alright i used to be into fish tanks and i had a 95 gallon oscar tank, and i missed it. i decided to get back into the game and purchase a smaller tank for now, so i went to petco and bought a 6.6gallon bookshelf aquarium. the dimensions are somehting like 8x9x24 or something... i upgraded the original filter to an aquaclear 20 and i bought a max plant growth light for the 18" fixture. i bought 2 bigger pieces of mopani wood and i am boiling them now to get the tannin out, and i got some of my buddies cycled filter media, so that is all set too.... i got a 50w stealth pro heater and i got the tank at about 80 degrees... now on to the stocking options.

i was thinking of doing 7-8 neon tetras and a few ghost shrimp and a snail or 2 for the cleanup crew, and getting a couple plants too. what do you guys think? i have no problem doing a few extra water changes to keep up on the maintenence. would that be over stocked? keep in mind the tank is 24 inches long.

How many terms can I get away with and is there an algae eater that's small enough???

depending on what snail/shrimp you get they could do an ok job, you could also look into ottocats, but they need to be in groups so it will limit the number of tetras you can get.

I prefer Cardinal Tetra over Neon, but they are a tad more expensive. Cardinal (or neon) tetras is what made me get back into aquariums after about 15 years of not doing it.

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Ok I got 7 tetras. I also got a zoomed 15 watt max plant growth bulb.. will this be sufficient to grow plants?? And can I do a crayfish with 7 tetras in my 6.6???

Anyone????

you have a 6.6 gallon and a 15w light? I am a novice but this will be a lot of light you may need to add nutrient, fertilizer, & CO2 but I am not positive. Also, I would be afraid to have a crayfish that he would try to get them, that being said if you give him lots of places to hide it might be ok.