to plant or not to plant?

T

TwanDizzle

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Jul 31, 2006
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hey guys, my 55 gallon has been sitting empty for about 6 months now, and i want to put something in it! the first setup was a freshwater semi-community (just some cories, danios, a pleco, 2 threespot gourami, one of which was killed by the other, and on 2 occations, an oscar that didn't even last a week) i got bored with that setup, so shut everything down (lights, filters, heater, feeding, EVERYTHING!)... and let it sit there for a couple of months... the cories, danios and pleco stayed alive the entire time!

finally i emptied it and tried my hand at a saltwater setup... it went fairly well for a couple of months until i had an accident and broke my foot, which prevented me from doing any maintenence for 2 months... after healing, i resalvaged it the best i could, but it eventually crashed again, and since then its been empty

so here i am again; wanting to go back to freshwater. now the question is, do i want to use live plants, no plants, or artificial ones? i'm not necessarily a green thumb, so i'm weary about live plants... i had artificial at first, but they started getting brown spots on them, and i didn't like the idea of pulling them out every month or so to clean them, and then have to re-arrange everything and get everything situated back to the way it was figured it would have been too much stress on the fish)... and just a gravel bottom seems boring to me... so i don't know what would be best for me....

Also, a list of the fish i want to keep are cories OR clown loaches (i would prefer clown loaches, but i know they get big, and a 55 gallon is way too small, so i'll settle for about 10 cories).... boesmani rainbows (just something about the blue and yellow, as i've seen on the pics online)... pleco, probably a gold nugget... green tiger barbs... and SOME kind of showcase fish... a rather large pair of somethings... i'm afraid to try another pair of gourami's because of the heck they put each other and the other fish through... i bought them because they were in the same tank together at the LFS, and the person working there said they get along well and are very peaceful... i hate the look of angel fish, and i've heard discus require very strict water parameters... i just don't know what else there is for a showcase... well, based on what i've already noted...

so, any advice?
 
If your 55 gallon is, at least, 40-45" long and about 15" wide, it's suitable for rainbowfishes. Rainbowfishes need space to swim. A Ph of 7 or a little above and a quite hard water may be fine (dgh 10-15).
In 55g you may add a couple of species like some dwarf neon rainbowfishes (a small school of at least 6-7) and boesemani rainbofishes (5-6).
As rainbowfishes usually don't eat from the bottom of the tank, you must add several cories, too.
Live plants, no doubt about that. Rainbowfishes need a well oxigenated water (and plastic plants are horrible...).
 
TwanDizzle said:
so here i am again; wanting to go back to freshwater. now the question is, do i want to use live plants, no plants, or artificial ones?
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Use live plants. They are worth keeping in the tank as they help consume nitrates.:)
Also, a list of the fish i want to keep are cories OR clown loaches (i would prefer clown loaches, but i know they get big, and a 55 gallon is way too small, so i'll settle for about 10 cories).... boesmani rainbows (just something about the blue and yellow, as i've seen on the pics online)... pleco, probably a gold nugget... green tiger barbs... and SOME kind of showcase fish...
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There are smaller species of botiine loaches you can try.

Botia kubotai, Botia striata, Botia histrionica, Botia rostrata, Botia dario and Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki are a few worth mentioning. Keep 3 as the minimum number.

I prefer smaller species of rainbows than Boesemann's but that's me.:) I vouch for Melanotaenia praecox and these are very prolific breeders as well.

Cories are quite nice. Do make sure substrate does not have sharp edges.
a rather large pair of somethings... i'm afraid to try another pair of gourami's because of the heck they put each other and the other fish through... i bought them because they were in the same tank together at the LFS, and the person working there said they get along well and are very peaceful...
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In a lfs tank, they seem peaceful, yes but once settled and comfortable in a proper tank setup, three-spot gouramis can become snippy depending on their personality and will also bully smaller tankmates.;) There are other species that are worth keeping. Just because the first gouramis you had did not work for you doesn't mean you should make a conclusion the others could be just as aggressive. Pearl gouramis, Colisa labiosa and moonlight gouramis are great to add.
i hate the look of angel fish, and i've heard discus require very strict water parameters... i just don't know what else there is for a showcase... well, based on what i've already noted...
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Don't knock it 'til you try it.;) Discus aren't really hard to keep. They just require a little more attention to the water parameters than most fish. If you want them, research a little more and use www.simplydiscus.com as your resource.
 
