Suggestions For Future

[Geordiehc]

Hey all, me and my wife have recently set up a tank, its mostly hers (so that i cant be blamed for spending loads of money on it like i do all my other hoobies) but im really into it all and have recently set up a live food culture as well for them.

Currently we have 5 Neon Tetras, 3 Harelquins and a Gippicus plec?(we call him gissepi because i never remember there proper name).

Which direction do you think we should go in?

Basically my wife wants very colourfull fish and i want strange obscure things.

Her ideas for next fish are Killifish and she would like guppies but we were really unsuccesful with the last ones we got.

And my ideas are Dwarf African Frogs or shrimp or lobster ^^

Our tank is a 90 litre totally unplanted other than fakes due to advice that real plants can be very bad for fish if they are not growing. Although im expecting some java moss in the post to go onto my homemade pleco cave, as everywhere says its the easiest thign ever to grow...

Any thoughts and help will be very appreciated

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, I'm sorry to have to say this, but you can't keep the gibbiceps, unless you're planning on getting a five or six foot tank within the next year or two, as they grow very, very big (around 18", although nearer to two feet isn't unheard of ).

Frogs and lobsters realy don't mix with fish; the fish will out-compete the frogs for food, and the lobster will see the fish as food, so you really need another set up for either of those.

Real plants are always better for fish. It is true they can, in some circumstance, produce ammonia if they rot, but it wouldn't be enough to harm your fish, unless you had the tank literally full of rotting plants!

As to what else you could stock, could you give us the dimensions of the tank and whether your water is hard or soft, please? That'll be a huge help when recommending stocking for you

 

[Geordiehc]

The tank is 36" Long 12" wide and 13" tall, and as for having to get a bigger tank.... *sigh* if i have to.... or il jsut use that as an excuse lol, this is a hobby and what kind of stamp collecter has 1 stamp )

 

[Salam]

Another one starting the addiction

What is your PH and GH? It will help knowing so we can suggest more fish for your possibly bigger tank.

First off though, up the numbers of your tetras and harlequins to at least 8 as they are both shoaling fish and you will see better shoaling behaviour when there are more. Plus they will obviously be happier.

 

[Geordiehc]

Another one starting the addiction

What is your PH and GH? It will help knowing so we can suggest more fish for your possibly bigger tank.

First off though, up the numbers of your tetras and harlequins to at least 8 as they are both shoaling fish and you will see better shoaling behaviour when there are more. Plus they will obviously be happier.

Im not sure on specific numbers as my firend is testing my water for me at the moment until we get our own API Master tester, but there quite expensive so we are waiting at the moment, i do however know that we have a high PH, my friend said this is properly due to a coloured gravel substrate so we are planning to chnage it for sand asap.

And yeah we were definately planning on upping harelquin numbers, we only got them really as I read on here that they are good for fish cycling when we first go our tank but a number on how many we should be aiming for is very helpful thanks,
We did however think we had enough tetras because we bought 6, but 1 of them was outcasted from the shoal immediately and died soon after and I read somewhere that they like groups of 5 so I thought they had done this on purpose lol

 

[Salam]

Aquarium gravel has no effect on PH, so sand won't make a difference either. So, with high PH fish like guppies or platies would be a safe choice.

6 tetras is enough in theory, but they will look better the more you have.

 

[Geordiehc]

Aquarium gravel has no effect on PH, so sand won't make a difference either. So, with high PH fish like guppies or platies would be a safe choice.

6 tetras is enough in theory, but they will look better the more you have.

what about killifish? the wife really has her heart set on these

 

[Salam]

A quick google is telling me they prefer a low PH. Maybe ask in another section separately and someone who keeps them can help?

 

[Geordiehc]

A quick google is telling me they prefer a low PH. Maybe ask in another section separately and someone who keeps them can help?

ok tghanks very much il do that.

Can anyone tell me what kind of lightning i would need as well please, i didnt even realise there were different types lol, pretty sure what we got with the tank was some second hand crappy thing so that will be on the list of upgrades as well, getting java moss 2moro so i will nbeed special lighting right?

 

[Salam]

Java moss does well in low light, but as you are going to invest into something better anyway T5s would be best.