Been Offered A 3Ft Tank

[Cazgar]

As the title says, been offered a 3ft tank, it's 3ft x 18x18
I'm very new to tropicals, but am fast becoming hooked.
I've read everything here about cycling, so obviously I'll be doing that first before stocking.
Bear in mind I am new to tropicals, so looking for easyish fish for this tank, any suggestions are very welcome, also in this tank I'd like to have live plants, already decided to go with a sand substrate, so any advice there also appreciated

 

[mike455555]

wash the sand..
and for stocking guppys are hardy
neons are half hardy fish
betta are hardy although they have a short life span (4 years max i think)
plattys are good starter fish
so are mollies i think (not sure about mollies)

get a clean up crew e.g shrimp and a plec (your choose if your going heavily planted i recommend otocinculs)these's should be added last to the tank to give it chance to get some algae

what plants are you thinking of getting?

 

[Cazgar]

Not sure about the plants yet, still reading the planted section.
I want it to look as natural as possible without overcrowding.
I have guppies in my Edge tank, so could transfer some of those, neons sound good, how many could I have?
I only want 2/3 species

 

[mike455555]

well in my 3f planted iv had 10 neons 10 amano shrimp 5 oto's 2 plattys and 2 female betta. so you could probably get away with 15 neons happyily

do you want your plants to have an open space? or like crowded. id recommend moss of some type... (iv just got some today. it lessens the harshness of my wood by loads adds a lot of life to the tank)

id also recommend easy to keep plants like swords crypts java fern and anubis

 

[Cazgar]

I have some nice wood so I could get some moss for that
I like the look of the plants in your sig, so something like that as I want the fish to have plenty of swimming space.
Not sure about shrimp, but a nice school of neons, a few male guppies & some mollies sound just about right

 

[Shovelman]

wash the sand..
and for stocking guppys are hardy
neons are half hardy fish
betta are hardy although they have a short life span (4 years max i think)
plattys are good starter fish
so are mollies i think (not sure about mollies)

get a clean up crew e.g shrimp and a plec (your choose if your going heavily planted i recommend otocinculs)these's should be added last to the tank to give it chance to get some algae

what plants are you thinking of getting?

In fresh water there really is no clean up crew at all

Basically and of the "cleaner fish" like corys and other cat fishes wont eat other fish's poop or waste. They also need their own food as well. Same goes for plecos, they will eat some if not most algae but still need a solid diet provided for them. same with shrimp and snails...although they do tend to eat any leftovers even though you shouldn't have left overs since that would be classified as overfeeding...

 

[Cazgar]

I have so much to learn, so for now I think the neons, guppies & mollies would suit my needs
I would love angels & some of the other gorgeous looking fish I see at my Lfs, but I don't want to run before I can walk
Would 6 neons 3 male guppies & 3 mollies be ok? Or do I need more neons to male them feel comfortable?

 

[mike455555]

shovel i meant clean up as in eating mainly algae which otos and shrimp do. they keep algae levels down so plants can grow better

which plants in my sig do you like the look of?

the one at the front left is a crypt
the one to the right of the filter is a Amazon sword
the stuff in the middle is dwarf hair grass. Eleocharis Parvulus is the smaller species (which is in my tank)
the long one coming out of the wood is Aponogetum Crispus (not sure what it's common name is)
then to the right working back some micro swords narrow leave swords then Amazon swords same as the one by the filter =]

if you like carpets you can do moss, riccia, HC hairgrass + lots more

its recommended to have 7 neons + so you could get away with 6 easily and im sure they'd be happy

i think angels eat smaller fish? im not sure on that though. it might be plants. i know there not compatible in my tank...

 

[Cazgar]

I like the swords & the hairy looking grass
I've seen some red leaved plants in my Lfs that I like too, though don't know what they're called, will ask next time I go

 

[Shovelman]

shovel i meant clean up as in eating mainly algae which otos and shrimp do. they keep algae levels down so plants can grow better

which plants in my sig do you like the look of?

the one at the front left is a crypt
the one to the right of the filter is a Amazon sword
the stuff in the middle is dwarf hair grass. Eleocharis Parvulus is the smaller species (which is in my tank)
the long one coming out of the wood is Aponogetum Crispus (not sure what it's common name is)
then to the right working back some micro swords narrow leave swords then Amazon swords same as the one by the filter =]

if you like carpets you can do moss, riccia, HC hairgrass + lots more

its recommended to have 7 neons + so you could get away with 6 easily and im sure they'd be happy

i think angels eat smaller fish? im not sure on that though. it might be plants. i know there not compatible in my tank...

sorry mike didn't mean to come off as rude or anything, and yes angels can get large enough to eat small tetras and schooling fish.

 

[mike455555]

as a general rule of thumb don't buy "stemmy" plants, normally theses arint aquatic's the exception is swords.

its because plants out of water needs the stem to support the leaves where as in the water they dont and its a disadvantage in moving water in case the stem snaps.
if you buy crypts expect them to melt. leave them and they should come back (there just adapting to water conditions)

no worry's shovel i dident take it as rude ;p =]

what lights do you have?

 

[Cazgar]

I don't know what lights it has yet.
Thank you for all the advice, will post some pics when I get it set up

 

[mike455555]

i'll look forward to seeing it =] and good luck =]

 

[Louiseness]

I'd recommend before you jump in straight away and buy those fish, that you find out the stats of your water (PH, hardness, and what temperature you want to keep it at). Platies, guppies and mollies especially are happier in harder water, where as tetras and cories prefer softer.

Obviously, there is some leeway here as they are all reasonably hardy fish, but I'm of the opinion that it's better to choose fish that 'go together' naturally. So you could choose a soft water, south american type setup with cories, tetras, angels and so forth, or you could choose a hard water setup with fish like swordtails, guppies and mollies. Or an asian setup with gouramis/betta, rasboras and other fish from that part of the world. Or a temperate, river-type setup with fast current and fish like hillstream loaches, bristlenose, danios, white cloud mountain minnows, etc.

What I'm saying is that I wouldn't just go for the 'common' livebearers that are dime a dozen without researching all the interesting options you COULD have

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Hi and welcome.

Allow me to correct a few points. Neons are not hardy what so ever, they are cheap many people will buy them and they will die in the 1st month and then replace them. Neons like a mature tank not just a cycled one there is alot if info out there to support this so if you dont want replace fish have a looky

Testing kit the API is the most common but i strongly advise if you have not got one and are in the UK to go for sailferts kits which work out about £5 more as you have to buy seperates but they are night and day better

There is no need to buy the most boring of fish just because your new, if your research and read and take the advice you can keep most fish within reason. Dont buy fish thinkning they will do ok if you dont understand something about them, i have no doubt if you ask the question someone on here will know

So get the tank up and running and please read the fishless cycle logs and make sure you understand the process, look forward to helping you out