Populate My Us 35 Gallon Tank

[CrustyOnEastCoast]

Well ... now that I have read tons of posts throughout this forum, and have managed to keep my betta alive and very healthy for 8 months in a 5 gallon tank (fliltered and heated) that I fishless cycled ... I imagine I am ready for anything, right?

Anyway, I am an excited newbie, and I have a 35 US Gallon tank (totally empty right now but will be fully fishless
cycled before I add fish) with the following dimensions:

30 inches wide
12.5 inches deep
22.5 inches tall

So, looking at it head on, it is kind of a box/square like shape, and rather tall as opposed to long compared
to many aquariums of this size. Probably a good aquarium to showcase fish from
various swimming levels.

I will power it with a Fluval 204 Canister Filter
I will use sand as my substrate and NO live plants (but will have plenty of fake things and decorations, maybe real rocks).

Here are my tap water specs:

Ammonia: 2ppm (because of the high chloramine content)
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 5ppm
Ph: 8.0
Hardness: Moderately Hard to Hard (I don't have the tests to capture this metric -- so trusting water company claims)

So, great water for fishless cycling, awful water for fish!

I am so early in this process ... but want to take plenty of time to think it through and hear from the experts.

I am looking for a couple of nice showcase fish, some schooling fish, and fish to inhabit the various swimming levels.

Here is what I have come up with. (Please, I am a newbie, don't let me overstock ... but don't cheat me either. ):

1 pair of Pearl Gouramis
6 Emperor Tetras
6 Panda Corydoras
3 guppies (all males?)

Also, I am not interested in breeding fish right now. I don't have the facilities/knowledge to handle that .. so
unfortunately, sorry to say that any fry that miraculously show up will be on their own for their short lives.
I am not sure what sexes to choose for the tetras and corydoras.

Well, I have tried to provide a lot of information to make good advice easy to give.
If you have reasons why some of my fish choices are bad ideas .. please provide substitutes to fill the gap (or don't
if I am overstocked).

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

[Reret]

Sounds good

 

[Dieses Madchen]

The good news about your water is:
a) 5ppm nitrates itsn't bad, as some areas had 40+ nitrates in their water.
b) once you have good colonization of bacteria in your filter, that pH will drop. My tap water pH is 9.0 After 24hrs of running through my filter, it drops to a nice 7.2.
c) Your fishless cycle is going to build a colony that can devour 5ppm of ammonia in 12 hours. I know it sucks that you have ammonia in your water, but once your filter is established, that 2ppm is obsolete. I recommend you use a chemical like Seachem prime to dechlorinate as it neutralizes ammonia to ammonium, which is a lot less harmful to your fish. My water has 1ppm of ammonia in it, and i use Prime, and the ammonia doesnt hurt my fish and it is gone in a few hours.

I know that this may be a lot of stuff that you know, as your fishless cycled your betta tank, but hope it lets you know that you water isn't as bad as you are thinking.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted!