The Reapers New Tank

[The Reaper]

Hi all

I have had my tank up and running now for two weeks - what I'm hoping to create is a community tank . I added filter media from my friends tank which he shut down - so its now cycled . At the moment stockwise I've got an pearl danio & 5 cardinal tetra's that came from the old tank . My parameters are ...ammonia 0 , nitrite 0 , nitrate 5 , ph 7.4
Looking for an bit of advise on stocking ..anyone got any suggestions for good community fish which will be suited to the tank ..Also I'm not sure whether to go with real plants or fake plants ...so opinions would be great..but I dont really fancy going the CO2 route .

Below is a picture of my tank - its a fluval which contains about 180 litres - any advise on the scape would be great..as you can see the water has still got an slight haze to it , I'm carrying out 20% water changes in the hope this will clear ( I've heard this is quite normal in an new tank) . Any advise to speed the process would be welcomed...

 

[SchottayB]

Looking good so far .

I'd go down the real plant road. You can get low-tec plants that will do fine with out Co2 .

 

[StuartLarge]

I second the real plant suggestion, I don't use Co2 and my plants grow like crazy, if you fancy some cuttings and are in the UK let me know and I'll post you some, good work so far mate

 

[The Reaper]

cheers all

Yeah I do live in the UK in south wales...I know next to nothing about plants at the moment so I will have an research over the next couple of days . Anyone got any other idea's in terms of stocking?

 

[cascadingwaters]

Anubias, java fern are some low light and low matinence plants that you would attach to your wood in the tank. As far as stocking, I would up the amount of cardinals you have for a nice group effect and maybe some cories?

 

[Biulu]

Well done! Stocking wise I would add some more pearl danios, they like groups, and I would up the cardinals to at least 12. Then look for some bottom dwellers, loaches or cories would be nice.

 

[minnnt]

You may find that Cardinals won't be at their best (although still fine) with a slightly alkaline ph as they prefer slightly acidic.

Must admit though that i quite like your tank, even the fake plant. Is that bad? lol. I would try and get some more rocks to add a bit of a feature or something. Maybe a flower pot that is turned on it's side with some rocks/pebbles around it. You could add a nice group of Corydoras Metae which will show up really well with your black substrate. Aim for a group of 6. Also look for something like a Bristlenose or a group of 3-5 Pitbull Plecos

If it is more community fish that you are wanting to keep then consider something like the sunrise or sunset platy. This will add in some orange to your tank. (This will work very well especially if you're going live plant route and removing the fake one) Also, you could look at a pair or group of 3 (1m 2f) Honey Gourami

Then finally add a trio of Apple Snails of any colour which add another interesting dimension to your tank.