Planning For New Tank, Need Opinions.

[jag51186]

Ok, so this is really just an opinion on what I should do next. My 80 gallon planted barb tank has been up and running for quite awhile now, and I'm starting to look towards my next tank. There are a few options currently, though who knows what the end product will ultimately be...
 
1. A desktop nano - Was thinking of a Fluval Edge 6 gallon, aquascaped to be fairly sleek looking, possibly Iwagumi setup. Livestock would be pretty much just shrimp maybe a small shoal of tiny fish. Rocks and dwarf baby tears maybe a small piece of wood with some java moss for the shrimp.
 
2. 45ish gallon cube tank - Nice driftwood, rocks, and plants. Fairly large school of Pseudomugil gertrudae, thinking like 20 of them? Love these guys and their displays/colors. Maybe some cories in there as well, but thinking maybe a biotope...not sure how much info there is on this species specific flora/fauna in the area.
 
3. 45ish gallon cube tank - Amazon theme, cool driftwood, sand, leaf litter on floor. Large school of neons/rummy nose tetras/any kind of tetra really, I love them. Cories of course, maybe an angel? (I need to research angels more, I've heard they will potentially eat tetras =/ )
 
The size of the tank can be variable. Any other thoughts from anyone?? Cool fish I should look into??
 
My water parameters are pH 7.6, GH 6, KH 4....I have to recheck my GH/KH, I can never remember them exactly...
 
Anyway, open to thoughts!

 

[Asteria]

I like the sound of idea 1 and 2 
And you could look up celestial pearl danios. They are pretty tiny fish and would work well with shrimp

as they would also feed of the Moss 
 
And yes angels will eat certain tetra. Especially neon. Just anything small really. 
But then sometimes they won't eat them -shrugs- 
If your only going for one angel you should be okay. But can't be certain just depends on the fish. 
You'd potentially want to get the larger tetra. Like harlequins or black skirt 

 

[Adoptedfish13]

I agree that the angelfish should not be trusted around the smaller fish.
 
My angels are no angels. They will attempt to eat any fish that can fit in their mouth and chase smaller fish that will probably not fit. If they don't eat them, they still may run down and cause stress to some smaller fish. It is just that they may not be able to catch certain fish. lol
 
If there are more than one angelfish, it is possible that they will get into the occasional disagreement (often in my tank). If they decide to pair up or do spawning behavior, they can get aggressive and run off anything that comes near that side of the tank. They like to lay eggs on a tall plant or the filter intake, seems like any smooth place that they will be able to make a vertical pass going up. 

 

[jag51186]

Just checked, GH is 7 degrees and KH is 4...so pretty much what I had thought. 

 

[Bubbelzzz]

For option 2, keep in mind that these fish, generally don't live that long as. But they are so beautiful and there are so many nice varieties. It is possible to get information about the local flora/fauna. It also depends on how specific you want that information to be, as every stream has its own variety of P. gertrudae. 
So I personally would do option 2, but thats because I personally love these fish.
 
Option 3 sounds good as well. However, as mentioned by others, angles won't be a very good idea. Maybe some M. ramirezi or apistogramma species will be a better option?

 

[Ltygress]

I like the third option except your water tends to be a little on the alkaline side. Tetras and angels all prefer slightly acidic water. The softer the better. And angels won't so much EAT the tetras, as they will simply pick on them. Although you can usually avoid this by having just one angelfish, since two or more creates possible breeding aggression. But these types of fish live together in the wild, so they would actually MOSTLY be okay. But the tetras are considered dither fish for angels, so be prepared to see torn or missing fins here and there.

That being said, since your primary focus with the tank IS the tetras, you'll probably want to avoid an angelfish just to protect your tetras. I have the opposite - an angelfish/discus tank to which I'll be adding cardinal tetras. The cardinal tetras will be there for added color, and as dither fish for the other two. Although with the selection of discus I'm planning for, I doubt I will have to add much color.

 

[jag51186]

I like all the options!! Lol, but I think I am leaning towards 1 or 2, possibly more towards #2. P. gertrudae really are stunning, and I love their displays. @Bubbelzzz When you say they don't live very long, how short are we talking??

 

[Bubbelzzz]

I like all the options!! Lol, but I think I am leaning towards 1 or 2, possibly more towards #2. P. gertrudae really are stunning, and I love their displays. @Bubbelzzz When you say they don't live very long, how short are we talking??

 
They are mostly seasonal fish and they generally don't live longer than a year.

 

[jag51186]

That's good to know, Seriouslyfish mentions that they can often breed well in their main tank that is well kept. Any experience in that area?

 

[Bubbelzzz]

That's good to know, Seriouslyfish mentions that they can often breed well in their main tank that is well kept. Any experience in that area?

 
Whith enough plants and/or other decorations you'll be very likely to keep some fry alive in the main tank. They aren't very hard to breed and can do it very often. Since the eggs are transparent they are very hard to find though.