150 Litre General Questions

[Linear]

Hey all! Pretty new here!
 
I have a 150 litre tank, which used to be stocked however due to long powercuts (floods in the south-west UK, not flooded however long periods of elec loss) my little tankmates haven't survived. My plants almost made it, a couple may be able to continue.
 
I've spent all of today cleaning the tank, media and checking water levels every few hours. My levels have always been great at quickly self correcting, and by thisevening the only thing that's odd is the high-ish pH level (around 7.5).
 
i've added extra gravel (finer stuff) because i always struggled to plant plants properly, and putting back the driftwood and fake plants i like, i can tell it's going to be a whole lot easier.
 
My pH was always around 7.2 so i assume it'll return to that at some point, so what plants would you recommend for this?
 
Also, i'm thinking of getting some Guppies and Mollys to start with as i've had previous experience with them. Myself and my parents would love to have some slightly larger, showier fish in the tank rather than many small (however, we're sensible about this!) - what can you guys suggest?
 
I can easily provide pictures of the tank if need be!
 
Many thanks!

 

[Ch4rlie]

 
Sorry to hear you have had troubles due to floodings and your tank stocking losses.
 
Sounds like you're off to a decent start and a pH of 7.5 is not high really, so not to worry about that at all, and will probably settle a little lower once tank is established again.
 
Will you be doing a fishless cycle on this tank before adding stocking to your tank?
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
As for plants, depends what you want to do, if you want low level plant care then anubias, cyrptorynes, elodea, wisteria sort of plants are all easy to care for that do not require high light output or co2 etc, but will benefit if add liquid fertilisers.
 
As for fish suggestions, well there is a lot of choices, but off hand can think of gouramis or rams, with some shoaling fish such  as tetras or rasboras then for bottom of tank cories, maybe shrimps and snails too.
 
Would suggest you have a look around LFS and see what you like, write down the names and post on here and we can help advise if they're suitable for your tank and how many etc
 
And of course, posting pics is great, we love to see tank set ups, we're nosey that way 

 

[Linear]

Well looking at my numbers, and the book that came with the kit everything seems to be within parameters. Perhaps the plant/food matter has sustained the bacteria levels?
 
The water has just gone a little cloudy, but i guess this is expected due to the new gravel etc (was conditioned/washed before!).
 
I have pleanty of snails, they certainly are hardy little things, they've survived everything and after a few hours have surfaced.
 
Luckily the LFS is a five minute walk from my house, and they have amazing quality - i really love the look of the Gouriamis (XL/Honey?), some looked pretty big though!
 
I'd love to have a mixture of 10 Mollys and Guppies with a couple other fish, is this reasonable?

Above is my filtering/test-solution, as well as my tank currently. A few okay bits of driftwood, a couple rocks and some fake plants!
 
(2x Fluval Medium Filters)