Thinking Of Restarting My Tank.

[Harry1996]

atm i have a rubbish planted tank. most plants are gone.
its a elite 95L i think.
should i buy a new tank and just keep the fish and filter?
or just redo it? so new gravel, new fish and filter etc?
after going to a bad lfs (i have found a good one i know this because of my marine tank). so i think the tank was over stocked and bad selection. i will post a pic later.
and fish stock.

 

[Verminator89]

Don't just buy a new tank because one failed. Re-do the failure Cheaper and it rights a wrong...

 

[Harry1996]

thanks

 

[Harry1996]

fish:
3 mountain minows,2 neon tetras,4 brislenose catfish 1 male 1 female that bred and i had 13 little ones and courght 11. couldnt get the rest. 1 yo yo loach i think and a zebra one as well?

one rock shrimp (i think) 1 cherry shrimp.
1 aquatic toad.
3 assassin snails got 2 and they bred
well we had a power cut and it messed up my filter some how so i got a old one a put that in and left the other one in. lost some stock. but tbh i dont know much about tropical fish. or plants but can some one tell me if these fish can go together ? i also had a snail problem so i got assassin snails and loaches.
lights are t8 are they good enough but i only have 1 should i get t5?
so what plants could i get with that lighting?

 

[Verminator89]

T8 should suffice. Upgrading to T5 and you'll be asking for trouble if your not ready for everything more light brings with it, such as fert dosing and stable CO2 supply.

Assasin snails eat snails, and clown loach eat snails, not sure if the loach you have do. But i wouldnt advise getting clown loach - they get BIG.

Your fish selection should be ok. I would add more shimp perhaps, they do better in bigger groups, they also look better with more. The aquatic toad i don't know about, personally i would stay clear of them as i don't think they fit in with most tanks haha, but thats my preference.

Have a little nosey on www.tropica.com and look out for plants that say demands: easy. You can't go wrong with those.

 

[BethK]

up your tetras to a min of 5, they are shoaling fish and the minows .

Loaches do better in small groups of 4-5 but i am not entirely sure that your tank is big enough for those types of loaches.

 

[Harry1996]

thanks.

 

[BethK]

Try using sand, so much easier and better looking IMO. You can pick up play sand from argos, for a very cheap price

Then start off with low maintenance plants, such as;

Swords
Vallis
cabomba
moss balls

Get yourself 5 aquarium plant fertilizer tablets and scatter them about the tank.

Add in some hiding places, slate caves made from roof tiles, coconut huts etc and you will have a decent tank.

Once you are happy with the maintenance of the easier plants, you can adventure out a little more and with confidence