Big Summer Project Planned

[cpwebsite]

Well, I have been thinking about it some, and I have a big summer project planned. I have a 55g tank and a 10g tank, which you guys may or may not know. I got these tanks when I started fish keeping and have not gotten another tank since then. Many things have changed in the tank since then, and I see these tanks as being my learning curve.
 
However, this summer I plan on doing something major (well major in my opinion but maybe not in yours

). However, my plan is the following.
 
Phase 1:
Take out all fish from both tanks and donate them to a local (reputable with fish care) pet store. My tanks have slowly become over-stocked over they years and I won't have a suitable place to keep the fish during this time. I'll be sad to see them go but they'll go to a nice home (I'm hoping)
 
Phase 2:
Empty out all the tanks. Put all the fake decorations (wood and part of the plants) away. Put the live plants (3) into a small holding bowl.
 
Phase 3: (tedious part)
Take out every piece of gravel from the tank and put it away in a 5g bucket from home depot holding container. This will be a lot easier for the 10g because I can easily carry it and pour the leftover little pieces of gravel that annoy me in the shower. However, for the 55 I will have to individually pick up each little piece of gravel which will annoy me but well worth it.
 
Phase 4:
Sand. I have always loved sand and now that I think about it more, regretted I did not purchase it when I started. I will put approx. 1lb/gallon of sand in both tanks to see if its not enough, and if its not get more.
 
Phase 5:
Electricity Reduction. I find $50/month for 65g of aquarium for electricity to be a lot. It doesn't get that cold here (house stable around 70) and yet still may tank is using $40+/month in heating (250w of heating). We pay around $0.35/kw which is more than some areas (I live in San Jose, CA, USA), however I still think $50/month is too much, so the goal of this phase, through more efficient heating or something similar is to reduce it to $30/month. Part of this phase will include putting all of my lights on 10 hour timers.
 
Phase 6: Adding driftwood. First tank with driftwood... excited
 
Phase 7: Plants. 100% planted tank.
 
Phase 8: Aquarium Cycling. Duh.
 
Phase 9: Stocking. I'm planning on making the 10g a Cherry Shrimp tank. 
 
Planned 55g Stocking
3 Bristlenose Pleco
8 Panda Corydoras
4 German Blue Ram
20 Cardinal Tetras
 
I feel like this is a pretty full stocking, what's your guys opinion? If there is any room left over I just want to put more Cardinal Tetras.
 
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've got a few suggestions - one to specifically help with the electric bill... aim to keep fish that prefer lower temps.  The panda corys are a great choice - my personal favorite, but for your purposes also ideal, as they come from the upper regions of the Amazonian tributaries, so they prefer cooler water (68-75F).
 
 
3 Plecos in only 55 gallons.  That's a lot.  I have one BN in my 56 Gallon.  Its spotless with algae.  I don't think you need 3 for that size tank.  Also, they prefer slightly higher temps (74-79).  I'd suggest only one, or try to find a small pleco species that prefers cooler temps (say 72F) as this will cost less.
 
Rams - German Blues prefer much warmer temps, like around 80F, so going with either Bolivian Rams instead would allow you to keep the temps lower.  Or, perhaps even better: Apistogramma borelli, which have been seen in water in the wild as low as 44F (according to dwarfcichlid.com)!  They should be plenty happy at 72F - and they are BEAUTIFUL fish.
 
Finally, the cardinals are also fairly warm water fish... A not quite as colorful, yet still amazing looking (and cheaper and easier to source) alternative would be bloodfin tetra, who have one of the widest ranges of tolerance for temp that I am aware of, besides the aforementioned apisto - 65F-82F.
 
 
So, if you were to keep:
 
12 panda corydoras
1m/2-3f apistogramma borelli
20 bloodfin tetras
 
And keep the thermostat at 70-72F.  This should allow you to pay less to heat the tank, since it will match your room temp more closely.  Running the heater at 76F will cost more.
 
 
 
BTW, why are you planning to cycle the tanks again?  Just keep them ticking over with a little ammonia.  Unless this process takes months and months and you allow the filter media to dry out, most of the bacteria should remain viable.  They may go dormant, but once a source of ammonia comes back, they will perk up again.  Just keep them wet!  Stock slowly - one species at a time - and you shouldn't have an issue.

 

[cpwebsite]

I've got a few suggestions - one to specifically help with the electric bill... aim to keep fish that prefer lower temps.  The panda corys are a great choice - my personal favorite, but for your purposes also ideal, as they come from the upper regions of the Amazonian tributaries, so they prefer cooler water (68-75F).
 
 
3 Plecos in only 55 gallons.  That's a lot.  I have one BN in my 56 Gallon.  Its spotless with algae.  I don't think you need 3 for that size tank.  Also, they prefer slightly higher temps (74-79).  I'd suggest only one, or try to find a small pleco species that prefers cooler temps (say 72F) as this will cost less.
 
Rams - German Blues prefer much warmer temps, like around 80F, so going with either Bolivian Rams instead would allow you to keep the temps lower.  Or, perhaps even better: Apistogramma borelli, which have been seen in water in the wild as low as 44F (according to dwarfcichlid.com)!  They should be plenty happy at 72F - and they are BEAUTIFUL fish.
 
Finally, the cardinals are also fairly warm water fish... A not quite as colorful, yet still amazing looking (and cheaper and easier to source) alternative would be bloodfin tetra, who have one of the widest ranges of tolerance for temp that I am aware of, besides the aforementioned apisto - 65F-82F.
 
 
So, if you were to keep:
 
12 panda corydoras
1m/2-3f apistogramma borelli
20 bloodfin tetras
 
And keep the thermostat at 70-72F.  This should allow you to pay less to heat the tank, since it will match your room temp more closely.  Running the heater at 76F will cost more.
 
 
 
BTW, why are you planning to cycle the tanks again?  Just keep them ticking over with a little ammonia.  Unless this process takes months and months and you allow the filter media to dry out, most of the bacteria should remain viable.  They may go dormant, but once a source of ammonia comes back, they will perk up again.  Just keep them wet!  Stock slowly - one species at a time - and you shouldn't have an issue.

First I want to say thanks for the advice... extremely helpful!
 
Ok, so I've done some more accurate temperature searching and the house is around 75 during the summer (where no heating will be needed) and 67 during the winter (where heating will be needed).
 
I was thinking a Bristlenose Pleco, and I am fine with reducing the number to 1. Do you have any suggestions of plecos in 72F that are not to expensive (less than $20).
 
 
Rams. I knew German Blue Rams preferred higher tempts, but I never thought of keeping fish at lower tempts (which seems so simple now I think of it :facepalm. Apistogramma borelli doesn't seem to be available at my LFS, and I think it'll be more difficult looking for sexed versions, however, I've heard that Bolivian Rams like tempts pretty close to German Blue Rams, so what tempt would you recommend? I was thinking ~74-75, but I've heard 80 for many.
 
I love Corydoras so I'm glad I can keep more in my stocking. I'll do some research on Bloodfin Tetras, thanks for the suggestion.
 
 
I'm planning on maybe cycling my tanks again, because it may be out of the water some, but I don't want to worry about a crash if I put fish in without being sure of a cycle. Worst case is it'll be a quick cycle since if I put in my ammonia and see it go to nitrate quickly than I know I'm good to go, but I was planning on it to be safe.
 
Thanks for all the advice again! I'll start looking for some cooler tempt fish, right now the tank is at 78, which is a 11 degree room temperature difference, so keeping it at 74/73 will technically save me nearly 50% so that's my goal range as of now, however lower is better. I want to be able to keep the thermostat low, but still provide the fish with the best home possible.