What More Do I Need For A Successful Tank?

[CoryLover95]

Hi there!
I am going to be setting up a tropical aquarium in a few days.  I've had a few bettas and some goldfish in the past, but never a community tank.  Do I need anything else other than what I'm planning on purchasing?

1. 37 gallon glass aquarium
2. florescent light (built into a hood, comes with the aquarium)
3. 200 watt heater (comes with the aquarium)
4. hang-on-back filter (comes with the aquarium)
5. 35-40 lbs. gravel
6. 12-24 live plants
7. driftwood ornament
8. cave
9. water conditioner
10. Tetra "SafeStart"
11. water test kit (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, chlorine, alkalinity, hardness, pH)
12. Aquarium Salt
13. frozen "Freshwater Multipack" (sold at PetSmart)
14. frozen beefheart (for a treat for the carnivorous species I'm planning on purchasing)
15. tropical flakes
16. algae wafers (for the catfish and possibly snails, see below)
17. gravel vacuum
18. algae cleaner/scraper

​The fish I am planning on getting are:

1. 5x Neon Tetra
2. 2x Silver Hatchetfish
3. 2x Dwarf Gourami
4. 2x Red Wag Platy
5. 2x Cory Catfish (my favorite 
   
    )
6. 3x Mystery Snail

​Is that a good amount?  I've adopted the rule of 1 inch of fish per gallon and allowed a few extra gallons just to be on the safe side.
 
Thank you very much for your help!
Sincerely,
CoryLover95
 

 

[DanTheFishMan11]

i think you could get in 4 more corys (same species) so they school and you could swueeze in 3 more neons imo

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters...but all personal choice.
A very good test kit is the API Master Test kit.
The chemicals you intend to buy seem ok, but i have always used 'Prime'.. a dechlorinator in such a high concentrate i only have to use 5/6 drops per 15L bucket when water changing.
Forget all the foods for the moment...buy them once your tank and filter are properly cycled.
I have cycled my tanks both with and without real plants. I found it alot easier to get my tank going WITHOUT plants, then added them in time once my tank was settled and more mature.
Your eventual stocking seems ok, but please have a quick read of the link in my signature BEFORE you buy any fish for your tank.
 
Good luck with it all, i hope you are enjoying the spoils of a lovely looking tank in the near future.
 
Terry.

 

[Mikey1]

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters

 
 
how can you possibly make a comment like this when you don't even know what the flow rate of the filter is?
 
a HOB filter with proper flow is more than enough for that size tank

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I agree that something other than a HOB would be better. An internal would work perfectly fine but if you can spend a little extra I'd get an external filter, once you have one you never go back lol.


Read up on fishless cycling with ammonia and don't bother with the safe start. Prime is a higher quality dechlorinator and will last you longer because it's so concentrated.


Stock:

Get rid of the hatchets, they are extremely shy and need to be kept in large numbers to make them feel comfortable.
6 x corys (a smaller type would be best, bronze corys get pretty big)
10 x neons
Everything else looks good. Are you getting a male and a female platy? Careful, you may get over run with fry!


Good luck! And don't be put off by fishless cycling w/ ammonia, it's soooo worth it!

 

[CoryLover95]

Thank you so much for your help, everyone!  Following are my replies to all your posts.
 

i think you could get in 4 more corys (same species) so they school and you could swueeze in 3 more neons imo

Thanks so much!  I will check that out.  I'd definitely love more Corys, as I said before, because they're my favorites!
 

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters...but all personal choice.
A very good test kit is the API Master Test kit.
The chemicals you intend to buy seem ok, but i have always used 'Prime'.. a dechlorinator in such a high concentrate i only have to use 5/6 drops per 15L bucket when water changing.
Forget all the foods for the moment...buy them once your tank and filter are properly cycled.
I have cycled my tanks both with and without real plants. I found it alot easier to get my tank going WITHOUT plants, then added them in time once my tank was settled and more mature.
Your eventual stocking seems ok, but please have a quick read of the link in my signature BEFORE you buy any fish for your tank.
 
Good luck with it all, i hope you are enjoying the spoils of a lovely looking tank in the near future.
 
Terry.

I was thinking about doing the Tetra EasyStrips.  Not very complicated, 'safe', 'unsafe', and gives you the numbers.  I actually have some Prime right now...LOVE it, but I have some Aqueon water conditioner left over from a starter kit so I might use that first.  And as regards to cycling, the Tetra SafeStart is an 'instant' cycling product.  Of course I'd make sure the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are safe before I added fish, but it should reduce the cycling time to at least a week.
 

