Tetra tank ideas

[Sylvan]

My second tank is in the process of being set up and cycling. It's a 110 litre Juwel Primo (81x36x45cm) and I'm trying to decide what to put in it. I have soft water so have decided to go down the Tetra route plus I love all the different colours they come in and that's making it hard to pin down what I want. I'm thinking just one or two species with contrasting colours. I know I definitely want Ember tetras, I saw them in the shop I bought my tank and my Betta from and fell in love with them so I'm looking for something to contrast with them. Current thoughts are green neons but I've found a couple more shops slightly further afield who look like they have a much larger selection of fish so I'm back to being indecisive. Once I've been to the shops and had a look at the stock I'll be even more indecisive I'm sure so just looking for ideas and opinions on tetras you like, think might be suitable etc etc. It's a good job I've got a while to decide before the tank is ready.

 

[Byron]

This is a nice size tank for soft water fish, I have a couple of them, basically a 29 gallon (110 liter). Do you know the exact softness of your water? And the pH? Just to pin that down, as some of the suitable fish will be wild caught.

Are plants intended? Definitely consider floating plants even if no lower ones, as all of these fish are light sensitive and will appear more brilliant with some floating plants.

 

[Sylvan]

I went for the biggest tank I could fit into the space that I'm using for it and it hasn't stopped from eying up other potential spaces that I could squeeze another one into in the future. pH is 7 and the softness is 1.75 Clarke according to the water company.
I'm going for a planted tank, I've a few already in and I've just seen some more I want to add, I want to put in Limnobium laevigatum as I don't think the floating plant I bought will provide enough cover from the light. I'm also thinking about changing the light out if possible because it's the white LED light that came with the tank and I think it's a bit bright really. It's also an excuse to go plant shopping as I need to replace some in the Bettas tank as one of the ones I bought from a different shop is dying already so going to replace it with something from tropica.
I've got some driftwood in already that I've stuck together so it looks like tree roots coming into the tank and again planning to pick up some more because I've got a bit of a gap in the middle that I want to fill.
I'm also thinking shrimp for clean up crew as I really don't like snails and the cherry shrimp in with the Betta do a fantastic job in that tank. Again looking at the stock list of the shops I've just found they have a wider shrimp variety and in all the more local ones I've found a grand total of one cherry shrimp so far, for some reason they all seem to be completely out of anything but Amano shrimp.

 

[seangee]

Wait a minute, you have cherry shrimp in one tank, why do you need to buy more?

 

[FishGuest5123]

“ it hasn't stopped from eying up other potential spaces that I could squeeze another one into in the future.”
Uh oh, you now have MTS. It’s terminal. I’m trying to figure out how I can hang tanks from the ceiling.

 

[Sylvan]

Because I haven't decided yet if I want to go for red cherry shrimp or a different colour. The shop I'm going to look at Thursday was advertising blue and orange varieties as well so I was thinking another colour contrast with the Embers being the red and then something else that's different. If I look at them and decide to stick with red cherries then I'll simply transplant a few to the new tank though I think I've only got 2 breeding females in that group at the moment, there may be more as some of the other mature hopefully.

 

[Sylvan]

It's very catching. I have a lovely long counter that if it was reinforced underneath could hold a much larger tank, the only problem is I'm tiny and the counter is already at chest height so if I stick a tank up there I'll need a ladder just to feed them.

“ it hasn't stopped from eying up other potential spaces that I could squeeze another one into in the future.”
Uh oh, you now have MTS. It’s terminal. I’m trying to figure out how I can hang tanks from the ceiling.

 

[Byron]

The GH at 1.75 degrees Clarke is (according to my conversion) close to 1.4 dGH which is equivalent to 25 ppm. This is very soft. Lots of options. The pH is bound to lower below 7, also good.

Aquascaping sounds perfect, so we can move on to consider fish species.

