New Tropical Tank

[charlatan]

Hey all,

been lurking on here for a bit now, but decided to join tonight. Had tropical fish as a kid in my folks, and we decided to get a coldwater tank last year.

My girlfriend has got me a 60L tropical tank, and all the associated gubbins for my birthday mid July. She is allowing me to set it up the middle of this month, so it will be ready for my birthday. I know about setting up a new tank, fishless cycling etc, and am going to use some of the water from the coldwater tank to help this along.

The tank I have at the moment is one of those cheapy 15 Litre ones with combined pump and filter. It is kept in a warm living room, and as such we have been keeping temperate fish in it from Pets at Home. The small tank currently contains (which are going to be moved to the new tropical tank, as I know they are fine for this):

2 x Zebra Danios (1m 1f)
2 x Mountain Minnows (1m 1f)
1 x Platy (m). Was 3 but he was a bit of a bully and killed the 2 females when pregnant

Was looking at getting some Neon Tetra's as I had these as a kid, but been reading a few things on here about them not being very "hardy".

Anyone any suggestions about what I should put in?

Also, how many kg's of gravel should I be looking at in a 60l tank?

Thanks in advance.

 

[charlatan]

Anyone?

 

[Larkspur]

I've never had neons either simply because I heard they're not as hardy, but lots of people have them. So, I don't know. *shrug*


I'd get more platy's again. They come in a variety of shades. I'm surprised yours did that to the girls. Maybe better luck the next time around? More females? I have a male and female platy and they're fine, but then again my male is a 3rd the size of the girl.

 

[hamfist]

About 5 kg of gravel should be about right I think for a 60 litre. Of course it does depend on how deep you like it or whether you are going to be planting live plants in it.

As for stocking, it all really just depends on what you like. Make sure that you do your research on any species that you buy though. Most LFS will allow people to buy fish which are way too small for their tanks, once adult. And lets be fair, a 60 litre tank is still not large.
I have found neons to be relatively hardy, even in a new tank so long long as it is cycled properly.

For any community, most people try to get movement on the bottom, in midwater and near the surface.

For a 60 litre, for bottom dwellers I would be looking at something like a few khuli loaches or 3-4 cory catfish, or 6-8 pygmy cory catfish.
For midwater, there are a huge range of fish. Platies, guppies, most tetras etc etc. Many fish (including tetras) are much happier in a shoal so find that out for any species you are considering buying. For the surface you already have a couple of danios. They are happier in a shoal, but you would really be pushing it in a 60 litre to get many more, and the tank would be very hectic from high speed danio madness. I'd be tempted to leave it at 2 danios (personally I'd rehome them as I can't stand all that hectic swimming).
Many folks like one slightly larger "centrepiece" fish in their communities. Something like a dwarf cichlid (Apistogramma) or a male dwarf gourami, or a male siamese fighter (despite what many might say, I have always had great joy havig a single male fighter in a community).

Do plenty of reading, take your time (seems like you have no option there) and all will be fine !

 

[charlatan]

Thanks for the replies folks. Was talking to the bloke in our local aquarium yesterday, and he suggested the neon's should be fine. Am only gonna be using artificial plants for the time being, so won't put too much gravel in.

As for a centrepiece fish, he had some small Angels in there for £4.25 or (the one I did like the look of) a small silver shark for £4. He said 1 of either of these should be fine, altho the angel will grow bigger, and needs to be the last fish in as they are very territorial.

Had only really been to pets at home for stuff for the coldwater tank, couldn't believe how much friendlier and helpful the local bloke was, and how much cheaper his prices were. Neons in P@H were 5 for £10, they were £9 for 10 in the local place. I can see where lots of my cash will be going

 

[meguro]

angelfish fish need like 2ft 120L tank with a decent surface area and at least 18" height to be housed properly. silver sharks (bala sharks) can easily reach a size of 30cm and prefer to be kept in shoals, many ppl suggest 8ft tanks minimum for those.

the siamese fighter and apistogramma suggestions (while slightly controversial) are far superior suggestions.

if the neons look healthy (and the fish in nearby tanks) then they will probably be fine. get a decent sized group of 6 minimum if u do choose to go with some neons

dont get more zebra danios. yes they prefer groups but they also prefer swimming space, and a 60L doesnt really provide that (though that doesnt mean u cant keep the 2 u already have)

u should consider real plants. easy plants are amazon swords, water wistera (hygrophila difformis), java fern, anubias etc. (almost every shop will have a few of these plants)

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'm pretty new to this hobby, but for what its worth, I suggest you either hold off getting the Neon Tetras until the tank setup has matured six months or consider a more hardy species like the Priscella (x-ray) Tetra.

 

[crazychris]

I'm pretty new to this hobby, but for what its worth, I suggest you either hold off getting the Neon Tetras until the tank setup has matured six months or consider a more hardy species like the Priscella (x-ray) Tetra.

Agreed. Neons aren't for newly setup tanks. At least wait a few weeks. Pristella tetras on the other hand are very very hardy.

 

[stubert]

i had 9 leopard danios in my 64 litre and they where fine, proberly better off in more space but where happy and spawned regularly. Also have a school of neons and ive had 1 die of unknown causes apart from that i havent had any problems with them would definately only add them to a matured tank though.

also a fighter would be a nice addition unless you get an over aggressive one or have nippy fish in your tank.