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters

 
 
how can you possibly make a comment like this when you don't even know what the flow rate of the filter is?
 
a HOB filter with proper flow is more than enough for that size tank

Thanks!  I've used nothing but HOB's for all my tanks and never had a problem, also they're a lot cheaper than some other models.
 

I agree that something other than a HOB would be better. An internal would work perfectly fine but if you can spend a little extra I'd get an external filter, once you have one you never go back lol.


Read up on fishless cycling with ammonia and don't bother with the safe start. Prime is a higher quality dechlorinator and will last you longer because it's so concentrated.


Stock:

Get rid of the hatchets, they are extremely shy and need to be kept in large numbers to make them feel comfortable.
6 x corys (a smaller type would be best, bronze corys get pretty big)
10 x neons
Everything else looks good. Are you getting a male and a female platy? Careful, you may get over run with fry!


Good luck! And don't be put off by fishless cycling w/ ammonia, it's soooo worth it!

Thanks for the tip about the filter, but I think I'll stick to the HOB for now, really just because it's so inexpensive and happens to come with the tank.  I might upgrade later if the HOB's not doing the job, though.  And as I said in reply to someone else, the SafeStart cycles with live bacteria in at least a week.
Thanks for the stocking advice.  I've read several other things about hatchets needing large schools...so as much as I like them I think I'll let that go.  And I'll get a few more Corys and Neon Tetras, or check out a different kind of fish.
 
Again, thanks so much everybody for your prompt and helpful replies!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Ignore the directions for Safestart...  If you really intend to buy this, dose a small amount of ammonia (0.5 - 1ppm) into the tank just BEFORE adding the Safestart to give whatever bacteria a chance to process some ammonia.  As Terry says, read through the Beginner's Resource Guide before proceeding with fish.  EDUCATION is the key to success with fish!!!
 
 
As far as your stocking goes, I'd make the following suggestion, based on the cories being your favorite.  Cories require being kept in numbers of at least 6.  Going for smaller species of cories allows for MORE of them.   And more of them makes them behave more like you want.  Also, cories "require" a fine substrate that they can manipulate.  Sand is ideal for them, and fine for plants.  Also going with a very fine gravel 1-2mm would be the largest I'd go with for cories.
 
 
6x Cory Catfish (your favorite)  Stick with a smaller variety like, C. habrosus, C. hastatus or C. panda, and you could bump this number higher to say 9-12.
6x Neon Tetra - as with cories, they need to be in groups of 6.
2x Silver Hatchetfish  yet another shoaler, which requires at least 6.  Easier just to bump them.  Sorry.  Use their absence to boost your cories number.
2x Dwarf (Honey) Gourami - slightly smaller than DGs, and less sensitive.
2x Red Wag Platy  - another casualty to up your cory numbers.
3x Mystery Snail - virtually no bioload worth mentioning, so these don't impact your stocking.  
 
 
You'd still be fairly lightly stocked, so adding a few platies (males only) wouldn't be too much.
 
Personally, I'd go with 9-12 C. habrosus (Salt and Pepper cory) which grow to about <1.5" or C. panda which usually grow to no more than 1.75 inches.

There's nothing wrong with HOB filters for that tank.  The key is "which one"?  I use the Penguin series on my tanks.  I have a 56 Gallon with two Penguin 200s.  And I have a 110 Gallon tank with 2 Penguin 350s, plus a powerhead.  I have plenty of flow, and the detritus generally collects in an easy spot to vacuum - I have a sand substrate, so it just moves along the bottom until it reaches the "dump" area.  Then I just vac it up.  

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters

 
 
how can you possibly make a comment like this when you don't even know what the flow rate of the filter is?
 
a HOB filter with proper flow is more than enough for that size tank

I can make a comment like that because of the 4 important words you didn't include from my reply..."but all personal choice".
I honestly believe a tank of that size requires an internal filter, possibly even external if future stocking was to be increased.
It's a democracy, but i pay enough to use it, hombre.
 
Terry.

 

[CoryLover95]

Ignore the directions for Safestart...  If you really intend to buy this, dose a small amount of ammonia (0.5 - 1ppm) into the tank just BEFORE adding the Safestart to give whatever bacteria a chance to process some ammonia.  As Terry says, read through the Beginner's Resource Guide before proceeding with fish.  EDUCATION is the key to success with fish!!!
 
