Preparing A 50 Gallon 4ft Tank

[phantomlink]

RTS are very on or off on their mood. You might get a decent one, but chances are good you will get one that just chases/kills most things in the tank. The Blue Gourami will get the same size as the RTS and are also aggressive as well. The Tiger Barbs will aggressive, will be the smallest fish in the tank and I dont know what might happen to them

When you do a fishless cycle your bacteria is ready for a full stocking. When the tank is ready ( 4-5 PPM of ammonia down to 0 in 12 hours ) you can add all your fish at once

 

[thereverendturtle]

You want something to breed easily, why not try some dwarf cichlids. A school of praecox rainbows, and the cories you want.

 

[Nik00117]

I do not care for breeding, if my fish breed then great if not then that's fine too.

Here's what I want

A good looking colorful fish tank with a decent size to them. That I can plant.

 

[phantomlink]

There are many species of rainbowfish and they look amazing when they get their colours as adults I've got some and just waiting for them to mature

 

[snazy]

The platies and swordtails will interbreed and giving them to the petstore is no good. Swordail males can kill each other so you need another tank to separate mature males.

Ok I can remove the platies and replace them with something else, what would you suggest?

And banded barbs look great.

If I'm going get banded barbs why not just put a Betta in the tank?

Once you set up the tank and put the fish you want the most at this moment, why not leave room for another species until you decide. The looks of fish is not always what makes them interesting to watch, it's their behaviour and character. And one day probably sooner rather than later, you will see something you really want but then your tank will be fully stocked or you will have incompatible fish to add the new fancies. It's always nice to have flexibility because your taste will change. I really didn't want corys in the beginning but got them because of their apparent peaceful nature and now I wish I had only corys in all my tanks.

 

[Aquascaper]

After the cycle add all the fish or add slowly?

Once cycled your tank should be able to deal with the waste products from a full bioload (full stocking level) so you can add them all. As someone mentioned, if you're undecided about all if them just add all the ones you want for definite and then think about the final lot.

 

[snazy]

The purpose of the fishless cycle and the way it's done will ensure you can add all the fish at once and will avoid any fish deaths or internal damage to your fish that can cause eventual slow painful death.