New Community Tank Planned

[Iron Man]

Hi I'm new here and thought I would post my plans for a tropical fish community tank. I have had experience with tropical and goldfish all my life. My best set up to date has been the 55 gallon tank I currently have housing various african cichlids, tiger barbs, and loaches. I converted that tank to a saltwater and was planning on a reef tank....but have found out saltwater, esp. a reef tank....may not be the best thing for me right now (unless I buy my own house and am going to stay put for years)

I recently (3 days ago) converted this tank back to freshwater and completely removed and cleaned everything. I put my old gravel back in (used with the old goldfish setup) and various plastic plants (plenty of all sizes), soon to add more of both. I'm also currently on the lookout for a nice piece of driftwood to use as a centerpiece.

I may go with a live planted tank with flourite substrate down the road (or even begin with that as my options are still open) but for now this is going to be my setup;


Tank and Equipement

55 gallon long tank

Naturally light colored gravel (about 1 1/2 inches)

Various plastic plants

Driftwood centerpiece

Eheim 2217 canister filter

Occasionally will employ Emperor 400 for mechanical filtration


Livestock

5 swordtails (open to variety and type)

17 guppies (open to variety and type)

17 zebra danios (small common type)

17 neon tetras

17 cory cats (open to type)

5 apple snails

What do you guys/gals think about these choices? All honest advice and opinions are welcome.

Before anyone says this is too much of a bioload....I have been keeping overstocked tanks for the past few years and have much experience with constantly monitoring water conditions and keeping up with frequent water changes. I have watched fish grow and prosper in such an environment. Nevertheless if someone thinks one of these types of fish my not be happy in this setup let me know. If they fish are gonna be stressed they're gonna look it.

 

[Mr Miagi]

I think that bio load would be OK for a 55, but that many cories i dunno, Any one else?

PS, if you want flourite, its better to do it first rather than add it later.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks for the input Mr. Miagi. I was thinking that too as I've read the stuff can cloud the water an awful lot.

BTW - Is THAT your tank?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The only thing I can think of that could be wrong is overload of apple snails... but then I managed to kill the only apple snail I ever had in three days, so yeah, what do I know?

 

[Mr Miagi]

I tend to agree, i didnt see that the first time i read the post.... ) but yeas, i would add maybe 2-3. If algae prevales still, then you could add more. Its best if there is too much food rather than to little for apple snails.

 

[Iron Man]

It may be a good idea to reduce the amount of snails. I've been doing some thinking and I have decided not to go with guppies as I wasn't even giving consideration to the fact that its the males that look so good and they would have to be a minority in this tank as to not harass the females to death. I really hate the plain looks of the female guppy. I could go with all males but somehow that would seem unnatural not to give them something to be harassing 24/7.

I've also decided to add maybe a couple of freshwater clams, 7 ghost shrimp and 4 african dwarf frogs. I'm going to reduce the number of cories to maybe 9 and also have decided to replace the zebra danios with the same number of harlequin rasboras.

What to replace the guppies with....hehe

It would have to be a smaller moderately lively, top dwelling fish.

9 white clouds?

9 glass fish? (top dwellers?)

who said this wasn't fun? hehe

 

[Mr Miagi]

Im a big fan of gouramis, and there are quite a few top dwelling species around that would suite your set-up!

Im also a HUGE fan of Harliquins! They are great fish, and i reckon you should have 12 for a nice effect and for the fishes comfort. This will not impact the stocking density you have already planned because harliquins are a small, peaceful fish, who do not add a tremendous bioload on your tank.

 

[Iron Man]

There are top dwelling gouramis? That is something to consider maybe. Though their larger size might take away from the "small fish" scene I have going. I like harlequins too and don't know why I didn't think of them in the first place. I agree with you that 12 harlequins might be a better number as they'll be slightly larger than the neons and that would balance things out a bit.

 

[sylvia]

Honey gouramies are small (1.5-2") and preffer the upper layers. There are other small gouramies such as croaking and sparkling that would also fit in but which don't spend as much time at the top. Obviously, there are bigger gouramies that also preffer the top such as pearls, banded and thick-lipped gouramies and the 2" dwarf gourami would also work.

Honeys are your best bet though. They are small and peaceful so if you can get 1-3 males and 4-5 females you'll have the top layers filled up.

I adore gouramies and deffinately think they are the best choice when it comes to character. However, if none of the fish you are planning to keep will be nippy (possibly the swordtails), you could try some hatchetfish. These are the perfect size and will never leave the top at all so maybe they would suit you more than the gouramies.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks for the info on the gouramis sylia....I don't have much knowledge of them as of now but will have to research them more. I see them all the time in the stores and on the net and know people with them but for some reason just never kept them. Oh yea and I forget to mention I'm dropping the swordtails altogether.

 

[sylvia]

Good luck with that then. Also, if you're dropping the swordtails, you may want to consider replacing them with some sparkling gouramies and getting hatchets for the top. It's up to you of course. Oh and I'll suggest a cory for you - either pygmy (though these spend most time in the middle layers and are tiny ), bronze (grow to a good size and are very active and playful) or blackfin (cory. leukomelas) which are very attractive and hardy too - they are also slightly smaller than bronze but not by too much.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Iron Man

My 55 gallon tank currently houses a big assortment of corys at the bottom, one weather loach, two 3-spot gouramis at the top, and 8 otos. It's just about my favorite set up to date.

There is action going on all the time, and the fish are a nice variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Corys are not all plain little fish, you know!

The one thing I would suggest that you do if you are in the planning stages and would like corys, is to get rid of the old gravel and put in sand. The best kind to use is Play Sand, which you can get at Home Depot for only $3 a bag. One bag is all you would need. The corys love being able to dig in it, and it's safe for their delicate barbels.

 

[DMan99]

A large shoal of marbled hatchetfish would look good as theyre small shoaling fish and theyre an ususual shape!

I've had them before and theyre really interesting fish.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I had considered the hatchetfish before but would shy away from them as I was choosing different fish before...but now that its a pretty peacedful community I'm gonna give them a shot. The ones at my lfs are excellent and they are big.....I didn't know hatchetfish got that big!

As for playsand and cories I know exactly what you mean. Cories are really happy with sand. I really hate to put them with gravel but don't want to put sand in a tank I'm going to be putting live plants in down the road. If I do put the plants in later I definately do not want to have to completely switch substrates. Been there done that. Another negative aspect of playsand is the algae bloom factor. When I had playsand before I had switched from gravel and done nothing else different. I had almost every kind of algae bloom in my tank, the most aggravating being greenwater.....which I had never had before at all. I know it was the silica sand that had caused it. I did fix the problems with barley straw pads placed inside my Eheim and plecos/apple snails and it was great....but I really hated the fact that I HAD to have these things....you know?

As far as choice of cories I am really torn between the spotted cory and the emeralds....though the emeralds get a little big.....I really like their color though.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[littlefishie]

I really hate to put them with gravel but don't want to put sand in a tank I'm going to be putting live plants in down the road. If I do put the plants in later I definately do not want to have to completely switch substrates.

Um, why would you have to switch substrates for live plants?
Live plants work perfectly well with sand and fluorite as a base.. I've got mine in just black sand and they've been like that for 4 months now with no complications whatsoever. The cories stir up the sand enough for the plants, so the sand doesn't compact too much. I also try to stir it a bit during water changes to prevent buildups of anerobic gases.