Planted 200g?

[Neervana]

i've got a 200gallon tank..i was thinking of doing a freshwater planted community? i want a pair of rams in it...but was wondering what other fish i could have? i want something lively...
give me some ideas, guys :) i'm setting up from next friday onwards...i will just transfer pump + some water from my other tanks into this new one. so i need a list of nicely coloured fish..the plants i will sort out at LFS. just have no idea which fish to get right now. i might get a betta too but have no idea how he'd do in a 200gal lol. all i know right now is it will be heavily planted.

[Bk718]

200g tank congrats!!! Got good lighting for it??

For fish you can go with
blue or bolivian rams (blues stay smaller)
rummy nose tetras - are very active and bring tons of color/life to the tank
harley rasboras - not as active as rummies but also bring alot of color
Angels - can get a group of them
Discus - would be sweet especially for a tank this size you can have a nice display
school of cory doras - got many to choose from
a BN pleco or 2 to take care of some minor algae/bottom clean up

for a tank this size fish possibilities are endless..
But since you are making it a HEAVILY planted community tank i would worry about lighting first then fish since lighting would cost you an arm and a leg.. (plus filters)

[mcgrady7761]

neer i would get some apisto's too. there is such a variety with apistogrammas and u cant go wrong.

[Mgamer20o0]

well i would start out smart and set up a couple 40 gals as plant grow out or be ready to drop lots of money on plants. as for stocking options.... i dont even know where to start.... big fish small fish?

[Neervana]

i'd like a lot of small fish..i've always had monster fish lol so no want a change

[Bk718]

then go for few rams, and a TON of tetras + shrimps and what not..

[Neervana]

oooh i'd love some shrimp, been wanting some for ages! and they would have loads of plants for shelter! so..this is what i've decided on so far:

1 pair of blue rams
about 10 shrimp
two sparkling gouramies
1 betta
a pakistani loach
5 cories
a pair of angelfish

cant really think of anymore fish...

perhaps some cherry barbs? or some neon tetras...

[Bk718]

thats a very light stock.. lol good for a 40g tank

Shrimp and angels dont mix so careful.. (also angels and neons = yummm good snack)

Cherry barbs are great for color but they are not solid schoolers.. if you want solid school go with rummies/harley rasboras.

[Neervana]

ok so forget the angels (i already have 5 gold angels and they are driving me nuts!)...anything else i could have? uhmm...maybe i can just add more fish as i go along?

[Bk718]

can go with rainbow fish instead of angels

[Neervana]

oooh good idea i just googled them, they look nice! never had them before! how many am i allowed? would they school? i like the Neon rainbows and how they look

[Bk718]

oooh good idea i just googled them, they look nice! never had them before! how many am i allowed? would they school? i like the Neon rainbows and how they look
The do school together, you can check out Rich posted some photos of his rainbows in the photo section.. You can get many lol.. remember 200g tank nothing is stopping you. Just try and keep fish stock straight and simple, dont make it a big salad.

[jpappy789]

I'd go:

20 praecox rainbows
30-40 harlequin rasboras
2 pairs of rams or apistos
30 corys or sids
a few pairs of honey gouramis
quite a few BN plecs

[Bk718]

^^ lol nice stock but i think that might be 2 much for a planted tank..

[bushwhacker]

tetras tetras tetras hehe serpaes glolights neons blackskirts cardinals etc etc

[jpappy789]

^^ lol nice stock but i think that might be 2 much for a planted tank..

Really? But it's so nice......:)

[ciaobella7122]

I'd do
-a pair of blue rams
-a pair of gold rams (the blue and yellow colors would offset one another very nicely)
-a school of honey gouramis (i have 6, 3m 3f and they add a lot of life to the tank)
-a school of cardinal tetras (personal fave and very hardy)
-a small school of harlequin rasboras (for variety)
-a school of cories and otos (great cleanup crew!)
-variety colored mystery snails (will eat DEAD plants and add great color!)
-and you could probably start with about 20 shrimp (red cherry are my fave b/c of coloring but bamboo will do really well and be larger so more visible too!)

Definitely put up some pics when you decide whats up, I'd LOVE to see them and I'm always looking for new ideas lol

[Bansart]

Congrats on the 200g tank. cant wait to see pics of it.
i would stock it with loads of rummy nose tetras..these guys are crazy swimming in a school left to right.. definetley a shoal of corydoras..
If your gonna have moss then maybe some RCS
A few SAEs and Otos.
Celestial Pearl Danios (thought Id throw in there cause their one of my favs)

[JAY973]

Neervana, do you have a particular type of planted tank in mind?

