Exciting Times - Planning new tanks & new fish .... YAY

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I've been putting this off for a long time since other things had to take priority, and my hobby had to be backburnered for too long... I already went from five tanks to two, and they went for a long time with only basic maintenance/daily feeding, so lost a lot of live plants, and haven't dedicated any time to breeding, restocking, or new tank plans. I also know that anything I set up now will only be up for a year or two most likely, then will at least need to take apart and move, while I work on DIY renovating this house, and work on longer term plans.

But, I need the focus that getting lost in tank care gives me, and perhaps some purpose to it beyond just making my current tanks pretty again. I always gain from things learned and shared here! You guys are the greatest. So since I'm not even sure which area I want to focus on (and still a bit brain fogged with infection/fever, please bear with me!)


Currently only have my 60L pygmy cory/otocinclus tank up and running, and the ancient 57g tank I inherited from dad - I absolutely intend to keep the pygmy colony since they're still breeding and thriving well, and I can collect enough rainwater to keep that size tank soft enough for them and the otos.

Have a long-term hobbyist dream to successfully breed otos myself, but especially since I'm in a hardwater area and my current group are a mix of at least three subspecies, that's for either after moving to an area with softwater from the tap, or at least, backburnered until I can collect rainwater in larger amounts and get a new batch of otocinclus fresh from import, so begin with a larger group of hopefully the same sub-species. The best store in my city currently has "otos" at six for £25, I'd want to begin with at least 12 so that would work, and likely to at least by the same sub-species, and I don't mind which sub-species honestly, they're all great! The odds are just better if I can begin with a larger group of the same, and not the mixed species I wound up with when I first joined the hobby, and had even less clue about what I'm doing!

The 57g tank will have to go eventually, only fish that I absolutely won't part with are my two female L181s (might add a male, or a group of juveniles to raise to try breeding them later, but that's way down the line, and depends on too many other factors right now), I'm flexible about other stocking once I move those plecs to a new set up, I'm just attached to these particular fish, so not wanting to swap one of them for a male just yet! But I know the man who breed them among others on FB, so that's a future possibility).

Current empty tanks:
240L roma
200L roma
roughly 22g (US) tank that's slightly taller rather than longer, used to be my QT
12.5g
15L (I got for aquascaping/shrimp, haven't used yet, but could be handy for tiny fry too)

The cabinet I reinforced fits the footprint for the 240 Roma perfectly - and given that the GH from the tap here is 253ppm, I would need to stick to hard water area fish if I set up this one just yet.

However, while I need to do some measuring up to double check, I *think* the area I almost have ready for tanks could easily house the 200L and the 22g. These two would give me some more options about what I can keep, what I can attempt to spawn and rear, and get my hand back in with spawning and raising fry, and even better, ones where making sure water hardness isn't a problem.

I traded some juvenile pygmy cories for some P.luminatus before, but was only able to get three adults, then didn't have the time to dedicate to spawning and rearing them, but would have much more time now... I also really like a lot of the other dwarf rainbowfish, have only ever bred livebearers, pgymies, and bronze cories before (and those, accidentally!) so it feels as though keeping dwarf rainbowfish in a community, planted tank (thinking the 200L), and then using the smaller tanks to spawn and raise them might be the way to go?

There's also a group meeting/sale at the end of the month in my city, so plan to attend that and at least get some replacement live plants, and try to resist the urge to impulse buy any fish. But also a chance for m to offload the last of the rescue guppies that are pretty, and I enjoy, but aren't a challenge, and hog potential breeding tank space!

 

[Magnum Man]

I honestly don’t think you could do better than looking at all the past winners, of the Tanks of the Month, in that file… much inspiration there…
There is a peace and satisfaction in the planning and culmination of a tank…

 

[MattW]

How about a tank with only crinum? A tank with that and livebearers would look great. Breeding Otos looks so rewarding as well would be great to see how well they’d do.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I honestly don’t think you could do better than looking at all the past winners, of the Tanks of the Month, in that file… much inspiration there…
There is a peace and satisfaction in the planning and culmination of a tank…

Oh I've drawn inspo from those in the past for sure! Heck, I won one, once


I haven't explained very well, sorry! I guess the main thing is that I'm wanting to actually get something, almost anything, set up again. My long term, soft water hobby dreams aren't very practical right now, and might only make things more frustrating than positive anyhow.

So while I most likely do want it to be a planted tank, @MattW3344 my crinum, hardier crypts, mossy algaes, and persistent ricca flucctans are the main surviving plants!

