Light Recommendations For 31" Deep

[crunch7]

Dude the best way is to research about your fish and rectify yourself, you don`t need to blindly accept whatever pepl have to say. Check the fish species index ...you will get fundamental information about everything.

 

[Tstone]

Dude the best way is to research about your fish and rectify yourself, you don`t need to blindly accept whatever pepl have to say. Check the fish species index ...you will get fundamental information about everything.

Well I've done little research on all of them.. The only thing that would really outgrow my tank is the Bala.. Nothing else will reach 8".. In a 18" wide tank, I believe that is plenty fine..

 

[crunch7]

True, then you know what to do. Plus about the fish you want to add... do check about there compatibilty, water ph and territory requirement issues before getting them.

 

[lljdma06]

Keep your stock lighting. For the plants being bantered about by the rest of the posters, you won't need anything else.

Your common pleco will enjoy the free salad, I wouldn't put one in.

If you want plants, take a look at the journals here. The trend is to keep small, slim-bodied fish, or small peaceful fish. That being said, the plants you describe would be great for like a tank with firemouth cichlids if you want something a bit more present, which is what I think you're going for. Firemouths and a larger tetra species would be a nice, active tank that will be suitable for the size tank you have.

There are smaller plecs that are less invasive, look into pitbull and bristlenose plecs.

red line torpedo barbs are active like balas but not so crazy big. I don't love the combo as I like to usually stay region specific, but hey, it's your tank.

All of the species that I've mentioned have been kept in planted tanks.

 

[three-fingers]

Size has little to do with it, it's behaviour that matters... Aggressive, territorial and active are words that have come up multiple times in this very thread. Seriously, just do a forum search for each of the species and read up peoples experiences on them. Or even start a thread asking about a particular species if you don't have time to spare trawling though forum posts and books - people do this all the time .

There are loads of other more suitable options, and if you start a thread in tropical discussion I'm sure there will be plenty of species suggestions. If you still plan on that stocking though, the filters would certainly still soon need upgrading, two HOB filters wont nearly cope with the waste from all those large catfish if your feeding them properly.

It's very rare we don't have to compromise our wants in someway for the welfare of out fish in this hobby, but its worth it to see them truly thrive .