woo hoo - new tank

[andyt_uk]

so, by pure chance i found some guy on the internet who runs a couple of pet stores about an hours drive away - and he is happy to sell me the tank i wanted cash in hand at much reduced cost AND DELIVER it.
so my new juwel trigon 190 in beech with cabinet will be arriving tonight.
so thats 50gal worth of fish i will be looking for soon

going to seed it with bacteria from my current tank - which is now surprisingly home to some platty fry and their parents - and add a few more fish in a week or so to help the cycle along.

i really fancy the idea of a few shoals of small colourful fish, but which ones and how many
i also would really like a red tailed black shark
so i await your experienced words of wisdom on some suitable communities to add

i know my preferred selection would look great, till they ate each other

by my maths i reckon i can have 100-130cm of fish

 

[Eelzor]

Great to hear it andy! I have a tank that size too and i know the feeling. As for your question, the red tailed shark is a great shark, I'm in fact getting a rainbow shark, yet it can become extremely territorial and may even set up territories around the tank, and if a fish swims there, it will chase it away. If you where to get other fish with it. They would have to be of the same size or slightly bigger. Remember not to put him with other sharks as fights will arise. The red tailed shark can be excellent with Barbs, Danios, Gouramis, Rainbowfish, similar sized New World Cichlids, Loaches, Plecos, and similar sized Scavenger Catfish. But remember sizes though. You wouldn't want a tiny danio with a 4 inch shark!

 

[CFC]

I find the best thing to do is choose a theme and try to stick to it as best you can, for example a Amazonian tank would have tetras, dwarf cichlids, corydoras and some algea eaters with plantings of amazon sword plants and of course vallis which seems to grow everywhere and a bogwood decor.
Choose a group of fish you like and base the tank around them it helps to stop over stocking which is way too easy to do.

 

[Eelzor]

Thats my theme CFC, Im trying to add south american fish to it too.

 

[Inchworm]

Congradulations on the new tank andyt_uk Compared to your present one it is, indeed, hugh!

It's so exciting to plan a new tank! Will it be planted? A few big fish or lots of little ones?

If you can get your gravel washed and in place before you seed it, there will be many more surfaces for it to settle in and breed. And don't forget to use a dechlorinator, even though you won't have fish in it immediately, because it will kill the good bacteria. (I know I didn't have to say that, but just consider it a reminder in case you get too excited )

I'm looking forward to following your progress with it!

 

[mollie]

hello
i find my shoal of penguin tetras very relaxing to watch (as does the cat)
We too fancy a shark, a black tipped one so i think the penguins will become food for either the shark or the cat!!
Love Mollie x x x

 

[Curtiss]

Red tailed shark is a great choice. But remember, only one. Even in a 50 gallon 2 sharks aren't very compatible. The dominent one will chase the smaller one around anytime it sees it. You'll have to stay away from the various fish that look like sharks too. I put a flying fox in my tank and my red tailed shark wouldn't tolerate it so I ended up moving the fox to my hospital tank until I can find a good home for it.

As far as schooling fish, good old neon tetras make a great little school. I have 10 in my tank and although they don't school very often (usually only at feeding time) they are bright and colorful.

-Curtiss

 

[andyt_uk]

well its here
cabinet built
tank in place
whole unit in corner - damn forgot to stick the backing on!

hi mollie nice to hear from a fellow bradfordian - where do you buy your fish?

 

[andyt_uk]

decorated, planted, watered
water was a little cloudy last night, but looking much better this morning
temp had risen to 22 - aiming a little higher
would you reckon ok to add some gravel and insert the filter sponge from my other tank around sunday?
then add some fish (just a couple) straight away?

 

[CFC]

That sounds ok to me, just give the white layer of filter media a good rinse under the tap to remove any debry it will have picked up, dont worry this is only a pre-filter and is not a biological part of the filter.

 

[New Boy]

Andy,
To help decide what fish you want to keep what are your water parameters? Hard, soft, alkaline acidic? Do you fancy messing about with these parameters or would you prefer fish that suit your water?

Cheers
Andy

 

[New Boy]

BTW congratulations on your new tank - remember to get light reflectors (arcadia are cheaper than juwel) if you want to add any plants......

 

[andyt_uk]

Andy,
To help decide what fish you want to keep what are your water parameters? Hard, soft, alkaline acidic? Do you fancy messing about with these parameters or would you prefer fish that suit your water?

Cheers
Andy

would rather not mess with params
current tank - assume new tank will be v close
pH 6-7
KH 6
GH 10 (or are those the other way around??)
NH3 - 0
Nitrate < 10
Nitrite 0

thinking along lines of things like
otto, cory juli, red tailed black shark, neon tetra (or rainbow tetra), angel (i know cant go with neons), platty

 

[New Boy]

Andy,
I'm quite envious, my surrounding area has very hard alkaline water.
The good news is that you can keep barbs, tetras, south american cichlids very happily in that water. I'd stay away from african cichlids as they like very hard water. The fish that you mentioned are suited to acidic/neutral water so should be fine.

I'm not sure how the red tailed shark will get on with the otto's and as you mention neons will probably be angelfish dinner once the angelfish have grown.

It might be worth thinking about some top water dwellers.......

I've got the same tank -as you know -and I keep just over 100 cm of fish in it (20 % water change and Fluval 304 on it). Not had any probs with nitrite or ammonia in a year and a half [touch wood] and I've had some messy fish in there.

I'd also add any tetras last as they are quite sensitive as part of your cycling IME

When i move my current fish to a bigger tank I was thinking of putting congo tetra, rosy barbs, kribensis and dwarf gourami in mine but there are so many fish to choose from that changes daily!!

Hope you enjoy your tank!

 

[andyt_uk]

does anyone know of a good website with fish broken down into top/middle/bottom dwellers?
that would be useful in planning a good tank..

just noticed i said rainbow tetra above, i meant neon rainbow - slightly smaller than a congo tetra and similar colouration