Coming back after 3 year hiatus

F

FarTooJones

Registered Member
Feb 7, 2012
2
0
0
42
BFE, Nebraska
Hi everyone. After a 3 year or so hiatus i find myself wanting to setup another aquarium. I've moved a lot over the past few years so i decided to wait til i had that out of my system before getting back into aquariums. I've got a 55 gallon tank i'll be setting up over the next few months and maybe some smaller tanks down the line. One question, what are some good resources for freshwater aquariums, planted aquariums, aquarium equipment reviews and such these days online? i used to use plantgeek and another one i can't remember the name of, but looks like plantgeek is no more. Also, best places to buy fish and plants online. I live out in the boonies and have 1 fish store in a 100 mile radius of me. I used aquariumplants.com with success in the past, and thatpetplace.com for fish with mixed results.

My plan is to do a 55 gallon freshwater planted community tank. I've got a Coralife light that'll give me about 2.5 watts per gallon, and i plan to use eco-complete for substrate, and not use C02 if possible. From what I've researched already I'm thinking of getting a Cascade 700 canister filter and a Hydor ETH 300 inline heater. I'm not sure what type of fish i'll get yet. I've always been a cory man (adolfoi's), so prolly 8 cory's. Thinking of trying some cherry shrimp for the first time, not sure how many to get for a 55 gallon tank. Still undecided on the upper levels of the tank, diamond tetras, black ruby barbs, or guppies possibly and some sort of centerpiece fish. It'll all depend after i test my tapwater i guess and what online site and can get everything from. If anyone has suggestions for equipment if i'd be better off with something else please chime in. :)

Oh, are zebra plecos any easier to get? I'm going to own some before I do one way or another.
 
IMO you have a found a really good resource center right here. There are quite a few excellent hobbyists and professionals who frequent these pages, I am not one of them however. As you browse through this site you will find a good number of stickies that offer a large amount of info. If you have specific questions just throw them out there and in time you will get some pretty good advise. Welcome back to the hobby, I came back in a little over 2 years ago and have literally stocked my tanks dealing with the folks at both the vendor and hobbyists classifieds here at AC, good luck.
 
Hello, and welcome back to the hobby!!! roscoe70 stated it very well. I just wanted to jump in on the zebra plecos. :D I owned one about 5 years ago. Someone brought it in to me from a really nasty goldfish tank. I could NOT believe me eyes. Unfortunately, it had a hard life and lived less than a year. I would love to own another, they are indeed just that gorgeous, but still seeing them listed for around $250, last I checked. Although, there are some other varieties nearly as pretty...nearly.
Best of luck to you!! Have fun setting up the tank.
 
Welcome back. And to answer your question about zebra plecos - yes, they are relatively easy to find. Still pricey, but not nearly as high as they were 3 years ago, and much more readily available. Good luck.
 
Couple questions on stocking my tank. I'd really like to try keeping cherry shrimp. I know i want to have 8-10 bandit cories or something similiar. I was thinking about 8-10 black cherry barbs as well. Would that work with the shrimp at all? Also, do you count the shrimp in the general inch per gallon rule? If not, how many shrimp would be a good start for a 55 gallon tank with 55 inches of fish in it?
 
I can't really answer your shrimp question, I will leave that to those who know more about them, but just wanted to remind you about the inch per gallon rule. I don't go for it at all. I always picture a 10 inch Oscar in a 10 gallon tank! LOL. I *know* that you are not planning that or even talking about a similar situation. It is best to keep in mind the behavior of the fish. I'm not saying this for your benefit but more to new fish keepers who may be reading. :D I think what you have planned would work, including the shrimp. IMO
 
The inch per gallon rule is very dependent on what kind of fish you get, which makes it mostly useless. There are lots of vendors on here for plants and fish and lots of hobbyists that sell their extra stock too. Check out the marketplace and vendor sections of the forum. Mgamer (bob's tropical plants) is a good place to start and also msjinkzd has a good variety of plants, inverts, and fish. Also, aquabid.com is a great place to find stuff and you can get a deal sometimes.

I wouldnt risk keeping cherry shrimp in a community setting. They are likely to get eaten and with that many fish it is doubtful you will see them very often; they will likely be hiding. They are best left to their own tank, though some of the smaller tetras or rasboras like neons, chilis, etc will do ok with them. Might have a baby munched every once in a while though. Good thing about shrimp is you can keep a lot in a small tank. A 10 gal can easily house 50-80 of them and if you're good about water changes, you can probably get 100, though I dont like to crowd them that much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom