Juwel Rio A New Begining

[bae1994]

well im officialy turning my rio 400 int a fw planted tank i just sold my lr

now to real questions

ime using a arcadia luminair with 3 40w t8s in it what bulbs would you suggest

will i need c02 with this lighting if so how long will a 2kg fe last roughly

im gonna go with black sand

ive got a fluval fx5

i want to go for

a group of tetras (probably cardinals noot sure any suggestions)

a couple of whip tails

a bn plec

a group of ten cories (Probably green stripe not sure any suggestions)

a load of cherry shrimp

a couple of shrimp friendly center piece fish

a pair of gold rams

any more room

also can you recomend some plants that may work with the light and such

also any other info apreciated thanks bae

 

[mattlee]

my gold rams use to eat my cherry shrimp so you might want to re think one of the 2 also pretty much any fish that can catch and fit them in their mouths will feed on the shrimp so choose the centre piece fish wisely.

 

[bae1994]

hmm yeah do you reckon if i had good cover theyde maybe live with natural selection so to speak

maybe 2 discus?

 

[bae1994]

also any otos ?

 

[mattlee]

the thing is if the shrimp feel danger and threatened then they will hide and its not worth having them. otos are great little fish but again easy targets for fish such as cichlids. discus are better off in groups of 6 plus, you will always get a stronger fish and a weaker fish in the group so the more the better to prevent too much individual bullying unless you buy a proven pair. they will be fine with cardinals though, my discus didnt bother with the small tetra as long as they arent tiny juvis but the cardinals are out and all over the tank now the discus have gone. discus really arent the fish people imagine in my eyes and become quite dull and boring. also its more difficult to swap and change fish with discus due to the high temps they need. how about angels? but be warned my cherry shrimp of 60+ soon went down to 0 within a few weeks after adding angels
i think its a decent sized tank and you have a huge choice for stocking that could include some decent sized fish but with this comes some no go tank mates including shrimp and otos and anything small.

 

[ian]

i have seen some corking larger tanks just lately, with just one species of fish

from COA on Aqua-art.

I know this tank is massive, but it shows how well it works.

I also only have the two species at the moment, Cardinals and cory's.

You don't always need a massive community to make it work.

 

[bae1994]

hmm yeah i know what you mean and they are amazing tanks

but i really would like a community

maybe this

40 cardinals

a couple of whip tails

a bn plec

a group of ten cories (Probably green stripe not sure yet)

a load of cherry shrimp

6 dwarf rainbows

10 otos

and id like a few centerpiece fish just dont know what yet

 

[mattlee]

have to agree with Ian. i bet that tank looks amazing in reality. loads of cardinals and loads of cherry shrimp and loads of otos would be pretty cool most people wouldnt even think of just having a tank like that as there are so many fish to choose from and they want 1 of each.... also most people like things a little different rather than just a group of cardinals as it might be seen as boring but i think it would look amazing.

 

[Biulu]

Larger shoals do look lovely in planted tanks, not just cardinals. Personally I have become a fan of the threadfin rainbows, or also neon rainbows. In a 400 litre you could also have a very nice shoal of these and it is something different from cardinals.

If you insist on having cherry shrimp, just turn your shoal into your 'centrepiece'. It will definitively look as nice.

 

[bae1994]

i dont really just want 1 type

and ime not sure i like the threadfin rainbows

so what about this (gonna keep it quite a small variety)

cardinals howmany do you reckon

cory group how many

oto group how many

2 whiptails

dwarf rainbow group how many

what about a pair of shrimp safe gouramis

load of cherry shrimp

 

[ian]

getting back to earlier questions, i would probably go without C02 in the beginning. If you run into any problems down the line, you could always set one up. A FE will last approx 2 monthish on a tank that size (that is an approx as i'm going on what i use for my tank, my light is a bit higher though). The FX5 will be plenty of filtration (sorry if i'm teaching to suck eggs, Bae, you have a lot of experience with larger tanks). You might want to invest in a smallish Koralia, just to rid those dead spots.

As for quantities, i would go for about 50-60 cards. I do like to see them swim, if you ram to many in there, it won't be as effective.

15 cory's?
Leave the oto's till last (a couple of months), but a shoal of 10-15
10 Dwarf neons
personally i would probably only buy 10-15 cherries as you have hundreds in a few months, so you could save a bit of money rather than bunging loads in.

 

[stevereade]

Can't wait to see this, I'm planning a fully planted 450 soon so would be good to see how this turns out.

 

[bae1994]

15 cory's?
Leave the oto's till last (a couple of months), but a shoal of 10-15
10 Dwarf neons
personally i would probably only buy 10-15 cherries as you have hundreds in a few months, so you could save a bit of money rather than bunging loads in.

hmm ok what about this

50 cardinals
15 corys 5 peppered 5 green stripe 5 panda
2 whiptais
14 otos (lfs does buy 6 fish get 1 free)
10 dwarf neon rainbows
cherry shrimp amount depends whats on AC
could i have a pair of gouramis if so what do you reckon would be best

also lr sold last night and ive spent 140 pounds(all live rock money)

mopani wood (5 pounds)
new brace bar (15 pounds )
37.5 kg black grey sand mix (45 pounds)
10litre jbl manado for under lay (18 pounds)
3 blalck juwel 3d backing (57 pounds)

fx5 should arrive thursday
woods being sent tomorrow hopefully
the brace bar i dont know

 

[mattlee]

i would go for a group of 15 of the same species of cory. they will be much more active and playfull and a big group of corys looks great

 

[bae1994]

hmm ok have to decide wich one then