My First Fish!

[FoundMoney]

I set up a tank the week before Christmas with the help of quite a few members on the forums. I wanted to report that I now have some fish in my tank. I bought 7 Von Rio or Flame tetras. The little guys seem to be doing well chasing each other around the tank and they have developed some really good color. I now have the tetras plus several anacharis plants, one Amazon sword plant a good bit of hornwort and a few dwarf sag plants.

My next fish will be a bristlenose catfish. Would it be alright to add this fish this coming weekend or is it too soon after adding the tetras? I'm getting a good amount of algae and it would be nice to have an algae eater in the tank.

For those of you who are not familiar with my tank, it is a 30 gallon setup, with fairly low to moderate light. Besides the tetras and bristlenose, I'm also interested in getting some dwarf cichlids. Would something like 4 dwarf cichlids be overstocking the tank? If I follow the inch per gallon rule I'd have something like 7 x 2 = 14 for the tetras, 6 for the bristlenose and 4 x 3 = 12 for the dwarf cichlids, assuming they're about 3 inches. That actually puts me at 32 inches of fish. Is this pushing it in terms of stocking the tank?

Thanks again for any and all help.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

it should be alright. as long as you have good filteration and do frequent water changes i dont see the problem in having that many fish.
it should be fine to add a bristlenose

 

[FoundMoney]

Thanks cAtFiSh. I have an AquaClear 70 (300). Currently, it has the BioMax and the sponge that it came with. Is this a good enough filter and is there other filter media I should be using? I'm looking forward to getting my bristlenose!

 

[the caretaker]

The only thing I would be a little wary of is the amount of plant that you have most of them you mentioned grown like wild fire so every now and then thin them out because they will take you tank over if you let them and it reduces the amount of swim space for your fish. (post a picture it sounds like you have a sweet little set up.)

 

[steelhealr]

Hi FoundMoney....I think the AquaClear 70 is a great filter. The only problem I had was that the cartridge that held the inserts began to float up and I found out that this can happen when the sponge clogs. You can wash it out in aquarium water and reuse it. Inchworm, one of the moderators, told me that you can stack sponges or add a layer of filter floss and that will improve your mechanical filtration and surface area for biological filtration that will help with the fish load. Enjoy your bristlenose. SH

 

[endilliteracy]

German blue rams are a really peaceful cichlid and would go great in your tank. They do best in pairs...maybe you could get 2 pair but that would be your limit IMO. I currently have 2 blue rams in my 30 gal.

 

[FoundMoney]

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

First let me tell you that I've had the bristlenose for about 10 days now and he's doing really well. He scampers all over the tank, even during the day. Although he's not a particularly fancy fish, he's not an exotic pleco or anything, I think he has some really great coloration. Sometimes when he's eating his head turns a nice shade of yellow that borders on gold. So far, he seems to be thriving in the tank. However, I did notice that after the first couple of days, especially after he got a taste for the veggie rounds he stopped being so diligent about cleaning the tank. He's a great fish. I'm really happy with him.

Yes, there are a fair amount of plants in the tank but at this point they haven't grown too much. I did have to thin out the hornwort as it was just all over the tank. I really only got that as a sort of stop gap measure. I wanted to have a lot of plants in the tank while it was cycling to keep algae growth down. It worked to a certain extent but I still have some aglae and it doesn't always grow that well. On top of that, it's a really messy plant. It floats all over the tank and it tends to lose its needles at the bottom when I try to secure it to rocks because the bottom isn't getting enough light. Eventually, I will probably just replace it with anacharis, which seems to grow very well in the tank and is a much prettier and cleaner plant.

Here's a picture:

endilliteracy, thanks for the suggestion on the German Blue Rams. I was actually thinking of Cockatoo Cichlids. From what I've read I understand them to be a bit hardier and can handle the higher pH in my tank a little better (7.2-7.4). I also like the idea of having a little mini harem, with one male and two females as opposed to just one pair. What other fish do you have in your 30 gallon with the Blue Rams?

 

[steelhealr]

Interesting...I have hornwort and it does grow fast, but, I dont' find it very messy and I think some of the fish like hiding under it. Anacharis is a fast grower in my tank too......they grow to the top of my tank and I've had to cut them twice. I've been told that hornwort is a good 'oxygenator'. SH

 

[FoundMoney]

I just find that it doesn't stay in one place; pieces of hornwort float all over the tank. The smaller pieces eventually get caught in the filter intake tube. When I clean the tank I find bits of hornwort all over the place. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it. I just cleaned out the tank again last night and pulled all kinds of hornwort out.