What Next ?

[denzil1nil]

so last october after moving I finally got to set up my 4ft tank, and move everything from my previous 30gal setup into it.

The tank has a p.h. of 7.6, 55 gal (I think) running a fluval u4 internal and 305 external, temp is 26oC. Nutrafin ferts once a week.

I havn't tested the water for a while now but all my fish are healthy and survived the move, initially I upped the water changes to two 50% changes a week using prime all the way up to new year and now I'm back to one 50%-70% change a week.

Stock is 6 cardinals, 6 diamond tetra, 5 columbian tetra, 3 marble hatchett 1 b/n plec also 2 days ago I put 6 shrimp in on a bit of an impulse I bought the cheapest in the shop just to see if they got ate more than anything and they havn't so I will be looking at getting more in future so I'll need to consider this when looking at fish stock. The plants at the moment are loads of small java fern , java moss and one annubius all attached to pieces of bogwood, subtrate is very fine black gravel with a painted black background.

So what I'm looking to you guys for is help sorting out the fish and plant stock and also the lighting please.

I want something to add a bit of charachter as the fish i have look nice shoaling but id like somthing that maybe pairs up and interacts with each other or something a bit larger which wouldnt be too aggresive (I understand that just because a species usually behaves one way doesnt mean that individuals of that species will be the same).

I'd like to know what tubes to use please as I have no idea what to get, I keep hearing of low light set ups and this sound like what I would like to do as I dont really want to get to involved in c02 and ferts ect. I'd like to add more planting to the tank but am unsure what to add I've tried a few differnt things from the lfs and most just melt away or die over a longer period.

 

[denzil1nil]

*bump*

 

[thereverendturtle]

If you want to keep the South American theme with the fish, a group of Bolivian rams or an apistogramma species 2m/ 4+f would do well. If you don't mind something from Asia, a pair of pearl gouramis would be nice and add activity at the surface.
As for lighting, standard 6500k or plant bulbs are all you need. Amazon swords and crypts will do well, as will hygrophillia.

 

[denzil1nil]

Thankyou ill look into the bolivian rams now, I'm not a fan of gouramis myself to be honest, I dont know why but they just dont appeal to me.
 
Anymore suggestions on plants I know I said before I dont want to use ferts but I wouldnt mind using something like tnc complete which was suggested to me previousley on here, if that would open up my options to more plants.
 
I just dont want to go down the c02 route and start messing with that side of the hobby to much yet as I've just got to the stage where I can change my water and just keep up maintenance, feed and be confident I'm not going to wake up in the morning with ill fish, the beginnings of an algae bloom or someother problem. .

 

[thereverendturtle]

Besides the ones I mentioned, if you're willing to dose once a week, apontogeon bulbs, lilies, vals, saggitaria, most of the bunch plants commonly available, should all do well. What type of lights do you have, and how many watts total?

 

[denzil1nil]

my lights at the moment are 1x 107cm 40w T8 power-glo and 1x 107cm, 40w, T8 aqua-glo.

These are well overdue for a change as they are what came with my tank which I bought second hand, but again Im not sure what wattage, brand of lighting or which suppliers to use on the internet in future.

Im basically planning ahead as im waiting on a cheque to land through the post anyday now.

 

[denzil1nil]

After checking out the bolivian rams ive found Ive kept just a pair of these before (I know them as butterfly rams)and i spent alot of time with the smaller female in quarintine as when in the main tank it just kept getting harrased by the male.
I tried adding extra plants to divide the tank up but the male eventually bullied the female to death after I just decided to let them work it out.
The male survived for another year before dying of old age a few weeks ago I believe this as he was fully grown when I bought him, he never sufferd any illness before and didnt show any obvious symptons.

However I'm still suspect on wether I even had a male and female as I went on the advice of the lfs who I also asked about water conditions and he said the rams would be fine with my ph but after reading up im just above the top end of there ph range.

 

[thereverendturtle]

7.6 is the upper end, but they are very adaptable fish, unlike many of their dwarf cousins. As for lights, what you have is decent lighting so anything I listed should grow fine. I would use 1-6500k daylight bulb 40 watts and one plant bulb 40 watts. As for brands that's I buy mine from home improvement stores. Usually they are Phillips or GE brand. Although brand isn't all that important.