New Tank- Undecided on Fish

[fosh]

I currently have a 100l goldfish tank and a 30l tropical tank that has a male betta, 3 guppies and 4 neon tetras, and have just purchased a 100l tank for tropicals. Ideally I would like to move the fish from the 30l into it once it is ready, but would like some other fish too.
I have been looking online and have found some fish I like, and would like some advise on compatibility, suitability to tank size and what to avoid.
Fish I like, besides what I already have, are platies, mollies, dwarf gourami, glass shrimp, kuhli loach, clown loach, bristlenose catfish, corys and black ghost knife. I obviously wouldn't be able to have all those fish but would like a few different types if possible. I don't have to move the current fish into the tank so if those are a problem that's fine.
I'm also undecided on what substrate to use, I currently use gravel but also like sand, which would be better?
I will have some ornaments/hides, anubias on driftwood, java moss and a probably couple of other live plants.

Thanks.

 

[fosh]

Well, over 2 days and this still isn't approved. Oh well, guess I will go elsewhere.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and a belated welcome to the forum

Sorry about the late response but your thread has been hiding on the forum somewhere and has only just become available. I will be having a chat to the mods about this after because there have been a number of new threads that have taken a long time to become available.

----------------------
Avoid Dwarf Gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) and all their colour varieties because they regularly carry Tuberculosis (TB) and the Iridovirus, neither of which can be treated. The fish can carry these diseases for months or even years and never show any symptoms, then they get sick and die and the disease is in the tank for ever, or until you take everything out and disinfect it.

----------------------
Clown Loaches need to be in groups of 6 or more and will end up too big for the tank. The Black Ghost Knife fish will also get too big for that tank.

----------------------
Livebearers like guppies, platies, swordtails need water with a general hardness (GH) above 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. Mollies need a GH above 250ppm and pH above 7.0. Depending on what your pH and GH are, will determine whether you should get livebearers or stay with tetras.

If you have a choice of platies or mollies, platies are generally tougher.

----------------------
Glass shrimp, Khuli loaches, Corydoras and Bristlenose are all fine together and are should be ok unless the water is extremely hard (GH above 300ppm) and pH is above 8.0.

----------------------
You can use sand or gravel in aquariums but sand is better for bottom dwelling fishes like catfish and loaches. You can grow plants in either too.

If you have a power filter on the smaller tank and can add some more filter sponges to it, you can transfer them onto the new tank when it is set up and it will help speed up the cycling process on the new tank. Alternatively just move the fish, water, filter and plants from the old tank into the new tank and the filter will continue doing its job there.