Starting Up My Tank Again A Few Questions

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Hi guys,

So I haven't been on the forum for a long time. For the past couple months I've had a hard time with work and managing my time so I decided to get rid of all the Discus. I just couldn't do the water changes and care for them so I thought it was best to let them go. I sold my 90g but still have my 40 breeder and now that I have a new much more flexible job I feel I am able to get it up and running again :) . I am going a whole new route, something easier to care for. I don't want to do water changes more then once or twice a week lol. Here's what I am thinking for stock:

2 Angelfish
1 Dwarf gourami
5 Zebra danio (or possibly those Glofish danio?)
4 Cherry barbs(1 male 3 female)- these should be ok with the gourami right?
3-4 otos
4 pygmy or panda cories.

Tank has about 1.36 wpg so it isn't great lighting but I definitley want the tank planted. Can anyone give me some ideas for plants? (I can't really figure out why but I have managed to kill almost every single plant I have owned.) No C02 but I will dose Seachem excel. I want the tank to have a sand substrate, should I simply put a layer of gravel/ferts underneath the sand for the plants?
 
Hi guys,

So I haven't been on the forum for a long time. For the past couple months I've had a hard time with work and managing my time so I decided to get rid of all the Discus. I just couldn't do the water changes and care for them so I thought it was best to let them go. I sold my 90g but still have my 40 breeder and now that I have a new much more flexible job I feel I am able to get it up and running again :) . I am going a whole new route, something easier to care for. I don't want to do water changes more then once or twice a week lol. Here's what I am thinking for stock:

2 Angelfish
1 Dwarf gourami
5 Zebra danio (or possibly those Glofish danio?)
4 Cherry barbs(1 male 3 female)- these should be ok with the gourami right?
3-4 otos
4 pygmy or panda cories.

Tank has about 1.36 wpg so it isn't great lighting but I definitley want the tank planted. Can anyone give me some ideas for plants? (I can't really figure out why but I have managed to kill almost every single plant I have owned.) No C02 but I will dose Seachem excel. I want the tank to have a sand substrate, should I simply put a layer of gravel/ferts underneath the sand for the plants?

Hi, it looks like good stocking but i would give the pygmy corys a miss as they would probably struggle to get enough food with the other aggressive feeders, as barbs go cherries are relatively placid so should be fine.

1.36, very accurate ;) its fine for many plants, especially with a fertilizer substrate, you'll have very little growth but with otto's in the tank they should keep the plants and decor free of diatone and algaes. i would recommend these:

anubias barteri / nana - one of the best plants going imo
amazon sword / echinodorus paniculatus, add root tabs and it should be fine, heavy root feeders
vallis / totra is hardiest
crypts / wendtii, parva and beckettii are best
aponogeton crispus is a great plant, worth a go
java fern and java moss
hydrocotyle goes nuts in just about any tank
or you could always try some long lasting non-aquatic plants like selaginella, ophiopogon or draceana

If you mix fine sand and gravel over time the sand will work its way to the bottom, gravel vacs will mix the two also.

Hope this helps, good luck.
 
Hi
I have pygmys with dwarf gouramis, cherry barbs and other larger corys and they get plenty of food!

For wpg I think that will be fine for quite a few plants as above

I would maybe reccomend 1 angel fish as I hear they can fight unless they pair up!

My plants grow fine in just sand, I use my own made ferts but no CO2 or excel and they have flourished. using excel only increases the need for more ferts.
 
Angels; you either need 6+ and let them pair off and re-home the 'spares' or just one, as unless they're a mated pair they are quite agressive towards each other.

I've actually got someone coming later on today to take one of my 'pair' of angels after I caught my black veiltail literally dragging the other angel around by its dorsal fin :crazy:
 
Hey thanks for the info, a good refresher for me hah! I will go for one angel then. I think I've changed my mind and am going natural looking substrate mixed with ferts and scratch the sand. Instead of the other angel, does anyone have any recommendations of something in it's place? I don't mind if it's a single fish or a group, just something cool/unique (less common) and on the hardier side!

Thanks!
 
Not unusual but i have albino kribs which stand out nicely and also bolivian rams have lovely colours.
 
Not unusual but i have albino kribs which stand out nicely and also bolivian rams have lovely colours.

Thanks for the ideas I was considering Bolivian Rams. I used to keep blue rams that paired up and layed eggs once, but the male killed the female and then the male ended up dying a few months after (think my water is too hard.) I know bolivian rams are much hardier and supposed to be good in a large spectrum of water types, but does anyone have first hand experience keeping them in hard water? Mine is 7.5-7.8.
 
I also have blue rams but not a clue on water hardness as not got a test for it! Sorry I can't help on the apisto's :)
 
Do you guys think Apistogramma Cacatouides would be fine in 7.5-7.8pH?

i wouldn't risk it, i've heard the borelli is more adaptable to harder water.

A unusual fish for your setup, maybe some furcata or gertrudae rainbows, hatchets, nothobranchius sp killis, bumblebee gobies, y.sidthimunki loach, badis badis, khuli loach, halfbeaks to name a few.
 

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