Help: New 40 Gallon Freshwater Tank

[Edward40Hands]

Hey, I'm new to the aquarium world and have grown extremely interested in these things recently.
I have a 40-G tank and after a decent amount of research I plan to have it become a Live plant, freshwater aquarium. As a college student, I prefer plants/animals/environments that I can spend less that 5-15 minutes a day tending to (unless its changing water/cleaning on certain days obviously) but am open to anything.

Where I need help:

Plants: I really like the idea of Java Moss on a few rocks/DW I can get my hands on as well as some Vals along the back or corners of the tank as well as African Water Ferns on the back wall. Maybe a few Amazon Swords grouped together to add more hiding areas and for added aesthetic appeal. Which of these are a bad idea/good idea for this size tank? are there plants that work better together? others you might suggest with relaltively low maintenance?

Fish: Being that there are hundreds upon hundreds of options and even more options of combinations of fish, this part was the most tricky for me... I really would like to be able to have a small school of at least 6 or so Cory Catfish (I read they do better in groups) as well as 3 or 4 Ghost Shrimp. I had a few fish like Cherry Barbs or Zebra Danios highlighted but wasn't overly impressed with how I imagined them looking. Is there any fish you suggest that will live stress-free with Cory's and Shrimp as well as with the above plants? I do like the idea of having groups of barbs, tetras, and danios (smaller adult sizes = more fish) but if there were other small fish I havent listed that are pretty and sociable that work better than others together, that would be awesome.. My options seem to be:
A- have a large school of one small fish (barb/danio/tetra)
B-have 2-4 medium size groups of small fish
C-1-2 groups of small fish + a few medium size fish
D-community of random medium/large(r) fish that are compatible

And I'm honestly open to any of the above choices but would rather see more fish than not.

Set Up: As mentioned above, I have a 40 G tank and intend to have Freshwater.
I did some looking into filters and lights and hope to get a T-5 light and a Penguin 350B HOB filter system.
Test kit seems to be the API Master test kit I can pick up. As far as everything else that is required to operate a successful tank I have no idea where to begin. What else do I need to look at? bubblers? what kind of substrate works better for you all if you have experience with live-planted tanks? CO2 injection?

Any and All help is appreciated! thanks

 

[Gabler]

As for the plants, I'd recommend sticking to java moss, java ferns, and anubias. They're incredibly easy to grow, as they require no special lighting nor CO2 injection. Though they are slow to grow, anubias will eventually grow fairly large, and java moss and ferns will make excellent carpeting and foreground plants respectively. Keep in mind that most bottom-dwelling fish will uproot plants. One advantage to both java moss and java ferns is that they aren't particularly susceptible. You typically tie java moss onto something to plant it, and java ferns prefer to have their roots out of the substrate anyway.

As for the fish, corydoras are an excellent choice. They're fairly forgiving for newbies, and incredibly charismatic as they nose around in the substrate and chase each other around the tank. Be careful with the ghost shrimp. Most fish like to eat them. Danios prefer a colder tank than do corydoras. They thrive in cold water tanks with goldfish and dojo loaches. Also, in my experience, tetras and barbs are somewhat more sensitive than livebearers. I always recommend guppies to newbies, though swordtails, mollies, and platies can be just as good. Avoid mosquito fish—too aggressive. Guppies are fairly small, often no more than an inch excluding their tails, very colorful, and very docile. They breed readily (just add water), and they aren't too picky about what they eat. If you'd rather not breed them, buy all males. Females are perpetually pregnant, since they can store sperm almost indefinitely.

As for establishing the tank itself, read about cycling before you do anything else. If you add fish before you establish the nitrogen cycle, you'll kill the fish. Don't worry too much about test kits. Test early on to make sure your ammonia and nitrites are zero, do water changes regularly to keep nitrates low, and don't mess with the pH. Changing the pH does more harm than good. Loose substrate with a large grain size is best for plants. Bubblers are completely unnecessary. Buy it for looks or not. I don't particularly like them; some people do. CO2 injection isn't too hard, but if you're new, best stick with plants that don't need it. It's just one more thing to worry about.

One last thing: If you're a college student, do you know where you will be four years from now? A healthy tank will keep your fish alive longer than that. Be prepared to move your fish or don't buy them. I'm a college student myself, and It's a lot of work moving a 30 gallon tank without disrupting the nitrogen cycle or harming the fish. Be prepared to commit long term.

 

[Edward40Hands]

First, thank you for the reply!

Plants: I think i'm going to go with the moss and fern (java) because of their simplistic appeal and I personally like the way moss looks once it's spread over the terrain of the tank.

Fish: I was at the pet store today looking at the fish selection they had available and I really was drawn to the mollys because they stood out and had some really good markings on their bodies and was considering getting 2 dalmations, 2 silver, and 2 black mollys as well as 4 or so Corys. Do you think this would be a good mix for a tank? Or if there room for more fish as well?

Equipment: I priced out some things today in the store as well while I was there and was really drawn to the LED lights they had. Do you have any experience with LEDs compared to standard lighting sources/fixtures? They were slightly cheaper and had beautiful displays vs. standard displays IMO.

PS: I will be graduating in the next 1.5/2 years but thankfully I only live 45 minutes from my hometown, so worst case scenario I get another 40g tank (seems to be the cheapest part of having a tank...) and have it set up a week or two in advance.

 

[Rbishop]

also...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/freshwater-cycling.84598/

 

[Edward40Hands]

Update: I have the tank cycling and running finally and have various live plants arriving Wednesday (Amazon swords, Java fern, 4-leaf clover, water sprites) and possibly getting a few small fish to help the cycling get jump started quicker.

Long term: I want to know if
2x Angels
2x GBR
5/6x Corys
5/6x Jumbo Neon Tetras

Will be a good mix as far as peacefulness, overcrowding, bio load, etc...?

Thanks!!

 

[Tifftastic]

The second two plants you listed, if they are ones I think they are, will need CO2 and high light in order to survive. They're not very good plants for beginners IMO, just a heads up.

As far as your fish stock goes it sounds mostly ok, but you might want to think of a different schooling fish as angels will get large enough to eat neons in the long run.

 

[Edward40Hands]

The second two plants you listed, if they are ones I think they are, will need CO2 and high light in order to survive. They're not very good plants for beginners IMO, just a heads up.

As far as your fish stock goes it sounds mostly ok, but you might want to think of a different schooling fish as angels will get large enough to eat neons in the long run.

Yes I think I've changed the schooling fish to be 10-12 Corys that can be in warmer water as well as 10-12 black neons or diamond tetras

 

[Kannan Fodder]

Black neons are much, much hardier than neons. They get a little larger too, and don't seem to be quite as shy.

 

[irishspy]

As far as your fish stock goes it sounds mostly ok, but you might want to think of a different schooling fish as angels will get large enough to eat neons in the long run.

Agreed. A small school of Rummynoses or Bloodfins should be okay and look quite nice.

 

[rufioman]

Agreed. A small school of Rummynoses or Bloodfins should be okay and look quite nice.

Yup. Rummys or bloodfins. Bloodfins are a lot more common, and cheap as dirt. Great personalities in larger numbers.