new tank ideas

[zoalover34]

Im going to be setting up a new 55 gal, and I was thinking about doing a school of silver dollars. How many can I put into a tank this size, and is there any other school fish I could put in there also? I was looking into inverts also, any suggestions? I saw a blue lobster (cant remember the name now) only gets about 5 inches, that I thought was kind of cool. Also, should I do a planted tank? Gravel? And what kind of lighting do you recomend? I have some powerheads from my salt water tank, should I use these? I know its a lot of questions, but Im going from a 10 gal fresh to a 55 gal BIG difference lol.

 

[brooklynfish]

not to hijack here but.........whyd you take apart your sw to do a freshwater?

 

[silver dollars]

Silver dollars get fairly big. I was able to keep 4 in a 55gal with frequent water changes. There shy fish and should only be kept with calm fish like cories, tetras, etc.

 

[zoalover34]

What would be a good large school to keep? I found a few red shrimp that are really cool also!

 

[MikeS]

Most crayfish will eat plants. You will have to do the research on which do and don't.

If you are going with shrimp, then the fish must be small to hopefully avoid them eating the shrimp. Plus, in a 55, if you want a large school, you will need to stay with small fish.

There are many different fish you can go with. I would look at some small tetras or rasboras.

 

[zoalover34]

I found some cool ciclades (sp) They are pretty small and have nice colors! Any ideas how many of those i could put in the tank.. Also what kind of hob filter do you recomend?

 

[Meghan]

My Whisper 30 hob that came with my 29g tank kit is really really quiet. Since there aren't fish in it yet, I can't comment on performance.

 

[Rayneuki]

Whispers are nice. I have one on my twenty.
On my thirty I'm gonna change to an Aqua Clear. I'm currently running a Mellinum 2000 on it (Good filter but I'm sure the AC will do better)

Chiclids are agressive fish. They do not school very well in my experience (Very territorial) and lots of them get pretty big. Unless you go with SA...

With shrimp I dunno, but I personaly would LOVE to try Shellies, but I have no clue where to get them. Shellies being a type of chiclid whom inhabit shells...

A good schooling fish... Cardinal Tetra? One of my favorites, they're VERY bright and beutiful. I'd steer clear of Neon Tetra, not as colorful and prone to sickness.

Go ahead and do planted! Why not?! It'll be a blast! I'm personaly trying to get some Java moss for my 30 :]

The small lobsters are Crayfish really. They will eat most small fish, such as tetra... But shrimps won't :] Hmm... Guppies could be fun, get a small harem and use the fry as food for anything else. Or perhaps one Kribensis and a small school of Fancy Guppies.

I'm by no means an expert though. :]

 

[bunker_1]

I have had the blue crayfish in all of my tanks. I have not had a problem with missing or pinched fish. I keep one of the crays with my fry and red cherry shrimp. If he is eating any of the shrimp, he is doing it at a slower rate than they can reproduce!