But, I might even pinch some hornwort, elodea, or even watercress from the pond to help get set sets cycling - still have some black molly hybrids that will do a great job of picking out any potentially harmful pests - but especially with hornworts habit of dropping all its leaves, might just stick with elodea

Not looking to create a show tank. Or a perfect breeding set, or perfectly accurate biotope type set up. Just want to get back into the hobby, use a lot of the supplies I already have, since I have a decent number of tanks and plenty of substrate, hardscape, equipment etc

So I can enjoy a community, planted tank, but also stretch myself somewhat and begin breeding something again, and was thinking dwarf rainbows might work well for both of those things, ya know?


Also ideas for other fish for the community tank. I like having a school of cories, and stuck with bronzes, sterbais and potentially schwartzi since they can handle a GH range that includes a higher GH than most cories in the hobby and their soft water preferences. But even for those, my tapwater is in the upper end of their GH range according to SF, and I'm not really wanting to get another school of bronzes, cute as they are.

Really love the look of aspidoras now, but they're unlikely to be workable. Store says they can sometimes special order some species as they become available, but I'm no where near comfortable/confident enough for that sort of step yet... but also don't want to do the typical store bought cories right now either...

Might have to consider something like rosey loaches....

 

[GaryE]

Like most people, your life is incomplete without Aphyosemion killifish.

I've only been in one good petshop in England. It had great choices, but it was an east London shop, and that massive city seems to have very few aquarium fish stores. So they may have had a more 'into it' clientele to sell to, just on a population basis. They had lots of affordable fish we never see over here. They viewed Angola barbs as bread and butter fish, while over here I have never seen them in a store. So it's not always easy to discuss possibilities for tank set ups.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If I do go for the dwarf rainbowfish, think I'll have to go with the red neons again for sure;


They're hard to get photos of especially when this tank of mine has scratches on the outside of the glass, and these are fast little fish!

But I'd want a decently sized group of them and aim for a good ratio of males and females:

Then I'd want at least one other species of Pseudos... I really loved the celebes when I saw them in store under a really good plant light, sharing a tank with red neons as well. But there are a lot of appealing varieties, and might just depend on what's available once I'm at the point being ready to go shopping for them!

But I'd like some lower level, can cope with harder water fish that won't eat/stress these guys too much, and aren't just more bronze cories... if this winds up being the 200L as a main tank, then fish transferred to other tanks for separating sexes pre-spawning attempts and spawned elsewhere, so I'm not worried about eggs being eaten. Even like the idea of inducing spawning in cories in the main tank to encourage other species spawning from the hormones released into the water.

Oh, I haven't mentioned that I have a variety of houseplants I was hoping to grow emersed - but rainbows can be jumpy, can't they?

 

[Fishfunn]

But, I might even pinch some hornwort, elodea, or even watercress from the pond to help get set sets cycling - still have some black molly hybrids that will do a great job of picking out any potentially harmful pests - but especially with hornworts habit of dropping all its leaves, might just stick with elodea

I have been reading that hornwort doesn't play well with other plants. Hornworts emit a chemical that prevents other plants from thriving, so they take over the tank.

I have a tank I want to dedicate to hornwort, but I am hesitant to put it in another tank with a variety of other plant species.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Like most people, your life is incomplete without Aphyosemion killifish.

Absolutely beautiful! And I should have guessed you'd suggest a killi

Perhaps for one of the smaller tanks where I could do a 50/50 mix of tapwater and rainwater to bring it into a good range for them?

I've only been in one good petshop in England. It had great choices, but it was an east London shop, and that massive city seems to have very few aquarium fish stores. So they may have had a more 'into it' clientele to sell to, just on a population basis. They had lots of affordable fish we never see over here. They viewed Angola barbs as bread and butter fish, while over here I have never seen them in a store. So it's not always easy to discuss possibilities for tank set ups.

I'll pm you the name of the shop I have in mind (not that I'd be difficult to dox for someone determined, but still), but yes, there are very few privately owned, let alone privately owned and well ran, fish shops left in the UK, let alone in each city.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have been reading that hornwort doesn't play well with other plants. Hornworts emit a chemical that prevents other plants from thriving, so they take over the tank.

I have a tank I want to dedicate to hornwort, but I am hesitant to put it in another tank with a variety of other plant species.

I hadn't heard that, but it wouldn't surprise me!

I remember reading something about a type of liverwort that's known to inhibit the growth of duckweed too - because I loathe the nightmare that duckweed turns into when it infects any of my main tanks!! I was looking into it for a reason, lol.

Garden pond has both hornwort and elodea, but more hornwort by far, so I wonder if that's a factor? Hornwort doesn't seem to have much effect on the watercress or duckweed, but since they're above the surface, it probably can't.

Also need to replace the water lily for the pond, and should really have done that earlier in the year. Still gutted my dad told my bro to rip the old one out - that mother plant was over 30 years old.

Might just culture some elodea in some containers outdoor to collect (but not cultivate, since that's illegal) more mozzie larvae and bloodworms I can then freeze for the fish for over the winter, and get some elodea in the sun and growing for new tank set ups and cycling.

 

[MattW]

It’s good to see that you have many options and ideas to pick from! The idea of keeping a 200L+ aquarium for me seems too daunting .

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

It’s good to see that you have many options and ideas to pick from! The idea of keeping a 200L+ aquarium for me seems too daunting .

Lots of options, for sure!
Too many, especially in my slightly feverish brain, I'm asking for ideas and input while having very little idea of what I'm even after at the moment, haha!

But glad I made the post anyway, since it's opening my mind to other ideas, like the plants that could work, and @GaryE 's suggestion of killies, which I hadn't thought about... Think they'd need a tight lid though.

Why is the idea of a 200L plus daunting? Even the 240L is only about 63 US gallons - but then, I'm daunted by those people who have 200 plus gallon sized tanks and the fish to go with them, so I get it!

I like nano fish - but in large numbers, so really drawn to the idea of nano sized fish, but in medium-large tanks, so they can be kept in much larger numbers, closer to how they live in the wild. I can't really see myself having the time, pockets or skill for strict biotope type home aquariums, but just seeing the difference between keeping 7-8 pgymy cories, and their behaviours when in groups of 20 plus, given the limits of my own skills and space for tanks, I'm thinking it's a good direction for me to go in for now!

At least, unless and until the dream fishroom could happen

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

@Magnum Man 's thread about fish TB has me reconsidering my tank plans again, but that's good, it's why I made a thread and have been mulling over what I really want to do with what I have now, and future plans.

As I said above, fell in love with P. luminatus when a hobbyist traded a few with me for some of my pygmy cory juveniles, and fell further in love with the idea of keeping a group of them, and another dwarf rainbow in the same tank, after they wowed me in the store, and the store also had two pseudo species, one of them the luminatus, in a stunningly scaped display tank.

But, do have a concern about fish TB. As I said in that thread:

Having to give this really seriously thought now. Especially since I have and want to try breeding P. luminatus, which I discovered are from Indonesia, not Australia like most of the pseudomugil's I was looking at, and thinking of putting in a tank with the luminatus.

And after reading up on them on Fishbase, found out they're fairly recently introduced into the hobby, and as 1019, endangered in the wild. So captive breeding might well preserve them, and it might be better not to get and mix in fish that are more likely to be carrying fish TB?

I wonder whether the ones I've seen in store are wild caught or if these fish are being bred in fish farms, or I should try to source from an importer or something if I'm set on them.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Like most people, your life is incomplete without Aphyosemion killifish.

They really are stunning, and I'm seriously giving it consideration! Would like to know why you suggested Aphyosemion in particular? Given that you specialise in killies, I'd really value your input! Are they good for a beginner to killi's? (I don't know which way to shorten it, help!)

Other ideas I've been mulling over, especially since it's unlikely that I'd be able to get aspidoras without specifically requesting them for import, which would almost certainly be beyond my budget for tanks right now, is potentially a botiid loach of some variety other than clowns (have a real soft spot for botiids, and really want to be able to have and observe a tank with a good sized group of them, but since most would require the biggest tank, and severely limit what else I could keep with them, that might be an idea for a later tank.

For these ones, I'm still thinking nano fish, and breeding. So rosey loaches might be do-able, or I could try a different type of cory- perhaps try to colony breed hasbrosus the way I managed to get my pygmies to colony breed, and eventually put them in the same tank. They'd also work well with the otocincus and any nano upper-mid level fish.

Then in another direction, also on the wishlist are apistogrammas, and this could be a good chance for my first introduction to cichlids. Obviously not with loaches or cories in the same tank! But if I go with two more tanks, the 37g might work well for a trio??

I'm really drawn to blues and purples, so the trifaschiata is very appealing:

Also really like the looks of this one, but it's apparently pretty rare, and expensive, so unlikely to be able to get a hold of these. A.lineata:

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm still planning to go to our tropical fish club bring and buy sale event on the 28th - only plan to buy some more live plants at the moment, and perhaps some shrimp if there are some nice ones for a good price.

But also saw that someone is planning to bring green and blue moscow guppies, and I'm going to try very hard to resist temptation!! Always liked both the blue moscow, and the blue grass. Oh, and there will be Blue Japanese swordtail Endler's too @emeraldking

Much as I like guppies, I don't want to be swamped with livebearer fry again, want to try breeding something else... but I'm afraid that if faced with some especially pretty ones in colours and tail shapes I really like, I'll give in to temptation and want to breed "just a few!" and be swamped again

Will have to try to be strong, and only get some males, if I can and they're good ones.

 

[Essjay]

If you like blues, look at A. borellii. The males are blue, though as with just about all apistos females are yellow. Or if you don't mind what may or may not be a borellii, look at the one traded as A. borellii sp Opal.