Newbie Needs Reality Check - Buying First Tank (Acrylic)

[Michwol42795]

You could do
-5 Panda Cory Cats
-1 Dwarf Gourami (or betta)
-2 schools of 5 tetra of your choice
-5 Kuhli Loaches
-1 Bristlenose Pleco

 

[blue2fyre]

With that size tank you have a lot of options. Gouramis make a nice centerpiece. Also a single angelfish can be very elegant. With an angel you would have to get slightly bigger tetras.
1 angel
6-8 congo tetras
6 panda cories

I like above stocking except instead of doing 2 schools of fish I would do one large school.

Say
1 dwarf gourami
10 ember tetras
6 cories of some type

If you are feeling adventurous then you could have a pair of rams or apistos instead of the gourami. Both are very nice looking cichlids.

If not some fancy guppies in place of the gourami would be nice.

 

[Michwol42795]

The problem with the rams is that if you get Blue Rams then you would have to do a lot more maintenance than what it sounded like you wanted to do.

 

[blue2fyre]

There are other rams out there. I know blue rams are not very hardy. I just figured I would throw it out there. They are nice looking.

I also forgot to mention the ever hardy mollies, and platies. They are nice fish that get along with everyone and seem to be able to survive anything.

 

[Michwol42795]

Yah, I know I was just saying if he gets a ram it'd be better to stay away from the GBRs. If you're going to get livebearers I'd leave Mollies to be my last choice. There are a lot of opinions out there about them, personally I think they're a lot more sensitive than platies, guppies, swordtails, etc. They're still pretty hardy though if you provide good conditions.

 

[blue2fyre]

Really?

Wow I've always considered mollies to be the hardiest fish out there. I swear they could live in sewage.

 

[Michwol42795]

Yah, I've heard everything from extremely sensitive to ridiculously hardy on mollies! From what I've seen, I've seen more disease and deaths from mollies, who knows.

 

[blue2fyre]

Huh

Mollies were the fish that always survived all my newbie mistakes.

 

[Naught]

I agree about zebra danios. I may need to over-rule my wife on that one.

Oh, I got the stand today. It had some minor damage, but otherwise looks fantastic... the best looking stand I have seen so far. The aquarium will be just the right size for the spot. The base does continuously touch the floor in the back, and most of the front, so it'll spread the load. I'll keep it away from that seam in the carpet. I put that 14 gallon tank on it just to see, and it is at least right now perfectly level length-wise, and 1/16" off over ~8" depthwise. How close will I need to get it when I go final?

But one thing is disturbing me that I am trying to contact the manufacturer about. There is a slight gap between most points where it connects to the base and where it connects to the top surface. I think the pre-assembled side parts were not alligned correctly by the manufacturer. So no single vertical piece touches both the base and the top... so all the force seems to be shear force through some hinges. I took some photos and will ask them about it.

 

[Naught]

Thanks for the stocking suggestions... that's the fun part.

I'll research them some more. I've got plenty of time, but it's nice to think about.

Our family's been Googling the suggestions above.. the Kuhli Loach sure got a reaction! Looks like bottom feeders are going to be the tough ones to win my wife's heart.

I'd be all psyched right now because my new stand looks so good, except for the way there are gaps after I assembled it. The tank will be a perfect size for the place it will be.