least 2 Watts per gallon turned on for 10-12 hours a day. That will give you "Medium" light and there are many plants that will grow. If you want lights for dramatic effect, you probably won't be able to keep live plants.

HI thanks for the info, i am new to changing the tank, i have had my tank for a few years but have never done anything different with it. To be quite honest i am not sure exactley how big the tank is, but will measure it tomorrow, any ideas how to work out the gallons/litres. . I think i will leave the angel fish then, and i am going to look at the lights you said about will keep you posted. thanks for the help

 

[Lateral Line]

If you measure your tank in cm, multiply the length by the width by the depth to get the number of cubic centimeters it contains, divide by 1000 will tell you how many liters.

Multiply the liters by 0.264172 to see what that is in US gallons.
Multiply the liters by 0.219969 to see what that is in Imperial/UK gallons.

Note, when talking about gallons on this and many fish boards, they are US gallons, Americans can't use anything else and we have to do the conversions for them!!!