well yesterday i picked up my new tank, 48" long, 20" wide, 28" tall. my husband and i have seen a rock set-up in the LFS which had rockwork full of holes built up the back of the tank, and lots of small fish living in all the holes and swimming about plenty. we are wanting the same kind of set-up for this tank as i think otherwise it will be hard making full use of the height of the tank.
im planning on sitting and silconing pieces of rock together to make say 3 pieces which i can then stand in the back and sides of the tank which will reach almost to the top. in effect i guess i want a rock background with fish living in and around it. the front will stay open for them to swim around. would this work?
im not planning on any plants as ive read that plants dont grow where these fish live, and they would uproot them anyway.
im thinking black gravel with white rock, or a mix of white and brown rock. i can get hold of both these 2 types and i was considering a mix of the 2.
http://i44.tinypic.com/23lnkpc.jpg
http://images.auctionants.com/5-139104.jpg
and the black gravel to hopefully keep the fish a bit darker in colour.
im not sure what lighting to go for, im guessing it wont take long for algae to build up on the rock which im really not looking forward to, so i want to choose my lighting as wisely as possible to try to keep algae to a minimum. any ideas?
i have a fluval fx5 to run on the tank, but should i add say a fluval 4+ to give a bit more water movement? i could have this set down a little in the tank to try to move the water around the rocks a little more, but am not sure how much water movement and current these guys like.
i will cycle this tank using fx5 filter media from my fx5 i have on my goldfish tank, it will be more or less instantly cycled as im just planning on swapping the new fx5 canister for the goldfish one and so ideally il need to be adding some fish as soon as i swap them. the goldfish tank has 3 other filters so it will be fine to re-cycle the new filter media in the new cansiter.
so on to the fish. i honestly have no idea what to get. as ive said, im a complete newbie to this. i want to properly research this before i drop into the deep end. im hoping for something looking a little like this -
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/images/thumbimg/400/4696_4.jpg
but with a ton more fish. if this is possible.
im looking for lots of colours, and plenty of activity all over the tank. i dont want anything thats going to beat the snot out of other fish in the tank though, but as far as i can tell as long as there are plenty of hidey holes it should be fine. maybe if someone has the time, they could maybe make a stocking list of what i can have in this tank.
also, is it a wise move to add 1 or 2 bristlenose plecs? in a hope of controlling some of the algae.
once stocked, what should i feed these guys? do they all come out of their rock work to eat? sounds like a dumb question i know
once im stocked, il be doing weekly water changes, i usually do 60-80% on my goldfish tank so if its ok il be doing the same on this tank. im planning on removing the rock work each time if i find it difficult to vac down behind it but i may just be able to slide each piece forward and then back into place once ive done it.
sorry for the essay, i hope you guys can help me, im sure there will be plenty more questions to come.
im planning on sitting and silconing pieces of rock together to make say 3 pieces which i can then stand in the back and sides of the tank which will reach almost to the top. in effect i guess i want a rock background with fish living in and around it. the front will stay open for them to swim around. would this work?
im not planning on any plants as ive read that plants dont grow where these fish live, and they would uproot them anyway.
im thinking black gravel with white rock, or a mix of white and brown rock. i can get hold of both these 2 types and i was considering a mix of the 2.
http://i44.tinypic.com/23lnkpc.jpg
http://images.auctionants.com/5-139104.jpg
and the black gravel to hopefully keep the fish a bit darker in colour.
im not sure what lighting to go for, im guessing it wont take long for algae to build up on the rock which im really not looking forward to, so i want to choose my lighting as wisely as possible to try to keep algae to a minimum. any ideas?
i have a fluval fx5 to run on the tank, but should i add say a fluval 4+ to give a bit more water movement? i could have this set down a little in the tank to try to move the water around the rocks a little more, but am not sure how much water movement and current these guys like.
i will cycle this tank using fx5 filter media from my fx5 i have on my goldfish tank, it will be more or less instantly cycled as im just planning on swapping the new fx5 canister for the goldfish one and so ideally il need to be adding some fish as soon as i swap them. the goldfish tank has 3 other filters so it will be fine to re-cycle the new filter media in the new cansiter.
so on to the fish. i honestly have no idea what to get. as ive said, im a complete newbie to this. i want to properly research this before i drop into the deep end. im hoping for something looking a little like this -
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/images/thumbimg/400/4696_4.jpg
but with a ton more fish. if this is possible.
im looking for lots of colours, and plenty of activity all over the tank. i dont want anything thats going to beat the snot out of other fish in the tank though, but as far as i can tell as long as there are plenty of hidey holes it should be fine. maybe if someone has the time, they could maybe make a stocking list of what i can have in this tank.
also, is it a wise move to add 1 or 2 bristlenose plecs? in a hope of controlling some of the algae.
once stocked, what should i feed these guys? do they all come out of their rock work to eat? sounds like a dumb question i know
once im stocked, il be doing weekly water changes, i usually do 60-80% on my goldfish tank so if its ok il be doing the same on this tank. im planning on removing the rock work each time if i find it difficult to vac down behind it but i may just be able to slide each piece forward and then back into place once ive done it.
sorry for the essay, i hope you guys can help me, im sure there will be plenty more questions to come.