I peice of personal advice on live plants make sure that your lights are what they need. I put live plants in my tank and did not have the right lights so they died and created a huge algae problem.
 
alright, to answer a couple of questions... my 55 is the standard, 48x12x whatever... as far as the loaches go, i just love the look of clowns... its just so unique, IMO... cories have the same characteristics, only missing the color pattern... i also read about weather loaches on about.com, and thought they sounded pretty cool... does anyone have experience on those?

I've still got my T5-HO lights from my saltwater setup, would that be good enough? or will i have to change the bulbs out?

how hard is it to maintain live plants? and how often will i have to trim them to keep the aquarium looking nice?

would it be a good idea to try my hand at a pair of discus in my tank with a school of cories, tetras, and a gold nugget plec?

I'll do more studying in my free time.. but for now i gotta get to work! hehe
 
TwanDizzle said:
alright, to answer a couple of questions... my 55 is the standard, 48x12x whatever... as far as the loaches go, i just love the look of clowns... its just so unique, IMO... cories have the same characteristics, only missing the color pattern... i also read about weather loaches on about.com, and thought they sounded pretty cool... does anyone have experience on those?
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I used to have them.:) I'd keep coldwater species with them though as these are not tropical species. White cloud mountain minnows and danios make a fine mix. Why not try hillstream loaches? These are very unique but will demand for powerful currents and extra oxygenation. www.loaches.com is your best bet for more information.
I've still got my T5-HO lights from my saltwater setup, would that be good enough? or will i have to change the bulbs out?
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Not familiar with the acronym HO.He he..Can you explain about these lights further? It shouldn't be a problem though if you plan to keep plants that are undemanding anyway particularly low-lighting plants.:)
how hard is it to maintain live plants? and how often will i have to trim them to keep the aquarium looking nice?
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It's not that hard. If you plan to keep hillstream loaches, stick with Java ferns and anubias which can be stuck to driftwoods. These are low-lighting plants. Other undemanding plants are elodeas, cryptocorynes, hornworts and Java moss. Avoid duckweeds if you don't want them to be out of control. They reproduce fast and can clog filters if not kept under control.

Ask in Freshwater Plants section for more information about your plants and the plant enthusiasts will gladly entertain you about them.:)
would it be a good idea to try my hand at a pair of discus in my tank with a school of cories, tetras, and a gold nugget plec?
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What size are these discus you are planning to keep? I'd get the biggest I can afford if I were you. I'd stick with 4 if possible. For juvenile discus, it is best to grow them in a barebottom tank for easier maintenance and fast growth. You surely won't want to stunt them which is obvious by disproportionately large eyes compared to the body. I've never tried gold nugget plecs so I won't comment however my only advice is to do plenty of water changes. Knowing the plecos, they excrete wastes heavily and can quickly pollute the tank.

Check www.planetcatfish.com for more details about cories and plecos. Not all cories can tolerate very high temperatures the discus require.

For characins, please look into this list. I would like to note that I snip off plenty of other species because they do not fit with discus for several reasons including fin nipping and temperature tolerance.

Black Neon Tetra(Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
Bleeding Heart Tetra(Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)
Cardinal Tetra(Cheirodon axelrodi)
Diamond Tetra(Moenkhausia pittieri)
Emperor Tetra(Nematobrycon palmeri)
Flame Tetra(Hyphessobrycon flammeus)
Glass Bloodfin(Prionobrama filigera)
Glowlight Tetra(Hemigrammus eryhthrozonus)
Head-and-Tail-Light(Hemigrammus ocellifer)
Jewel Tetra(Hyphessobrycon callistus)
Kerri Tetra(Inpaichthys kerri)
Lemon Tetra(Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)
Penguin tetra(Thayeria boehlkei)
Robert's Tetra(Hyphessobrycon robertsi)
Rosy Tetra(Hyphessobrycon bentosi)
Rummy-Nose Tetra(Hemigrammus bleheri)
Rummy-Nose Tetra(Hemigrammus rhodostomus)
Rummy-Nose Tetra(Petitella georgiae)
X-ray Tetra(Pristella maxillaris)

