Noob Seeking Advice on New Tank

Heres a good site. http://www.aquahobby.com/e_home.php People leave comments about their experience with certain fish and plants on this site, thats why I like it. I would tell you to pick out what YOU like, because your the one is going to be looking at it for the next however many years. After you choose out a list of fish, post back, and you'll get lots of input as to whether it would work. If it were me I would set up a small Amazon biotope, with a few angels, a group of tetras, a group of hatechets, some corydoras, and maybe a small pleco (clown pleco- peckoltia species(sp?)). But just inside of those few suggestions there are so many different choices inside of the different species. Like I said, choose what YOU like, and then ask some questions or let us know what you decide to do, we like to live vicariously through other people... haha

Congrats on getting a new tank.

I have noticed that many many of you have planted aquariums... but it seems to me that plants are very difficult? I know there are supplemental requirements and lighting requirements and apparently CO2 as well.... is this something I should even consider for my new tank? Sounds... expensive.

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Planted tanks aren't hard, they just cost extra money, especially in the beginning. But its not overly expensive...just more than if you went with fake plants. If you decide to go planted, I'd do some shopping around now for lighting and such, to see what your options are. Since this is your first planted tank (or will be), I'd stick to lower tech, meaning without CO2. For a 40 or 55g tank, 2 watts per gallon of light would be enough to grow a pretty good range of plants, but not have to deal with CO2 right now. For a 40g, assuming the tank is 3ft, lighting may be hard to find. I like power compact lighting. A 3ft 96 watt fixture would give you around 2.3 watts per gallon (wpg) and would be enough to grow alot of stem plants, plus Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocorynes, and even some of the grassy looking plants (Dwarf sagittaria and Dwarf Chain Sword). For a 55g, a 110w fixture or 130w fixture would be perfect. For fertilizer, you can buy dry fertilizers, which in a low tech tank you'd only need to use around once a week and they will last you a long time. If you decide to go planted and figure out how much light you'll have, then we can tackle what fertilizers to order and all that jazz.

For substrate, you can use regular pea gravel or coarse grain sand. But, if you like, you could buy a plant substrate like Eco Complete or Flourite. I love Eco for my planted tanks, but I have a tank that just has regular gravel right now and grows plants just fine.

What are the minimum equipment requirements for me to have to set up my new tank cycling... the tank, the hood w/ lights, a filter, substrate... anything else necessary at this first stage?

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You'll need the tank of course, light fixture (if you are going planted, i wouldn't buy a full hood), glass top if you plan on having fish that are known jumpers, filter, heater, and substrate. For a 40g or 55g, I'd go with a cannister filter, if you can get one. A Rena XP2 would be fine for a 40g and an XP3 would be great for a 55g. Renas are really easy to use and put together. I have 3 (2 in use) and I love them.

And can anyone point me to any good stocking lists/ideas for 40-55gallon tanks?

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What I usually try to do to get ideas is search for "40g" or "55g". That will show you tons of threads. They may not be exactly what you want for your tank, but it will give you alot of ideas. You can go to advanced search and search only in the freshwater section.

am probably going to end up with a 40gal. Unless I can find one cheap enough I doubt I'll get as high as 55G yet. ..although I would love that.

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Have you thought about used tanks? I know being new to the hobby, you probably want new stuff, but buying used tanks can save you tons of money. I'd check on Craigslist.org and in your local paper. You might find a good deal on a 55g!

Girlie girl seems to know more about this than I do. I have never had a 40G and don't know what size light comes with a hood, or what options are available for other lighting fixtures.

| I can say this : I have Always had live plants in my tanks if only java moss.
Ususlly java fern and anacharis as well. Never any extra light or co2. Plantgeek.net has a plantguide and you can find plants that say they are low light and easy care. Even if you dont feel ready for a "planted tank" right now you can still have live plants and I recommend it.

word of caution..anacharis(aka brazillian water weed, elodea densa) is on the list of noxious weeds and may be illegal in your state
you could go with other versions of elodea but they do best with either high light and CO2 or floating they can do fine with 2 wpg.

low maint plants will include crytocoryne, anubias java moss, java fern to name a few.

IMO, if you want to do it right and you do want a 55g,
then dont settle for the 40g. Take some of the funds for components and put it towards the size tank you want. the little extra wait for the components will be worth it. Im not sure the exact price diff between a 40 and a 55 in your location but around here the price of a good filter is about the difference between a 40 and 55.
so if your in no rush and money is tight, buy the 55 if its what you really want and save up for the equiptment.

for tanks in general, you are going to want your filter to go through all of the water at least 10x, so for a 40 gallon you would need at elast 400 gph, and 55 at elast 550 gph.

40 gallon
1 angel or pearl gourami
12 lemon, black skirt, red eye or dimond tetras
6 corydoras

55 gallon
1 angel or pearl goruami
12 larger tetras
6 corydoras
6 hatchets

You may want to move the neons into that tank and add a few more and put something like a betta in the 2.5
Besides that I really am a fan of livebearers
Its really a matter of what you are looking for, do you want a calm tank or one with lots of color and action

If you are going to be using HOB filters that having your water circulated 10 times an hour would be good number to shoot for, but you could get away with alittle less. With a canister filter I would say substancially less. Say 5 times an hour would suffice because there is alot less bypass through or around the filters. If you can afford to filter your aquariums 10 times an hour, BY ALL MEANS, do so, but if you can't, you will get by just fine with less. One more thing, never buy a filter rated for your size tank, always go at least double or bigger. I personally use Rena canisters, because their affordable if you have a budget to live on, and are reliable. If your made of money, buy Eheim, because they are the best.