First tank ever

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Louie502

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Recently discovered a passion for keeping fish. I love the planted tanks but I already have a jungle in my home and wanted something different. Got to use my quartz, obsidian, petrified wood etc. This was 2 weeks into cycle and have since added fish ps. Don't know how to maneuver this site so forgive me.
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Looks pretty, are the plants real?
 
Looks pretty, are the plants real?
No, all the plants are artificial. I thought I should learn the ins and outs of caring for the fish and keeping a healthy tank environment. I will be introducing real plants at some point
 
Definitely lots of color in there, I like the large bright stone in the middle. I am trying live plants for the first time and bought a large castle to place in the middle of my 55 gallon tank. Not as colorful as your but I am still working on it. What types of fish do you plan of having in it?
 
Definitely lots of color in there, I like the large bright stone in the middle. I am trying live plants for the first time and bought a large castle to place in the middle of my 55 gallon tank. Not as colorful as your but I am still working on it. What types of fish do you plan of having in it?
I've got two dwarf gouramis, also a large gold and also a blue gourami. Rainbow shark, cory cat, lyretail & dalmatian mollies, red and Mickey mouse platys and fancy tail Male guppies
 
I've got two dwarf gouramis, also a large gold and also a blue gourami. Rainbow shark, cory cat, lyretail & dalmatian mollies, red and Mickey mouse platys and fancy tail Male guppies
Nice selection, I have neon, ember and red eye Tetras so far. Trying to do a balanced tank between fish and plants. Staying with tetras for now.
 
Hmmm - a 55G with tetras and other SA forest fish. Now why didn't I think of that ...

No wait :rofl:
Back to black
OK, I never thought I was the first to try this but would appreciate any guidance you can give me. I am very new to live plants mixing with fish and I am trying to have a balance tank for both.
 
Get some healthy live plants, not the ones they put in bags but the ones they pull from the water or go online and purchase them - more expensive but worth it. Beware ALL will have snails - even if you can't see them there will be little invisible snail eggs. Snails do help keep the tank clean by eating excess food, but on the other hand they make a disgusting mess themselves. Personally I hate them and try to clear them out daily.

Live plants give your fish some place to hide. Your aquarium is beautiful but you don't have many places for fish to escape to and some really have that need to de-stress. You can use plants similar to what you have (plastic is too sharp to use so replace those with silk or real) but make sure you get some floating plants - they will grow like weeds and you'll find fish hiding throughout. I now have a problem counting fish because so many love the plants. Some will nibble on it. Some (ie., my Dojo Loaches) like to "rearrange" things in the aquarium so that's a hoot. But besides providing extra oxygen for the water and taking up excess CO2 they are just good for fish and a breeze to grow. They do, however have a tendency to clog filter input lines so keep the floaters to one side as far away from the filter as possible to reduce that problem - that, to me, is my biggest criticism - I'm constantly cleaning out filter tubes. I tried putting sponge covers on the filters but they tended to get clogged with food and plant matter and were causing their own problems.

Seacheam sells a bottle of something called "Flourish" - you can pour a capful in every few months and the plants will love it. You do want sufficient lighting over the plants although there are a number of low light plants.

For research check out azgardens.com - they are big suppliers of aquatic plants so they have a huge variety and info about them and they also sell fish. Shipping however is very expensive for fish (overnight inside a Styrofoam cooler and with a heating or cooling pat). Plants you can ship at half or less the cost if you did decide to buy from them. LiveAquaria is another good source - but again, you get nailed by shipping. You can drool over the huge varieties of fish these people stock as well. I do buy from them because our stores here have little variety but I am done buying fish and plants for a while I hope.
 
OK, I never thought I was the first to try this but would appreciate any guidance you can give me. I am very new to live plants mixing with fish and I am trying to have a balance tank for both.
Heh heh, only meant I would have tetras everywhere if I could.
Large groups are best - I have actually considered splitting the cardinals and glowlights so I could up their numbers. And plants have to be easy, if they don't thrive without maintenance I chuck them out and try something that does.
Corys go well with them. They are great to watch in their own right but a good sized group means you get little mini gravel vacs thrown in for free :)
 
Heh heh, only meant I would have tetras everywhere if I could.
Large groups are best - I have actually considered splitting the cardinals and glowlights so I could up their numbers. And plants have to be easy, if they don't thrive without maintenance I chuck them out and try something that does.
Corys go well with them. They are great to watch in their own right but a good sized group means you get little mini gravel vacs thrown in for free :)
I agree, plants should be easy.
 
Heh heh, only meant I would have tetras everywhere if I could.
Large groups are best - I have actually considered splitting the cardinals and glowlights so I could up their numbers. And plants have to be easy, if they don't thrive without maintenance I chuck them out and try something that does.
Corys go well with them. They are great to watch in their own right but a good sized group means you get little mini gravel vacs thrown in for free :)
I have 2 cory in the tank now and they are busy cleaning. They are fun to watch!
 

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