In a tank that size a school of Congo Tetra's would be a nice addition. I would stay away from Rummy Noses until you decide on plants. My personal experience with a school of about 35 Rummy Noses is they can go after plants no matter how much you feed them. The Albino Tetra's can also be quite the aqua lawn mowers. HC and Blyxa were some of my Rummy Nose favorites. I know of a few other planted tank keepers that have had the same problems.

Looking forward to some pics.

[Inka4040]

I'd have to second congos. Maybe like 15 of those, 6 rams, 25 harlies, and 15 cories would be a nice start. Rainbows are another great choice. With 200 gallons though, you definitely have a lot of wiggle room. Maybe you could do geos with a driftwood and anubias/java type scape?

[Bansart]

Neervana, do you have a particular type of planted tank in mind?

In a tank that size a school of Congo Tetra's would be a nice addition. I would stay away from Rummy Noses until you decide on plants. My personal experience with a school of about 35 Rummy Noses is they can go after plants no matter how much you feed them. The Albino Tetra's can also be quite the aqua lawn mowers. HC and Blyxa were some of my Rummy Nose favorites. I know of a few other planted tank keepers that have had the same problems.

Looking forward to some pics.

That explains it!!! I had HC in my tank..kept seeing pieces of it floating then one day vanished! just completely gone without a trace... ha now I know the rummys are to be blamed.. thanks for shedding a light

oh what about roselines maybe 8 or 10 of em

[Preeths]

How about a dozen chinese paradise fish and some tetras?

[Neervana]

How about a dozen chinese paradise fish and some tetras?

wow the paradise fish look really nice! hmmmm i cant seem to make up my mind...i plan to have a lot of bogwood in my tank too. i think that would look nice with some tetra and shrimp? maybe i'd put my gold nugget in there aswell.

[irishspy]

A group of swordtails in a tank that size would look very nice.
(And I'm not at all envious. Really. :drool: )

[oblongshrimp]

I have probably 20 rainbows in my 120gal planted tank along with 30-40 rummynose and some random tetras. I like the rainbows but they will eat shrimp so if you want to do much with shrimp I would stick to smaller fish. The smaller fish will eat shrimp too but won't (or most likely won't) eat the adults.

I think a big school of rummynose or cardinal tetras with some apistos and other random fish you like would be really sweet in a 200gal tank.

[Neervana]

thanks for the suggestions guys...i'll get some pics of the tank up sometime next week and we can take it from there

[gustavo85]

a pair of pearl gouramis, 40-50 rummy nose tetras, 10-15 rainbows, a nice pleco

[pik01]

I'm getting excited just reading about this, no telling what it's like for neervana haha

[Mgamer20o0]

300 ember tetras.....

[nx2ured]

Can't wait to see pics of the fish you decide on!

[pik01]

300 ember tetras.....

that would CERTAINLY be a wonder to behold!

[phanmc]

I've always preferred a large quantity of a few species than a few of several species, too many species and you get a hodgepodge with nothing really standing out. For schooling fishes, a large school of 100+ will be more impressive and act more naturally since that is how they behave in nature.

[plantbrain]

If you can, stick with a few main theme fish/critters. A school of 200 Cardinal tetras against a nice dark moss background looks very nice.

This takes restraint.

You can build on this main theme and add diversity and niches.

Say adding some Apistogamma/Rams etc(say 5-7).
Or Checker board Cichlids.

Then a pack of cories, say C sterbai, maybe 15-20

A few nice rare plecos, some Otto cats and maybe 50-100 Amano shrimp.

If you wanted just the Cardinalls and Otto cats, then adding Crystal red shrimp could also be done at 100-200 shrimp.

That with a lower light, CO2 enriched moss, wood scape would look pretty nice.

A hodge podge of a few species here and there, that looks like a zoo:silly:
Show off the species really well, breed, have a nice tank to look at when you come home etc.

Same with the plants.
You can keep many species together if you match them well, provide a good home and ample space for each species, same with plants, but it takes skill and restraint, many folks get "collectoritus".

You seem like you want to move beyond the keeping of fish and want a more defined community and aqua scape having already kept a bunch of larger species.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Virtuoso2K12]

Celestial Pearl Danio are the best fish to have,they are so active,each has their own personality and very cool and beautiful looking colors.