Starting Fresh

1020 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by TankGeek, 6 mo ago

djlombar

Discussion Starter · 10 mo ago

Hello all! I had a 29 gallon tank with only fish years ago and I am looking to begin my first planted fish tank. I want to do things right as I get back into the hobby. I am looking at getting a 55 gallon tank and want to do a combination of low-tech plants and fish. I love the look of natural tanks, as if you were looking at a cutout of nature itself. I've been doing a lot of research but I'd love to get some advice and opinions on some start-up options. Here is what I had in mind so far:
Equipment

55 gallon tank w/ glass canopy
Fluval 407 canister filter
Eheim Jager 300w heater
Hygger Advanced Full Spectrum Light (42W 48-54")

Fish (introduced over time)

Tetra (neon, cardinal, green fire)
Dwarf Chain Loach
Clown Killifish
Rams
Amano Shrimp (or smaller if I don't get the Rams)
Dwarf Gourami
Stiphodon Goby

I'm using AqAdvisor to get an idea of number and it looks like I could safely have around 40 fish which is awesome (heavier on the Tetras of course).
Here is where I am looking for help:

Is this a reasonable setup?
What kind of substrate would you recommend for a natural look but also good for plants and maybe some bottom-dwellers (including the Stiphodon Goby). I'm thinking fine sand with some smooth pebbles mixed in. I'm nervous about fine sand with it getting caught up in the filter or looking to much like a reef tank with non-reef fish (but I could certainly be wrong on both fronts there, I don't have any experience).
For this combo of fish and plants how "full" should I make the hardscaping?
What kind of aquascaping stones do you like?
Anything else?

Here are a couple of tanks I consider to be really nice:

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Plecosbill

· #2 · 10 mo ago (Edited)

djlombar said:
Hello all! I had a 29 gallon tank with only fish years ago and I am looking to begin my first planted fish tank. I want to do things right as I get back into the hobby. I am looking at getting a 55 gallon tank and want to do a combination of low-tech plants and fish. I love the look of natural tanks, as if you were looking at a cutout of nature itself. I've been doing a lot of research but I'd love to get some advice and opinions on some start-up options. Here is what I had in mind so far:
Equipment

55 gallon tank w/ glass canopy

Fluval 407 canister filter

Eheim Jager 300w heater

Hygger Advanced Full Spectrum Light (42W 48-54")

Fish (introduced over time)

Tetra (neon, cardinal, green fire)

Dwarf Chain Loach

Clown Killifish

Rams

Amano Shrimp (or smaller if I don't get the Rams)

Dwarf Gourami

Stiphodon Goby

I'm using AqAdvisor to get an idea of number and it looks like I could safely have around 40 fish which is awesome (heavier on the Tetras of course).
Here is where I am looking for help:

Is this a reasonable setup?

What kind of substrate would you recommend for a natural look but also good for plants and maybe some bottom-dwellers (including the Stiphodon Goby). I'm thinking fine sand with some smooth pebbles mixed in. I'm nervous about fine sand with it getting caught up in the filter or looking to much like a reef tank with non-reef fish (but I could certainly be wrong on both fronts there, I don't have any experience).

For this combo of fish and plants how "full" should I make the hardscaping?

What kind of aquascaping stones do you like?

Anything else?

Here are a couple of tanks I consider to be really nice:

What kind of rams are u doing?
Bolivian is Altispinosa rams would be fine but regular rams live a a higher temperature than the other fish you listed.

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djlombar

Discussion Starter · #3 · 10 mo ago

Plecosbill said:
What kind of rams are u doing?
Bolivian is Altispinosa rams would be fine but regular rams live a a higher temperature than the other fish you listed.

I wanted to do German Blue but someone else said the same about the temperature so I'm looking at Bolivian now.

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Plecosbill

· #4 · 10 mo ago (Edited)

djlombar said:
I wanted to do German Blue but someone else said the same about the temperature so I'm looking at Bolivian now.

Ok, how many tetras are u going to do total?
I’ve always really liked either really smooth stones like river rocks or really jagged rocks with lots of cracks, but also aquascaping is up 2 u not what someone tells you to do. You could for the substrate do aqua soil with sand. how you do this is you get maxflow filter media bags, and fill them with plant substrate then put sand on top of it.
For some easy plants you could try African Anubias or Pygmy chain swordplant. Ancharis would also work but it grows crazy fast and needs trimming unless you want your fish pushed against the glass by the weight of the expanding plants

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djlombar

Discussion Starter · #5 · 10 mo ago

Plecosbill said:
Ok, how many tetras are u going to do total?
I’ve always really liked either really smooth stones like river rocks or really jagged rocks with lots of cracks, but also aquascaping is up 2 u not what someone tells you to do. You could for the substrate do aqua soil with sand. how you do this is you get maxflow filter media bags, and fill them with plant substrate then put sand on top of it.

Looking for this to be the end goal (introduced over a year probably):

12-20 Neon and/or Cardinal Tetra
8 Clown Killifish
6 Dwarf Chain Loach
6+ Amano Shrimp
3 Bolivian Ram
3 Stiphodon Goby

For subtrate, I'm looking to do play sand (thoroughly rinsed) with a mix of some smooth pebbles to give it some variation.

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susankat

· #6 · 10 mo ago

I would suggest pool filter sand, its softer and cleaner, no rinsing if you add water slowly it will remain clear.

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djlombar

Discussion Starter · #7 · 10 mo ago

Plecosbill said:
Altispinosa

Maybe Apistogramma Borellii would be better than the Bolivian Rams?

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lildrummerboy

· #8 · 10 mo ago

djlombar said:
Maybe Apistogramma Borellii would be better than the Bolivian Rams?

i tried to do a apistogramma borelli tank a few months ago. they were literally impossible to find i search every store within 2 hours of me and everything online to

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lildrummerboy

· #9 · 10 mo ago

other apisto would work tho

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Dlaw

· #10 · 8 mo ago

susankat said:
I would suggest pool filter sand, its softer and cleaner, no rinsing if you add water slowly it will remain clear.

This! I tried play sand with my first planted tank and, wow, let me tell you, it was nothing but problems from the start. There is no amount of rinsing you could possibly do to get rid of all the crud that's in play sand, trust me. It took 6 days before I could even see in the tank again after I filled it, changing filter floss every day, and once I added them, every time a fish brushed against the surface it was a cloudy mess again. Pool filter sand or aquarium specific sand is the way to go.

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susankat

· #11 · 8 mo ago

Play sand and Pool filter sand is different, the cleanliness of pfs is regulated as you don't want to put dirty sand in your pool filter unless you are ready to buy a new filter

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Dlaw

· #12 · 8 mo ago

Yes. Pool filter sand is fine. Definitely not play sand, at least in my opinion.

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Zmouvek

· #13 · 6 mo ago

lildrummerboy said:
i tried to do a apistogramma borelli tank a few months ago. they were literally impossible to find i search every store within 2 hours of me and everything online to

Oh my god I feel your pain, I tried seeing if an LFS could get them in, but they were only able to get in an Apisto 'iniridae' that turned out being a Cf. Agie, I ended up re-homing that little guy and Ordering A pair of borellii from redfish Bluefish, Cost a 100$ total due to the expenses involed in shipping, but I was still able to get them and I love them!

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TankGeek

· #14 · 6 mo ago (Edited)

djlombar said:
What kind of aquascaping stones do you like?

Some folks may disagree with me, but I have used stones from landscape stores. I just give them a good scrubbing bath first.

Here is an old tank I had.

Rectangle Pet supply Art Display case Glass

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