Tetra Tank

[fish-r-fancy]

I have a 55 gallon fish tank that I'm thinking of doing a mostly tetra tank. I was thinking of having 8-12 neon tetras or 8-12 cardinal tetras (really whatever is cheaper or available at my lfs),8-12 rummynose tetras athough I've never seen them before at my lfs, some black skirt tetras and goldskirt tetras will both the black and the gold skirt tetras school together because I already have 2 gold skirts and didn't want anymore just black skirts, I was thinking of 2 platties, either one pleco or a pair not sure of the kind and to top it all off a female betta. How will this work out? My tank is a standard 55 gallon, has an aquaclear 70 and an aquatech 10-20 power filter foir filtration, for oxyrgen I have 2 bubble curtains, for a substrate I have sand and for decorations I have a large fake piece of bogwood (I plan on getting some real pieces that I can find in the woods near my house), I have some real rocks that form a cave and a fake skull. I plan on getting some fake plants and some real pieces of bogwood to make the tank look more natural. Would this whole setup work? thanks everybody

Oh I forgot to add that I would want either 1 redtail or 1 rainbow shark would this all work out?

And if it did work out which type of shark would be better off in this setup?

 

[three-fingers]

I have a large fake piece of bogwood (I plan on getting some real pieces that I can find in the woods near my house)

If you get a plec, make sure its one that doesnt grow too big .
Also, alot of plecs need real bogwood or driftwood to munch on. I doubt your woods has any either unless it has a river or somthing . Even if it does, its safer to buy it, not that i ever do-its usually quite alot of money just for a piece of wood .

This link it very good if your going to be collecting things from outside:http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/decorations.html.

 

[Kuhni]

Take back the 2 gold skirts to your LFS If you don't like them. Neon Tetras are cheap but have become a fairly weak strain due to mass breeding over east. I'd add a couple Lemon Tetras about 5 to your other choices as they make a nice addition and show a bit of variation. As For the Sharks I'd suggest against them as they are quite nippy, though I have never had one so it may work.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

It's not that I don't like the gold skirt tetras it's that I would not like anymore because at my lfs there quite expensive(and I only get $8 a week in allownace but I'm trading in my 9 large commons also). Will the gold skirts and the black skirts school together? And about the pleco what species would you recommend that doesn't grow to big? And about the driftwood and bogwood I live near woods and tons of lakes and rivers, so it will be easy for me to get and then I can just boil it. Back to the sharks if those 2 species are nippy are their any other kinds that are not nippy that will work out in this setup? Thanks everybody

 

[three-fingers]

and I only get $8 a week in allownace

At current exchange rates thats £1.80 or $3.40 more than me . Usually i make more money of ebay though(at the moment i cant due to needing a debit card).
Its good about the driftwood and bogwood, you'll be able to save yourself a fortune. My mum likes to pick up interesting rocks and wood for the garden whenever we go anywhere, so i just nick that stuff .
Im not sure about the gold skirts and black skirts, but i remember asking a similar question about different colours of tiger barbs shoaling together and apparently they will because they are the same species, so i think the skirt tetras will too .
There are loads of plecos you can get that are small or small-ish in size, but they will probably be expensive and you might need to ask the lfs to order them in, or get them off the net.
No idea about the sharks, never had one but how about some type of botia species as a safer substitute? If you chose a smaller species of botia you could get a few of them too .

 

[fish-r-fancy]

I was thinking of getting a rummynose pleco but I have to see what my lfs has available. thanks for all the help.

 

[Bignose]

If you get a plec, make sure its one that doesnt grow too big .
Also, alot of plecs need real bogwood or driftwood to munch on. I doubt your woods has any either unless it has a river or somthing . Even if it does, its safer to buy it, not that i ever do-its usually quite alot of money just for a piece of wood .

The only difference between bogwood or driftwood is that it has been weathered for some time, other than that, it is just wood. Wood from the forest is completely safe, if all the greenery and sap has been run out of it. Basically, this means that it needs to be about a year old or so (obviously, some wood dries out faster than others). You will also want to research what types of wood you pick up, e.g. walnut trees give off a chemical that kill other vegetation around them, so I cannot imagine that that chemcial would be good for fish. But, if it is a chunk of wood from a inert tree, and it is completely dried out, it is fine for fishtanks. Or, if your woods are a pollution site, or right behind the rendering plant I don't think I'd grad that either, some common sense is needed.

But as regarding regular wood, it is fine. I mean, how do you think that the bogwood or drfitwood got there in the first place? It had to come from trees, so ...

 

[dwarfgourami]

And about the pleco what species would you recommend that doesn't grow to big? And about the driftwood and bogwood I live near woods and tons of lakes and rivers, so it will be easy for me to get and then I can just boil it.

Bristlenose, definitely. Lovely fish, hardy and not too shy.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

Okay I'll go with a bristlenose pleco. That exactly the kind of pleco I wanted not to shy and good looking. Should I go with a pair or just 1? Thanks everybody

also for the fact that the fish is hardy

 

[fish-r-fancy]

I think I'm going to add a nice pair of dwarf gouramis also.