You can research these ones further.:)
Chilodus punctatus
Copeina guttata
Copella arnoldi
Copella nattereri
Nannostomus beckfordi
Nannostomus eques
Nannostomus harrisoni
Nannostomus marginatus
Nannostomus mortenthaleri
Nannostomus nitidus
Nannostomus trifasciatus
Nannostomus unifasciatus
Pyrrulina eleanora
Pyrrulina rachoviana
Pyrrulina species
Pyrrulina spilota
Semaprochilodus insignis
Pyrrulina taeniurus

Carnegiella marthae
Carnegiella myersi
Carnegiella strigata fasciata
Carnegiella strigata strigata
Gasteropelecus levis
Gasteropelecus sternicla
Thoracocharax stellatus
 
I am in the same boat. 12x48xmaybe 18" ? Its tall, wide and shallow front to back. I really want a natural looking pretty planted tank with a school of small fish, some snails and shrimp and what not. I have not determined that part yet. I am working on filtration and what plants need.

Good luck!:grinyes:
 
TwanDizzle said:
the first setup was a freshwater semi-community (just some cories, danios, a pleco, 2 threespot gourami, one of which was killed by the other, and on 2 occations, an oscar that didn't even last a week) i got bored with that setup, so shut everything down (lights, filters, heater, feeding, EVERYTHING!)... and let it sit there for a couple of months... the cories, danios and pleco stayed alive the entire time!
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ummm. . . . if you're willing to do that ^ to fish you are responsible for and just got "bored" with, i suggest you pick up an aquarium dvd or screensaver and save yourself the trouble and the money. that way when you get bored you can just turn off the tv and not worry about any living creatures you might be neglecting. what you did is, honestly, pretty disgusting, and you shouldn't be allowed to own animals without some kind of supervision, or at least a guaranteed back-up plan to return them to the store when you get bored. :angryfire:
 
Twan, this may come off a bit personal, please do not take it so, just my oppinion.

From your posts it does not sound as if you want anything to do with a high mainenance setup. Am I correct?

If this is true I would aviod live plants. To keep plants healthy you myst achive the proper levels of light, nutientes, and CO2. This can take some work and/or money. Work if you go DIY CO2 or Money if you plan to buy a CO2 setup... they can get very pricey.

I would also suggest, to minimize the work, going with a small number of fish. Perhaps a few agressive or semi-agressive fish or reasonalble size for you tank. Watching teritorial fish can be very entertaining, just be carefull to choce the correct fish so they don't end up killing one another as with your gouramies.


Finally, if are not seriously interested in keeping fish and plan to abandon your tank for extended periods of time... see the post above this one.
 
ok, i'm not getting mad at anybody.. even if i were to get mad, it wouldn't do much good... so whatever, people have their opinions...

that being said, the first time around, yes i got bored because i got frustrated first.. the fish i REALLY wanted, i found out i couldn't have... plus, i got bored because of the vast emptiness of my 55 gallon... no plants or any decorations, only small, colorless fish, and a pleco that never really moved... that's when i decided to change over to a saltwater aquarium...and THEN i abandoned the aquarium...

ok, fast forward to today.. i have a good paying steady job, so i can get the right equipment to have the fish i want, and keep healthy... i also have a better understanding of what needs to be done... And finally, I know to refrain from changing my mind on what kind of setup i want (fresh or salty, general community or biotope, etc.)

ok, back to my original topic... I have decided to use artificial plants, i've ALMOST got my fish list completed, and i've got a list of the equipment i need to buy before getting a fish...

T5-HO.... ok, well, T5's are a type of light, similar to compact flourescent, but have a thinner tube, and are brighter.... mostly used for saltwater reef aquariums... but whatever, now that i've decided to go with artificial plants, i don't need the brighter lights...
 
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