 
As far as your stocking goes, I'd make the following suggestion, based on the cories being your favorite.  Cories require being kept in numbers of at least 6.  Going for smaller species of cories allows for MORE of them.   And more of them makes them behave more like you want.  Also, cories "require" a fine substrate that they can manipulate.  Sand is ideal for them, and fine for plants.  Also going with a very fine gravel 1-2mm would be the largest I'd go with for cories.
 
 
6x Cory Catfish (your favorite)  Stick with a smaller variety like, C. habrosus, C. hastatus or C. panda, and you could bump this number higher to say 9-12.

6x Neon Tetra - as with cories, they need to be in groups of 6.
2x Silver Hatchetfish  yet another shoaler, which requires at least 6.  Easier just to bump them.  Sorry.

 Use their absence to boost your cories number.
2x Dwarf (Honey) Gourami - slightly smaller than DGs, and less sensitive.
2x Red Wag Platy  - another casualty to up your cory numbers.
3x Mystery Snail - virtually no bioload worth mentioning, so these don't impact your stocking.  
 
 
You'd still be fairly lightly stocked, so adding a few platies (males only) wouldn't be too much.
 
Personally, I'd go with 9-12 C. habrosus (Salt and Pepper cory) which grow to about <1.5" or C. panda which usually grow to no more than 1.75 inches.


There's nothing wrong with HOB filters for that tank.  The key is "which one"?  I use the Penguin series on my tanks.  I have a 56 Gallon with two Penguin 200s.  And I have a 110 Gallon tank with 2 Penguin 350s, plus a powerhead.  I have plenty of flow, and the detritus generally collects in an easy spot to vacuum - I have a sand substrate, so it just moves along the bottom until it reaches the "dump" area.  Then I just vac it up.  

 
OK, the Ammonia sounds like a good idea...and as far as gravel goes, sand is so much more expensive than gravel that I think I'll try to just find a small gravel.  I really don't want to spend $40 on sand when I could spend $20 for gravel.  But if I have to, of course the health of the fish comes first!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

...and it's going to take alot longer than a couple of weeks...
 
Terry.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/413705-safestart-didnt-work-where-do-i-go-from-here/

Just sayin'!

 

[Mikey1]

 

I would invest in a bigger filter, possibly an internal one, i simply don't like the hang-on back filters

 
 
how can you possibly make a comment like this when you don't even know what the flow rate of the filter is?
 
a HOB filter with proper flow is more than enough for that size tank

I can make a comment like that because of the 4 important words you didn't include from my reply..."but all personal choice".
I honestly believe a tank of that size requires an internal filter, possibly even external if future stocking was to be increased.
It's a democracy, but i pay enough to use it, hombre.
 
Terry.

 
 
you suggested a "bigger filter" without even knowing the size of the current one.....size is not a personal preference, the type of filter is.....what if the original poster had an aquaclear 110.....that is a HOB filter that flows 500 gallons per hour.....would you still suggest a "bigger filter"??

 

[eaglesaquarium]

...

OK, the Ammonia sounds like a good idea...and as far as gravel goes, sand is so much more expensive than gravel that I think I'll try to just find a small gravel.  I really don't want to spend $40 on sand when I could spend $20 for gravel.  But if I have to, of course the health of the fish comes first!

 
You don't need "aquarium" sand.  I have used playsand successfully.  You just need to wash it out.  For your size tank, a single 50lb bag would be sufficient, and given that you are in the US (based on your reference to $) you should be able to get sufficient sand for your tank for the hefty price of $5 (give or take) plus the amount of water needed to properly rinse it and the time to do so.  

 

[CoryLover95]

 


...

OK, the Ammonia sounds like a good idea...and as far as gravel goes, sand is so much more expensive than gravel that I think I'll try to just find a small gravel.  I really don't want to spend $40 on sand when I could spend $20 for gravel.  But if I have to, of course the health of the fish comes first!

 
You don't need "aquarium" sand.  I have used playsand successfully.  You just need to wash it out.  For your size tank, a single 50lb bag would be sufficient, and given that you are in the US (based on your reference to $) you should be able to get sufficient sand for your tank for the hefty price of $5 (give or take) plus the amount of water needed to properly rinse it and the time to do so.  

Oh, great, thanks!  That sounds wonderful.  I actually use playsand for my hermit crab tank for about six bucks per 50 lb. bag, so you were spot on with the price.

 

[CoryLover95]

OK, new stocking:
3X Red Wag Platy
2X Red-Blue Tetra (in place of the Hatchetfish)
7X Neon Tetra
3X Cory Catfish
2X Dwarf Gourami
3X Mystery Snail (I know this doesn't count toward the stocking calculation, but I'm putting it in anyway)