New Tank..new Beginning!

[Axyadbad]

I've had a 60L Arcadia Arc for about 9 months. I was satisfied with it for 'a short period' before I wanted something bigger.

 
Finally got the funds and I am getting a 50 gallon...100x40x50 cm. 

 
I have a couple of questions..
 
1)My planned stocking is 15 rasbora, BN pleco,  and 5 ottos. Would angelfish be suitable for a tank this size (I've read conflicting info). If not are there any other centrepiece fish that would work with this stocking?
 
2)And also is there any DIY/cheap substrate that will be beneficial for plant growth..I can't bear paying like £30 for some tropica stuff.
 
Cheers for any help,
 
Axy!

 

[CezzaXV]

You've certainly got enough water volume to house angelfish, though I don;t know if it's tall enough.

 

[Axyadbad]

Thank you Cezza..I've read 15 inches height is big enough some places..some 18 inches. Mines 20 but I don't want it to be 'just enough'.
 
Cheers!

 

[attibones]

For substrate get some play sand. It will only run you a few dollars. I've heard of people using miracle-gro on the base (not sure where you live or if miracle-gro is a multi-continental product), but I'm not sure how great this is. Pop into your LFS and look at the bag specialized for plant growth. Then do an Internet search with a few of the ingredients or something. Maybe you'll get a few hits?

 

[Axyadbad]

I've had a look online at the ingredients of the aquatic plant substrate and they are quite a bit off. I've also looked at miracle gro for aquatic plants and it isn't the best. Cheers for the answer but I don't want to risk anything affecting my fish
 
Axy!

 

[ReddSamurai]

its cheaper than £30
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Plant-Complete-Substrate-5-8/dp/B000XACCY4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368296498&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=aquarium+plant+subrate

 

[CezzaXV]

its cheaper than £30
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Plant-Complete-Substrate-5-8/dp/B000XACCY4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368296498&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=aquarium+plant+subrate

Yeah but that's only 5.8kg. It took 10kg of sand for me to cover the bottom of my 60x40cm tank. You'd need a fair few of those to cover a tank the size the OP is talking about, especially to a depth to allow for planting.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

"centerpiece fish" for that size tank and those tankmates:
 
I'd start with a nice shoal of panda cories - sorry, I can't help myself.  My favorite fish.  They are a centerpiece, even if they are small.
 
 
Next, I'd say that a larger fish needs to be chosen carefully, or else the rasboras/otos would be lunch:
Keyhole cichlid - would be a perfect, LARGE fish (5 inches or so), and if you got sufficient number of harlys, they should help the keyhole be more outgoing and visible.
Pearl gourami
Bolivian rams (rather than the GBR, which are a bit more finicky about water conditions)
Apistogramma - lots of species to choose from
And then there are the "angels" as well.  20 inches is probably just fine, but you'd want to go lighter on the substrate, I think.

 

[Axyadbad]

its cheaper than £30
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Plant-Complete-Substrate-5-8/dp/B000XACCY4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368296498&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=aquarium+plant+subrate

Yeah but that's only 5.8kg. It took 10kg of sand for me to cover the bottom of my 60x40cm tank. You'd need a fair few of those to cover a tank the size the OP is talking about, especially to a depth to allow for planting.

Yeah that the thing..I'd need like 3 bags of the stuff I've been looking at which cost a LOT.
 
EAGLES- Yeah I've been tempted by corys I love the look of them and how active they are but I've heard they aren't best kept on gravel. I'll have a research of the fish you have suggested. Thank you very much!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

As long as the gravel is rounded and fairly small, they are fine.  You won't see this:
 
Image removed by admin
 
(This is our fish of the year winner for 2012, not my pic - nor my cory.)
 
 
They can do well on gravel, just not as well as they could do on sand.

 

[Axyadbad]

Thanks for all the suggestions, really love the Panda corys. So much so, I've now got sand substrate haha . Although if I can get some nice round black gravel i'll swap back to that.  
As for the centrepiece fish I'm still not 100% sure as many of the Angels in LFS lack a lot of colour. So I'm still looking for a vibrant fish around 5".
 
 
Anyways thanks again and here's a photo of the provisional layout of my tank...
 

 
Thanks again

 

[CoryLover95]

Looks nice!  I would definitely say that you have enough to house angels if you want them, but otherwise I would recommend some Corys...sorry, another Cory fanatic here.  Pandas or albinos make the most showy types in my experience.  Best of luck!  Eeekkk, it's so exciting to have a new tank *sighs wishfully* LOL

 

[Axyadbad]

My friend has offered me some coarse gravel it is smooth to the touch..just wondering if this would be ok for corys? (I'm just a dull person and love black as my substrate colour haha)
Heres a picture 
 

 
Sorry to be asking so many questions but better safe than sorry I suppose

 

[Axyadbad]

Looks nice!  I would definitely say that you have enough to house angels if you want them, but otherwise I would recommend some Corys...sorry, another Cory fanatic here.  Pandas or albinos make the most showy types in my experience.  Best of luck!  Eeekkk, it's so exciting to have a new tank *sighs wishfully* LOL

 
How many angels would be ideal for such a tank? I just can never trust sources online..I just like to go off people's experiences . Yeah I think I'm going to go for Pandas I think they're one of the smaller ones.. means I can keep more in a school hehe

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That is correct.  My largest panda is about 1.25 inches.