New Tank, Suggestions??

[Flohrie]

Well my Dad used to be right into tropical fish but got out of it about 3 years ago, he had fish like angels, discus and tetras etc.

Anyway since all his old gear was kept but just sitting in the shed I decided to use it.

I have a tank that is 120cm X 36cm X 48cm and it holds around 191Litres (Sorry Australian) I think this is around 55gallons??

I have had the tank set up for about a week, fairly heavily planted with a variety of plants like hairgrass, javaferns and some purple stuff I have driftwood and rocks in there and a sponge, power internal filter ad UGF as well.

My PH is around 7.2 and as I said its been cycling for about a week. I plan on buying a few fish to get the nitrogen?? cycle started.

What suggestions could you make for fish I could end up keeping in a tank like this? I really want some schooling neons, what other fish go well with them?

Thanks

 

[jafo]

I'd hold off on the Neons for now as they aren't good fish for cycling. You want to look ata small group (6-8) of Harlequin Rasboars for that. They are very hardy fish and look good for a bonus.

Not the best pic but will give you an idea of what they look like. They would be fine with your Neons after the tank has aged (cycled) .

Another good cycler would be the Zebra Danios (Leopards and Golds are the same specie). They are also schoolers and very hardy. Look around and see what's available then ask about the ones you like. That's really the best way to go.

 

[pinballqueen]

Or, you might hold off and do a fishless cycle...I'm not sure how it does with plants, so someone else might have to chime in on that.

I would suggest zebra danios. They're the hardiest of the "non-goldfish" fish used in fishy-cycling. Go with 6-10 of them to kick-start your cycle in a tank of that dimension, then, once it levels off, start adding neons if that's what you want, but don't add them all at once.

Neons look best against a DARK background, either deep blue or black. Lighter colors tend to make them look washed-out and pale.

As far as fish that mix well with neons, almost any small tetra breed will do just fine with them. Stay away from big tetra breeds, as they tend to get aggressive (i.e., Silver Dollars, Hatchets, Bala Sharks, etc.). Also, some tetras are more sensitive to environment than others. Try to stick with hardy breeds like rasboras for the best results. (Neons are on the delicate end of the spectrum, but man, are they pretty....).

Good luck to you!

 

[carpguy]

Your tank specs are for a 55 (US) gallon tank.

Neons are a nice schooling community fish (may not be a good first fish, as PBQ mentioned). Other small community fish will make the best tankmates. There are lots of them. You'll want to avoid fish that are a whole lot bigger or that are aggressive. You'll also want to look into some bottom dwellers, like catfish or loaches. The AqC fish profiles is a good place to start. I started with a couple fish books. Also a good place to start.

The general sketch of my stocking scheme was this: a school or two of schoolers, a group of bottom dwellers, and a centerpiece fish. It works for me and gives the tank a little organization. Its mostly just personal preference.

One thing I found out about while I was researching was biotope aquariums. This is where you keep fish from the same enviroment in conditions that are similar to their enviroment. This can be as strict or as general as you want it to be. All of my fish are found in India, Thailand, or Malaysia. They all like the same type of water (soft and acidic, like my tapwater) and similar temps. Its a very general regional tank. Later on I may split into two more specific tanks. Neons are from the Amazon -- they could be the start of a nice Amazon tank. Or the start of a nice community tank. Its up to you.

Here is a good link on cycling a planted tank.

 

[Flohrie]

Thanks everyone.

I will be having a dark background, black to be specific.

And I'll go to my LFS and see how much there Zebra Danios are.

Will let you know how I'm going.

 

[Faramir]

Zebras are dirt cheap. They are indeed the same species as leopards (minor gripe - the singular of species is species - specie is a term concerned with coining, not with biology).

 

[Flohrie]

Well I went to the LFS and had a look at both the Harlequin Rasboras and the Zebras.

Both were $2.90 so I decided on the Rasboras as they were much nicer looking. Got 5 of them hoping they all survive

They look extremely good amongst the green plants and my dark substrate and background brings out the orange/black nicely.