Hello everyone, hoping for some advice here
So I've got a 55 gal semi planted tank with some oddball fish. Current occupants are:
1 black ghost knifefish, 7 inches
2 clown loaches, 5 inches each
3 otocinclus fighting a losing battle against algae on my plants, 1 inch each
1 banded leporinus 5 inches
1 very active rope fish 11 inches
For plants I don't remember some names since I basically got what looked good here and there. I know I have a big Argentine sword, some rotala, some ludwigia and a few short bamboo.
So that's where I'm at currently, but I want to make a few changes and also didn't want to make major mistakes. I've only been keeping fish for about 6 months.
My substrate is just a very thin (3/4 in) layer of sand. I bought some fluval stratum and new sand hoping to make a layered substrate. I'm a little nervous about ripping up everything and replacing the whole tank layout though. Are there good ways to ensure fish survival and happiness?
I have a few large-ish chunks of driftwood in there but little real hard-scape or structure. Is there a good option for building up a tank on a budget? Some things seem so expensive..
I want to make life better for my rope fish. I've read they like company, so I was considering getting one or two more. I also wanted to create a "jungle" area with much more dense planting on one side of the tank if fish want to hide.
My leporinus has been biting plants and nipping fins for a while now. I'm waiting to here back from a friend if I could donate him to a more aggressive community, since he has a more bare Cichlid tank. With him out of the community, and counting the new rope fish, is there any room for a higher load? I've wanted a pair of pictus cats for a long time, but wouldn't want to stuff them in to a tank where they'd be miserable. I might also move the otocinclus to my 20 gal with zebra danios, neon tetras and shrimp.
With all that said, I'm still a total noob with regards to plants. I'm pretty sure I don't want to inject Co2 since I'm not sure I'm up to monitoring ph that closely. I have root tabs and flourish excel and iron supplement from seachem. My lighting is a optibright 48" led from petco I think, with red, blue, and white. My dream is to have a lush tank, with fish moving between lots of healthy looking plants. I'll try and include pics, and it's obvious I'm not there yet
Any comment is appreciated! I'd rather know about problems and fix them than assume everything's ok to nurse my self esteem haha
So I've got a 55 gal semi planted tank with some oddball fish. Current occupants are:
1 black ghost knifefish, 7 inches
2 clown loaches, 5 inches each
3 otocinclus fighting a losing battle against algae on my plants, 1 inch each
1 banded leporinus 5 inches
1 very active rope fish 11 inches
For plants I don't remember some names since I basically got what looked good here and there. I know I have a big Argentine sword, some rotala, some ludwigia and a few short bamboo.
So that's where I'm at currently, but I want to make a few changes and also didn't want to make major mistakes. I've only been keeping fish for about 6 months.
My substrate is just a very thin (3/4 in) layer of sand. I bought some fluval stratum and new sand hoping to make a layered substrate. I'm a little nervous about ripping up everything and replacing the whole tank layout though. Are there good ways to ensure fish survival and happiness?
I have a few large-ish chunks of driftwood in there but little real hard-scape or structure. Is there a good option for building up a tank on a budget? Some things seem so expensive..
I want to make life better for my rope fish. I've read they like company, so I was considering getting one or two more. I also wanted to create a "jungle" area with much more dense planting on one side of the tank if fish want to hide.
My leporinus has been biting plants and nipping fins for a while now. I'm waiting to here back from a friend if I could donate him to a more aggressive community, since he has a more bare Cichlid tank. With him out of the community, and counting the new rope fish, is there any room for a higher load? I've wanted a pair of pictus cats for a long time, but wouldn't want to stuff them in to a tank where they'd be miserable. I might also move the otocinclus to my 20 gal with zebra danios, neon tetras and shrimp.
With all that said, I'm still a total noob with regards to plants. I'm pretty sure I don't want to inject Co2 since I'm not sure I'm up to monitoring ph that closely. I have root tabs and flourish excel and iron supplement from seachem. My lighting is a optibright 48" led from petco I think, with red, blue, and white. My dream is to have a lush tank, with fish moving between lots of healthy looking plants. I'll try and include pics, and it's obvious I'm not there yet
Any comment is appreciated! I'd rather know about problems and fix them than assume everything's ok to nurse my self esteem haha