New Tank!! Any Advice?

[tjmino]

Hi guys,

I wouldn't say I'm completely new to keeping an aquarium, I've helped with friends' for years, but now is the first time I've felt capable of responsibly keeping one of my own. Sooo I recently ordered the Seaclear tall 25 gallon tank with the Eclipse 2 filter/lighting hood (I've had some experience with the Eclipse hood, and I love the all-in-one look). I'll be laying black Eco Complete substrate (I think 2 inches is sufficient?), so I can try my green thumb at growing some plants -- right now I'm looking at placing 2 ruffled swords and a crinum aquatica, although when it comes time to actually do it, I'll probably just pick out what looks best from my LFS. Then, I already bought a Penn Plax castle with what I believe to be sufficient hiding space, when the fish are still small, at least -- this can be changed later; plus, I'll put a small piece of driftwood or a rock. Anyway, for the real question (although I'd love advice to the previously mentioned ideas too!), I picked out the fish I think I want in the tank, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me if it would work.

1) opaline gourami
2) golden gourami
3) boesemani rainbow
4) german blue ram cichlid
5) african dwarf frog -- will it be too small for some of the fish?
6) rainbow shark or redtail shark
7) pleco, possibly peppermint or gold nugget

So, will these get along? And also, how do you guys feel about having live fish shipped to you from online fish stores? I assume it's safe seeing as how they fish are shipped to local fish stores anyway, but I'm still weary. It's going to be tough to find the exact fish I want at just any store, though.

Well, let me know what you think! Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[sweetpickles7]

Well, first you need to cycle the tank.As for the fish, i would say only one gourami, im pretty sure rainbows need to be in a group but not 100% sure,german blue rams would be fine, no redtail shark, and i would get a small pleco of some sort.Ordering fish online is perfectly fine.I do it all the time.If i were u i would do something like Some rainbows,2 gbr's,dwarf frog , and a pleco.U might need to switch what type of rainbow, i think the boesemani gets pretty big.

 

[TLH]

Welcome to the forum.

I'd go for a little more gravel depth for plants, maybe 60 -75mm.

For the fish I don't think I'd keep 2 different Gouramis together and I'm not sure about the frog with those fish.

If you have a local fish shop it may be worth asking them if they can order you in the fish you want if they don't usually have them rather than get them sent through the postal system where any number of things can go wrong.

 

[exhumed07]

I agrre with tlh on the depth of the gravel. I got 3 inches in my 55 and thinking of buyinh another 20lbs of sand to bring it up to about 4 inches. with plants u want to make sure there is alot of contact and depth for the roots to hold or the fish u plan on gettting will most likly rip them out.

 

[punkrockfish]

don't want to keep gouramis together because they can be very aggresive towards their species, the rainbows will be too big for your tank, not sure on the red tailed shark but i'm pretty sure they need more room than a 25g, a small pleco could work in there, and i do believe that there is a type of frog (african clawed frog) that is sometimes mistaken for the dwarf variety and the clawed will eat your fish, so be aware there. not sure on the plecos, but would have to be something small, but the blue rams would work

 

[tjmino]

Wow, thanks for all the quick responses. Ok, so I'll put the substrate to 3", that's not a problem.

As for the gouramis, I think I'll just go with the opaline. Then, I would rather keep just one rainbow (which are supposed to grow to 3.5", so they're ok)... I'm reading that they're schooling fish, but is it that bad to just get one? If it is, then maybe I'll just get 2 GBRs. For the rainbow shark, supposing that I get a larger tank by the time it grows to full size (6"), will it at least be peaceful enough with the other fish while it is small?

If it is, then I'm looking at an opaline gourami, 2 german blue cichlids, a rainbow shark, a plecostomus (as with the shark, i would have to move it to a larger tank eventually), and an african dwarf frog.

Does this work?

 

[punkrockfish]

in regards to the rainbow fish, yes, it would be bad to get just one, so i would avoid them all together. people keep sharks in a community tank so that shouldn't be a problem with other fish. the question is are you really going to be able to move the fish once they get too big? i'd say go with what you know will fit, especially since this is your first solo fish keeping project.

 

[silver dollars]

I agree with the Rainbow's and the shark, avoid them. One gourami sounds fine to me, or you can get a dwarf neon blue gourami, so it will have more space up top. 1-2 Rams sound fine. There are a few species of Pleco's out there that can fit into your tank, like Bushy-Nose, Zebra ,Rubber-Lip. Or you can do a school of 4-5 Corydoras catfish. A good website to go to for all your Pleco info(size, diet, etc...)is www.planetcafish.com If i may, here is a stocking list that may work, but you can do whatever you wanna do with your tank.

1x Dwarf neon blue gourami
1-2x German Blue Ram(s)
1x Rubber-Lip Pleco
4x Cory cats
4x Neon Tetras(mabey?)

Good luck with your tank, keep us updated on it, and make sure you cycle it!

 

[tjmino]

Thanks for all the help! It should be set up in a couple weeks, I'll put up some pictures

 

[MissFishy]

I have my red tail shark, and I have to say he's pretty nasty and territorial. I think a 25 gallon tall is way too small for a fish like that. By getting a tank with smaller surface area, you really limit your stocking options. It's generally better to get a long tank rather than a taller tank. The shark, pleco, frog, and cichlids are all bottom dwellers of sorts. So your bottom stocking is far too heavy. I would do only 2 of those options, my recommendation would be the pleco and frog. Then find a schooling fish to inhabit your middle and upper levels of the tank.

Either way, please make sure you read up on cycling a tank. There's an easy and quick explanation in link in my signature if you need a refresher.

 

[tjmino]

Thanks MissFishy. Well seeing as how I can hardly find most of the fish I'm looking for at all of the local fish stores (and I'm reconsidering ordering online because I certainly won't pay $30 to ship a $5 fish), I'm going to be stocking it slowly anyway, so I'll play it by ear as to what I'll be adding. Honestly, 2' is the widest tank I can get, and I like the tank I bought, so that's staying.

As for cycling, no worries. I've been reading plenty about it, and seeing as how it all sounds a lot like my college chemistry classes, I shouldn't have any problems. I'll probably end up using Bio-Spira to speed up the process though -- I'm pretty anxious to get this thing set up.

Anyway, thanks again! I'm hoping to be able to have it all planted and set up by next Friday so I'll be sure to post pictures.

 

[MrBungle]

if organic chem was as easy as cycling a tank, id love it! bio-spira definitely helps but its not a miracle like the package states. Seems like you're good to go. have fun!

 

[jamiecarter]

hiya i havent made a post for ages, now iam back any way, bala sharks or 'silver sharks' as there named in england, are ok for a community setup. they do tend to swallow small fish whole, such as small neons. i have had no experience of red tailed sharks. so iam no help there. good luck with your tank

 

[tjmino]

really??? ok so based on what i've heard so far, i'm ruling out red tailed sharks. i've heard that rainbow sharks are a bit more peaceful, but i can't say that i don't also like balas. don't they grow even bigger than rainbow sharks though?? (i realize this isn't a very fair question, since even a rainbow would outgrow my tank eventually)

 

[sweetpickles7]

Yes balas get MUCH bigger.They would defienetly not be a good choice for this tank.

 

[tjmino]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Oh well!

On a separate note, will my Eclipse 2 hood's lighting be sufficient for maintaining plants? It won't be very densely planted, maybe a few swords placed close together on one side with microswords spread out over the rest of the tank. Or maybe you guys can suggest other plants to go with (please choose plants that are easy to find! I'd rather not have to go hunting for them -- finding the fish I want is hard enough!). Basically, I want hardy plants that will not require a CO2 tank.. I'd rather not have to fertilize to much, either, but that's not nearly as big of a deal. Any ideas?

 

[tjmino]

UPDATE:

I finally got the Eclipse hood from UPS, so I got it all moved into my apartment and set up. After planting a few plants (I'll be finding some better ones tomorrow), laying down some driftwood and the castle, and conditioning the water, I added in 6 cardinal tetras, the dwarf frog, and a petricola catfish. I originally only planned on putting in the tetras to cycle while using Bio-Spira, but the LFS owner told me that both the catfish and the dwarf frog would be ok for the process as well. I hadn't even planned on getting the catfish, but I had no idea that these little guys existed - they're so awesome looking! He is ridiculously adventurous, but he also uses all of the hiding places I set up well too -- driftwood & inside of castle (and every single entrance and exit it has!). I'll post some pictures when I get it set up a little more to my liking, and I'm taking a sample of my water to the LFS tomorrow to get tested... I'll let you guys know how that turns out, the few test strips I borrowed from a friend seem to be showing that the water is almost ready. If it's ok, I'll be picking up a clown pleco... then I just have to wait one week for another LFS to get in some blue ram cichlids, and my tank should be complete.

More updates to come...

 

[MissFishy]

Hmm...where to start.

First of all, NEVER listen to fish store employees. It's their job to sell you stuff, the more they sell you, the better for them. Cardinals are not what you should have started this tank off with as they are fragile fish. I hope you added the bio spira in with them correctly, but even then, you have probably overstocked your bio-load to start out with. I would wait at least 2-3 weeks to see how the bio-load and water quality adjusts. At the slightest hint of ammonia, make sure to do some large water changes.

 

[tjmino]

Hey guys, so I said I'd post a picture after I got the tank set up...

Here is the full tank shot:

These are a couple pictures of my catfish. He's a quick little guy so both pictures are blurry, but I think it looks kind of cool:

Clown Pleco:

Golden Gourami: