Brand New 55 Gallon - What to do?

[Sarah]

Last night I aquired a 55 gallon tank from an add in the newspaper.
For $150 I got the tank, a stand, the light, and two filters (and
Eheim 2217 and a Biowheel). I know I need to get a new light to allow
for high-light plants. I also figure that I need a way to add CO2,
but I think I'll try the homemade version rather than spend lots of
money on a pump.

My plan is to make this a planted tank. The substrate will be peat
with small sized gravel layered on top. I'm going to layer it higher
(about 4") towards the back and graduate down to about 2 inches in the
front. I was gonna try and put only gravel in the front to make
vacuuming easier in the non planted areas.

I'm not sure about the plants - I still need to do some research on
that point.

I do know that I want a community tank with the following:

1 Betta
12 tetras (probably neon or lemon)
8 golden pencilfish
6 Zebra Danios
Possibly some 5-6 dwarf cories


Eventually, I'd like some American Flag Fish and possibly some ghost
shrimp.

Any recommendations for fish are welcome. I like some that are
colorful and upper column fish and some bottom fish. Am I any where
near overloading this tank? I've never been very good at determing
how those little fish fit into the bioload of a tank. Plus, I've
never had a tankt his big.

All suggestions welcome! :-)

Sarah

[NetMax]

"Sarah" > wrote in message
m...
> Last night I aquired a 55 gallon tank from an add in the newspaper.
> For $150 I got the tank, a stand, the light, and two filters (and
> Eheim 2217 and a Biowheel). I know I need to get a new light to allow
> for high-light plants. I also figure that I need a way to add CO2,
> but I think I'll try the homemade version rather than spend lots of
> money on a pump.

I presume it's a bio-wheel 30 or 60 which is driven by the Eheim? That's
a nice setup, canister + biowheel. Regarding CO2, there is also the DIY
setup they sell, made by Hagen. This gets discussed in r.a.f.plants
sometimes.

> My plan is to make this a planted tank. The substrate will be peat
> with small sized gravel layered on top. I'm going to layer it higher
> (about 4") towards the back and graduate down to about 2 inches in the
> front. I was gonna try and put only gravel in the front to make
> vacuuming easier in the non planted areas.

I think your water conditions will determine whether the use of peat is
warranted. I avoid layering my substrate, just because it gets mixed or
if something goes wrong, it is too much trouble to fix, but that is just
me. Just gravel in the unplanted front makes sense, though I'd go lower
than 2". Even 1/2 to 3/4" should be enough (easier to vacuum too).

> I'm not sure about the plants - I still need to do some research on
> that point.

Unless your water is at some extreme, experiment with the plants you
think look good. You can always ask for some comments here, as some
plants do have distiquishing characteristics.

> I do know that I want a community tank with the following:
>
> 1 Betta
> 12 tetras (probably neon or lemon)
> 8 golden pencilfish
> 6 Zebra Danios
> Possibly some 5-6 dwarf cories

Bettas and Neons are sometimes ok together, especially in larger tanks.
Bettas do tend to resist predictability better than most fish. Zebras
and Bettas also sometimes do ok together, though in this case, it is the
Betta who is usually the victim. Again, larger tanks sizes decrease the
probability of trouble, ymmv.

> Eventually, I'd like some American Flag Fish and possibly some ghost
> shrimp.
>
> Any recommendations for fish are welcome. I like some that are
> colorful and upper column fish and some bottom fish. Am I any where
> near overloading this tank? I've never been very good at determing
> how those little fish fit into the bioload of a tank. Plus, I've
> never had a tankt his big.

There are still too many choices out there. All the rasboras, tetras,
livebearers and most of the gouramis, barbs and some of the cichlids
would do well in there, plus many odd-balls (ie: Hatchetfish, fancy
plecos, etc). Tell us what you think looks good.

> All suggestions welcome! :-)

Whatever you add, in a few years, it will be a different recipe. For
eventual fish-load, an empty but properly filtered and cycled 55g could
hold 200 Neon tetras, but only 1 male Betta (though you could have 3
females wandering around, but they might annoy your Neons). The Lemon
tetra is a much more active and mobile fish, which is less likely to be
bothered by Bettas. If you like the Lemons, other similar shaped choices
are Serpaes, Bleeding Hearts, Pristellas and Red or Black Phantoms (to
just name a few). With these larger fish, I'd stay under 100 fish. Use
the 1" of fish (not including tail) per gallon of water guideline for
average body fish (American Flags). Tetras don't have much of a
bio-load, and they like to be in a crowd, so your population will usually
be determined by your swimming area after plants. That might be about 20
to 30 tetras, spread over 3 or 4 species.
--
www.NetMax.tk

> Sarah

[Limnophile]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
...
> "Sarah" > wrote in message
> m...
> Whatever you add, in a few years, it will be a different recipe. For
> eventual fish-load, an empty but properly filtered and cycled 55g could
> hold 200 Neon tetras, but only 1 male Betta

Good point, Netmax .

I once had a 40 gallon "breeder" style tank stocked with roughly 180 small
tetras. According to most guidelines it was highly overstocked, but the fish
were healthy for half a year until I sold most of them.

On the other hand, I put 4 juvenile S.rhombeus piranha in a 75 gallon tank
with some large catfish and a couple common plecs. Within 3 months, the most
agressive Rhom was in the tank by himself.

Limnophile

[IDzine01]

(Sarah) wrote in message >...

> 1 Betta
> 12 tetras (probably neon or lemon)
> 8 golden pencilfish
> 6 Zebra Danios
> Possibly some 5-6 dwarf cories

Just one small comment. Bettas aren't strong swimmers and in tanks
over about 20 gal they can suffer a lot from strong currents. Some
people will add a couple of smaller filters to do the job instead to
make it easier on them. You can also make sure your tank is heavily
planted before adding the betta (with some floating plants as well,
but make sure there is ample room for him to breathe from the
surface.) Also, I know some folks will add a homemade damper to the
tank in front of the filter to restrict the flow. (You can try an all
plastic soap dish with suction cups. Just make sure the dish has never
seen soap. Attach it to the wall of the tank in front of the filter
output.)

Last betta comment... There are cases where bettas don't get along
with other fish. Either they torment others or get stressed
themselves. They will need plenty of space to hide when they are
frightened and you may need a plan B (seperate tank) if they can't
play nice at all. This tends to depend on the individual betta. I have
one betta in a 10 gal with 3 zebra danios and everything is fine, on
the other hand I've had bettas that were NOT fine with any tank mate.

Good luck to you. It sounds like you have a pretty cool set up there.
I love shopping for aquarium plants. I just wish shipping was cheaper.
:-/

[Aardvark J. Bandersnatch, MP]

"Sarah" > wrote in message
m...

>

[snippage]

> My plan is to make this a planted tank. The substrate will be peat
> with small sized gravel layered on top. I'm going to layer it higher
> (about 4") towards the back and graduate down to about 2 inches in the
> front. I was gonna try and put only gravel in the front to make
> vacuuming easier in the non planted areas.

With a peat substrate, the water will become quite soft and likely more
acidic than would be welcome to the fish you list below (save the tetras and
cories). From personal experience, the peat layer should be no deeper than
one-half inch. Add another half inch of smell pebbles, and top that with
another half inch of sand (like swimming pool filter sand). The sand layer
will be more amenable to the cories, as it will not harm their barbels.

>
> I'm not sure about the plants - I still need to do some research on
> that point.

swords, crypts.

>
> I do know that I want a community tank with the following:
>
> 1 Betta
> 12 tetras (probably neon or lemon)
> 8 golden pencilfish
> 6 Zebra Danios
> Possibly some 5-6 dwarf cories
>
>
> Eventually, I'd like some American Flag Fish and possibly some ghost
> shrimp.

My experience with AFF is rather limited, as they did not do well in any of
the soft, acidic tanks I set up (for s.american dwarf cichlids). YMMV