starting an 85 gallon. :)

[Freshyfishy]

Hello!

I will be starting an freshwater 85 gallon tank soon. I want it to be planted and VERY active. DISCLAMER : IM NOT NEW TO FISH KEEPING! I have a 25 gallon.

Anyone have stocking ideas that include mollies, guppies, and platties?
Any plant ideas?
what are the downsides to overstocking?
If I add plants, does it mean i can add more fish?
is 30 days a good cycle period, or does it depend on the tank?
How do i control death rates/new fish?

what else do i need to know?

 

[Wills]

Hi this sounds exciting! 85 gallons is a good size.

Whats the deal with your 25 gallon? How long has it been set up and do you have plants in there etc?

For the 85 gallon though, if you want live bearers do you know if you have hard or soft water? If you don't have a hardness test kit check out your local water company website to get you some info. The livebearers all need harder water so its important to get that right.

Wills

 

[Freshyfishy]

its been set up for what..... 6 years now. I JUST added some hornwort in there. our water is relatively soft, although we have well water..

 

[Essjay]

If you have soft water you will need to add minerals for mollies in particular to be healthy. Something like Rift Lake Salts would be suitable.
But if you make the water harder for livebearers you won't be able to add soft water fish such as tetras, barbs, harlequins and so on.

Plants don't make a cycle go quicker, they make it go differently. If you have a lot of fast growing plants they will take up just about all the ammonia made by the fish. Once the tank is planted, leave it until you are certain the plants are growing - take a photo as soon as it's set up so you have something to compare the plants to. Once you are certain they are growing, fish can be added a few at a time, checking ammonia and nitrite every day to make sure.
For a plant cycle, 30 days is plenty to tell if the plants are thriving and adding the first batch of fish. For a fishless cycle before planting 30 days may or may not be long enough. It depends how quickly the bacteria grow.

 

[Byron]

I concur with @Wills and @Essjay above. First important thing is to determine the GH, KH and pH of your source water. You mention this is from your private well. Tou will have to do these tests, or you can have a local fish store do them. This is very important so we do not end up suggesting fish that will not live in your water.

This also raises another question, is the water out of the faucets straight from the well, or is there some filter or softener involved? We/you need to know this too.

Moving to a couple of your other questions...

what are the downsides to overstocking?

In a nutshell, weakened fish that will be more susceptible to disease, a shorter lifespan, and depending upon the fish species involved, even worse. I will be blunt, it is inhumane to overstock an aquarium, or to stock it with non-compatible species. There are a great many factors involved in fish being compatible.

If I add plants, does it mean i can add more fish?

Not beyond what the tank can effectively support. Again there are many factors involved, from the species, their necessary numbers (shoaling/schooling species must have groups of 10+ in most cases, some even more), their degree of aggressiveness, etc. Live plants provide huge benefits with shade and water quality, but this does not in itself mean the aquarium can hold more fish.

How do i control death rates/new fish?

One hopes there will not be new fish deaths, if that is what you are referring to.

 

[Wills]

its been set up for what..... 6 years now. I JUST added some hornwort in there. our water is relatively soft, although we have well water..

Though I have just noticed you are from Panama! The home of some of the most beautiful fish around IMO - really surprised that you have soft water as most of Central America is meant to be quite hard water?

This might be interesting for you to see https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/country/Co...by=alpha2&ext_CL=on&ext_pic=on&vhabitat=fresh They are all of the fish native to Panama and some stunning species in there. From the cichlid side of things all the Amatitlania species and Cribroheros species are the most peaceful but you could look at fish from other Central American countries too - I'd just be fascinated to find these fish near where I live haha!

Apart from the Guppies the Mollies and Platies (though Swordtails may do better) could be good options with these fish as well.

Wills

 

[Freshyfishy]

Im in PC, Florida. Hope your not confused!

 

[Wills]

Im in PC, Florida. Hope your not confused!

I definitely was still nice though! Do you know your hardness as a number? That will help with a starting point

 

[Freshyfishy]

6.5 is the water hardness

 

[Essjay]

What unit is that in, German degrees, mg/l or grains per gallon?


German degrees and grains per gallon are almost the same and that is soft water.
If it's mg/l (also called ppm), that is very soft water.

 

[Freshyfishy]

mg/l

 

[Essjay]

That is very soft water.

There are two units used in fishkeeping, ppm (aka mg/l) and dH (aka German degrees.). Fish profiles use one or the other.
Your 6.5 ppm = 0.4 dH. It is so low it's virtually zero.



This is way, way too low for mollies, guppies and platies unless you add something to make it a lot harder. You need at least 10 dH (180 ppm) for long finned guppies and at least 14 dH (250 ppm) for mollies.
Can you be persuaded to keep different fish? It is easier to keep fish suited to your water than alter the water to suit a particular fish. To make the water harder, you would need to prepare all the water needed for a water change before adding to the tank, at exactly the same hardness every time.

 

[2tank]

look at some of the south american plants they do well in soft water so do some ludwigia species.

 

[Freshyfishy]

ok. my dad just corrected me. the water hardness is 8.7. I could be convinced (because if those fish don't work, or are not healthy in my home, I would be torturing them if i kept them) But i would want to keep them if i could. I have a single molly in my 25g ( i know they should be in groups, but her group died) and she *seems* to be doing fine... but she may not be comfortable.

I should also mention the fact that I will have to put 2 glofish tetras, a "mini" pleco, and a molly in that "community tank" (85g) I want to establish. What fish could i put besides mollies, guppies ect? I want a VERY active tank.

also, to or not to add snails? would i put them in when i cycle, or after? I probably should also mention that the pet store was throwing out a clutch of about 10-30 snail eggs (i tried to count) and i just couldn't fathom that many snail lives being wasted, so they are in my 25g tank somewhere ( i know they hatched, but idk where.) should i take them to my LFS when i can find them? I don't really want snails to take over the tank, but i know we will have tons with the plants.. to or not to add snails? and a way to manage snails unharmfully to the snails and fish (preventing eggs is what im asking)?

 

[Byron]

Assuming the 8.7 is still in mg/l (which is equal to ppm), this is still very soft water. You cannot have livebearers in this water, they will be severely hampered by the lack of minerals which they must have to carry out bodily functions to live. They will be severely stressed. They will weaken and slowly die. Guaranteed. It is inhumane to keep fish in water that is so far removed from what the fish must have to live.