New Member, New Tank

[Chrisfishes]

Hi all, have got a 30 gallon tank that I can't sell, used to have turtles but got to big for tank so unfortunately had to go, the tank currently has a rock effect wall on the back and a ramp which I want to ideally remove, any ideas on how to with doin as little damage as possible ? If I scratch it a little on the back wont be the end of the world cos will probably be putting a background on anyway. So that's the tank issue, have got heater, and filter already and it's a pond filter so easily big enough to keep the tank clean.


Now for the fish, have been looking and i know some might be rare and expensive but that doesnt matter right now and have done calculations from what people recommend on what I can put in but I always thought the fish would only grow to its surroundings ?

Anyway here's what I have come up with

1 tiger Pleco/zebra Pleco
3 tiger barbs
3 electric green globarb
2 shrimp
2 panda cory
1 angelicus botia loach

75 degrees
Ph 6.5

Most are peaceful, tiger barbs are semi aggressive, would they be ok ?

What are people thought on both the tank and the fish ?

 

[JenJ]

Your quantities need redoing - I'm not familiar with all of the fish there, but tiger barbs, angelica botia loaches and panda cories should be kept in species groups of at least 6. Tiger barbs are often recommend to be in groups of 12+ to minimise aggression.
 
I think the combination may work, but you'd need to up your numbers on paper first and review again to see if you're pushed into 'over-stocking' territory.

 

[Wills]

Hi Chris welcome to the forum
 

Now for the fish, have been looking and i know some might be rare and expensive but that doesnt matter right now and have done calculations from what people recommend on what I can put in but I always thought the fish would only grow to its surroundings ?

 
Just on what your mentioning here - fish will grow to their natural size irrespective of tank size - it will however affect the over all shape of the fish and big fish kept in small tanks generally end up ill or deformed and usually die early on
 
As Jen says above your fish are mostly schooling fish so would need to be kept in higher numbers.
 
What are the dimensions of the tank you have? And also what kind of filter do you have?

10 Electric Green Globarb   -  need to be in minimum of 6
5  Cherry Shrimp  -  will probably start breeding and build a colony from the original group
6 Panda Cory  -  need to be in a minimum of 6 and all the same kind of cory
6 Zebra Loach   -  Angelicus get a bit large for a 30 gallon tank
1 tiger Pleco/zebra Pleco    -   in all honesty I would not get this, Zebra Plecs are around £100 if not more at the moment and are quite hard to keep most of the time. Maybe start off with the fish above and add this last once you have got your tank established.
 
You may still have space for some kind of centre piece fish but not sure what to suggest - I would skip the Tiger barbs as well, they are quite chunky fish and because they are quite nippy need to be in big schoolsso will take up a lot of your stocking space
 
Wills

 

[Chrisfishes]

This is my filter http/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-1/aquarium-filters/external-filters/aquarium-external-filter-1400-l-h-9w-uv.html and my tank is 90 L x 48 W x 50cm. Are you saying putting them would be ok to put in as what I've read they say and inch of fish to 1 gallon ? I'm looking at getting a reasonable amount of fish, that are colourful and marine like but without the hassle and money etc of setting up a saltwater tank.

 

[Baccus]

I wouldn't add shrimp to the tank with barbs they will either eat the shrimp or pick at them so much the shrimp never come out of hiding.
Panda corys are lovely fish but are one of the more difficult corys to keep. Just starting out with corys I would try one of the easier breeds like Bronze or Peppered even strebia. Strebia are good to because they can handle slightly warmer water than most other corys.

 

[Chrisfishes]

What about the tank issue with rock effect, and what are people's opinions on what I should get and what can be housed in my tank, I want colourful fish without the frilly fins, maybe a centrepiece fish ?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Not sure what to say regarding the rock issue...
 
 
Colorful, non-frilly finned fish is pretty easy.
 
Some options:
dwarf neon rainbowfish
neon tetra
cardinal tetra
livebearers (platies, mollies, swordtails)
dwarf cichlids (apistogrammas, rams)
gourami (dwarf, honey, pearl)
cherry barbs
kribensis cichlids
 
 
Each will have their own preferences for other tankmates.