30 gallon freshwater planted tank

[sidhesh]

hello everyone,

i am new to this hobby and am enjoying it a lot.. i have recently bought a 30 gallon tank online and am cycling it with fish flakes. its taking sometime but ill do it patiently. i have planted it with amazon swords, hairgrass and vallisnerias with white sand as the substrate..

please help me with some stocking ideas. i plan to add the following (slowly of course)
8 neon tetras
8 zebra danios
8 runnynose or penguin or buones aires tetras (depending on which are available)
3 albino cory cats

is this stocking okay? shud i make any changes? and how do i go about adding them? meaning a pair of fishes at a time, but shud i complete one school and then start adding the other type of fish? or add 2 fish of one type and then 2 of another and so on? also wud 3 albino rainbow sharks be ok for bottom feeders if i dont get the corys? and can i get a betta too? *BOUNCINGS

sorry for so many questions, but im confused

thanks,

sidhesh

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You could do one rainbow shark for the bottom instead of the corys. They are probably too territorial to have more than one in a 30g. If you get the Corys instead, get more like 6 of them. Even 8. They're the only bottom feeders.

I would say to add half a school at a time. Finish one school before starting another - schooling fish will be more comfortable with more of their kin. You may want to consider sticking with only two schools (plus the bottom dwellers) and making them a little larger. Makes a more cohesive looking tank.

A betta - depends on their personality. Some don't tolerate tankmates, others are fine, others are choosy (ie, okay with some fish but dislike fish with bright colors or long fins). I'd be concerned about the danios or the larger tetras potentially nipping a more finny type of betta. One without flowing fins, or a female, or a dwarf gouramis, would fare better in that regard.

Are the plants doing well? If the plants are thriving, you likely won't see a cycle as the plants will utilize the nutrients from the decomposing fish food. So as long as you're not having any ammonia or nitrites show on your tests, you should be good to start stocking.

 

[FreshyFresh]

I'd concentrate on establishing your cycle first. Doing it the fish-food way is going to get real stinky. I've gone the fish-less route by adding household ammonia. It worked, but frustratingly. Are you using an API Master Test Kit to monitor your cycle?

If you intend on keeping zebra danios, I'd put 4 of them in your 30g and cycle with them, monitoring water parameters daily and doing water changes any time you see ammonia or nitrites.

It's possible you may never see ammonia or nitrites with plants in the tank, depending on how the plants are doing. I've never tried to cycle a brand-new tank the fishless way with plants in the tank too. I'm a seeded media tank starter anymore. Instant setup.

 

[jediinthedark]

I've cycled with straight ammonia and had great results. ymmv. You do need a good liquid testing kit though.

My initial thought was the live plants with the white sand substrate. Root plants don't grow in sand. The challenge is that sand looks great, and bottom feeders love it.
Most of the time when you see sand in a planted aquarium it is placed in specific spots where plants are not wanted, and dirt or other plant friendly substrate is under it or in the planted areas.
Oh course plants that grow on logs or float don't care at all.

And I agree with capslock. Up the number of corry cats.

 

[exhumed07]

ditto on the sand. the problem with sand is it tends to compact, it gets hard like concrete. looks great but roots have a hard time in it. my suggestion is to look into a dirted tank, it's not to late to change over, and the dirt will help with the cycle as it decomposes. HOWEVER, shortly after startup there will be some algae issues. nutrients from the dirt will leech into the water column and promote TONS of algae growth. this can be combated. in my 55 i had virtually no issues. few here and there but not bad. my 20 gallon on the other hand was a mess. probably 90% water changes every other day for about a month. lights were on about 3 hours a day, and water would look like pea soup after 2 days. i threw in some christmas moss, and duck weed to help absorb the nutrients. with controlling the duck weed the christmas moss took off and starved out the duck weed. now it's balanced with crystal clear water. there are pros and cons to everything we do in a tank. have to settle on which ones you can live with.