Plant Nursery - Stocking for a 100g?

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fl4ian

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Feb 22, 2009
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I'm thinking of setting up my 100g for the purpose of growing various types of aquatic plants to go in my other tanks or to sell as I have surplus.

This tank will be densely planted as it's main purpose will be for a plant "nursery"... It's 6 feet by 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet, and will be heated and filtered, with aux power heads to move water around when it gets dense.

I'm planning on putting some SAE's / oto's or a combo, depending on how finely leafed the plants I choose will be.

However, I'm looking to stock some other fish in this tank as well. Something that will not need much open space to swim - something at home in a densely planted environment, weaving in and out of plants. The bioload from these fish (as well as the algae eaters) will provide the bulk of the nutrients for the plants, as I don't want to augment with my dry ferts in this tank. CO2 may or may not be used depending on growth rates, but my idea is to NOT have CO2 in use for this tank.

Anyway, the main purpose of this thread is to determine some species that would work in this environment. I'm thinking maybe one or two species, but really don't want it to be a traditional "community" type tank with a bunch of different types of fish.

Out-of-control breeding would probably not be helpful here, so I'm much less interested in the prolific breeders.

All responses greatly appreciated.

---todd
 
shrimp would be quite happy in there.... you could probably make $$ off them too, if you choose one of the harder to get varieties and let them breed like mad in there. just a thought. i don't really know of any fish that prefer crouded plants... maybe kuhli loaches?
 
@bluechrissyspike - I figured that I would put RCS in there probably to help out with some algae, but also as some live food to condition the fish into breeding, but your suggestion about a rarer shrimp is interesting... maybe some crystals?

@notophthalmus - I've never heard of this fish - what does it go for in cost per fish?
 
I actually went the opposite route in my jungle tanks, I loaded them up with livebearers and they provided all the nutrients the plants needed.

Noto's right on the Pygmy Sunifsh - small, beautiful and loves densely planted tanks. I've seen them go for around $5 each.
 
I've never seen them, so I'm not really sure. I think gouramis might do well since they like lots of cover, but then again, I see mine taking forays into the open space of my tank as well. Perhaps the smaller ones (4" or less) would do better since the larger ones (like kissing gouramis) would probably appreciate more space.

Perhaps a bunch of female bettas would like that since they come from rice-paddy-type environments, but you'd have to leave a space at the surface for them to breathe.
 
I vote for a female betta sorority. That would be awesome. and lots of plant cover is needed for a sorority so that would be perfect.
 
Death Pony said:
My LFS, Animal Jungle, uses Goodeids, Apistogrammas, and guppies in their plant nurseries. They get awesome growth!
Click to expand...
I don't know about the goodeids. The others are fine but goodeids eat plants. Perhaps they have enough plant food that they dont harrass the plants too much?
 
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