Ember Tetras are ideal here. Most of the tetra characins are larger, though the Green (False) Neon Tetra would be a good match; I have both of these in my 29g blackwater Amazon tank, 23 of the neons and 7 Embers at present. Other fish could be some of the pencilfish--I have a group of 10 Nannostomus eques which while not colourful are interesting because of their diagonal swimming angle (permanent) and remaining at the surface among floating plants. Hatchetfish from the genus Carnegiella are also surface options; these are smaller than the species in Gasteropelecus and Thoracocharax which are really a bit large and active for this tank.

Other pencilfish that are colourful and very peaceful are Nannostomus marginatus and N. mortenthaleri. The red on the latter is indeed striking. These tend to remain mid-level.

Substrate fish...cories, especially one of the dwarf species. A common whiptail (Rineloricaria parva) for something a bit ancient-looking.

This is my present 29g blackwater tank set-up. I purposefully left out substrate-rooted plants except for the large sword in the left rear and one pygmy chain sword which has in three months sent out runners. But the mass of floating Brazilian Pennywort among which the N. eques roam was the aim in this tank.

 

[Sylvan]

That tank is absolutely stunning, if I could get my tank looking half as good I'd be happy though still very jealous. I really like the way the green neons show up against the background. I think I may now be putting a black background on mine.
I hadn't thought about pencilfish. I will do some research into them. My sister is very keen on me putting a group of cories in since she couldn't have them in the 5g tank ( I adopted it from her) and I think the one she mentioned was the bandit variety.
This is all a fantastic excuse to go wander round all the local shops to look at their stock, I have realised I'm quite lucky where I am to have multiple shops within a short driving distance.

 

[FishGuest5123]

The GH at 1.75 degrees Clarke is (according to my conversion) close to 1.4 dGH which is equivalent to 25 ppm. This is very soft. Lots of options. The pH is bound to lower below 7, also good.

Aquascaping sounds perfect, so we can move on to consider fish species.

Ember Tetras are ideal here. Most of the tetra characins are larger, though the Green (False) Neon Tetra would be a good match; I have both of these in my 29g blackwater Amazon tank, 23 of the neons and 7 Embers at present. Other fish could be some of the pencilfish--I have a group of 10 Nannostomus eques which while not colourful are interesting because of their diagonal swimming angle (permanent) and remaining at the surface among floating plants. Hatchetfish from the genus Carnegiella are also surface options; these are smaller than the species in Gasteropelecus and Thoracocharax which are really a bit large and active for this tank.

Other pencilfish that are colourful and very peaceful are Nannostomus marginatus and N. mortenthaleri. The red on the latter is indeed striking. These tend to remain mid-level.

Substrate fish...cories, especially one of the dwarf species. A common whiptail (Rineloricaria parva) for something a bit ancient-looking.

This is my present 29g blackwater tank set-up. I purposefully left out substrate-rooted plants except for the large sword in the left rear and one pygmy chain sword which has in three months sent out runners. But the mass of floating Brazilian Pennywort among which the N. eques roam was the aim in this tank.

Beautiful tank, Byron.

 

[Fishmanic]

Byron: what is the name of that floating plant? I have trouble growing floating plants. Is that one easy to survive when floating?

 

[Colin_T]

The semi floating plant in the picture looks like Hydrocotle but could be something else.

If you have problems with floating plants, there is probably too much humidity for them. Water Lettuce and Water Hyacinth both rot when kept in humid environments like under coverglass in an aquarium.

The best floating plant for aquariums is Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta). It grows well on the surface and doesn't mind being under coverglass or in an open top aquarium. It can also be grown in the substrate.

Duckweed usually does well too.

 

[Essjay]

I know this fish is not a tetra and that it comes from Asia rather than south America, but have a look at Microdevario kubotai. If you are in the UK, they are sold as neon green rasboras and green tetras. Several years ago I had them with ember tetras and they contrasted well.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/microdevario-kubotai/

 

[Sylvan]

Oh I really like the look of them, I'll definitely keep an eye out in the shops to see if they have any.

 

[Sylvan]

Introducing me to options other than tetras has resulted in lots "oo I like that" or "maybe that one instead." I'm more indecisive about what I want than when I started . I think I may have to enquire whether my father still wants his tank and if not rob that one off him, it comes with a stand so I don't even have to worry about finding a side to put it on.