55 gallon planted tank progress( for those who care)

Jayy

After school I went to my lfs. They're stock was quite crappy today, but I came home with seven Diamond Tetras. They're looking very nice in the 55. I wanted to know if anyone can suggest a colorful fish to keep with them, since they're not. I was thinking cherry barbs or cardinals, but it seems EVERYONE has those in their tanks.

TheFuzz16

Did you have an idea of fish you wanted to stock? I personally only do one type of dither/shoaling fish. But you need bottom level fish, dwarf cichlids or bottom feeders. Mid section will be your tetras and probably your centerpeice fish, an angel or large gourami. I always like livebearers because their a nice color pop and who doesnt get excited to have babies? And i like the fry as fresh food source.

Jayy

This was my orig stock 9 Black ruby barbs, 11 Rummy nose tetras, 1 Pearl Gourami, 6 Panda cories, 6 Harlequin rasboras, 10 Ghost shrimp, and 1 Zebra snail, but I changed the Barbs. I already plan to keep an gourami. No to the livebears, but water's too soft.

Byron

Yes, removing the barb from this combo is best. The species in the Rosy clade of Hyphessobrycon do well with those you now have, and several will add some nice red/mauve colouration. Bleeding Heart Tetra (the largest of these), Roberts Tetra or Rosy Tetra. These three should be fine with the others and esp gourami, as they are not known as fin nippers though one member did have BH nip angels so be cautious.

Jayy

Thank you Bryon!

Jayy

Hello everyone! The everything seems fine with the tank at the moment. The fish all seem healthy. The only thing that's brothering me is the algae, but I know once I fill that area, it'll die down. The other thing is that I'm not liking how the Ludwigia is growing. It's growing all side ways. I'm thinking about returning it for credit along with some baby plants. I don't know what to fill in the spot though. I was thinking maybe more Cabomba or trying some rotala? I want something that grows fast and tall

Jayy

Hi everyone! I know it's be a while, but there wasn't much to report. This are however starting to look up. Today I added three more diamond tetras to my school of six and I placed an order for seachem equilibrium to replace the minerals I need for healthy plant growth. I'm also going be able to go the store on Wednesdays, because my mom gets off early. The right now looks like crap on the right side . I'm not going to lie I'm starting to get discouraged and seeing this more as a money pit, than my dream planted tank. I could be using this money to buy clothes and shoes and that pisses me off when I run into problems. I hope things from this point go smoothly. I'm unsure of what to do, I was thinking of letting the open area fill with something like dwarf sag and having them grow around my lotus. Or buying some driftwood and letting them grow around that. I also don't know where's a good spot for my Ozelot Sword. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Byron

A photo might help us suggest something, but generally I would let the plants just fill in naturally. New setups can take a while to get going.

Jayy

I guess I should be more patient, but it seems like it's taking forever. Here's some pictures. 001.jpg

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Byron

Now I have a couple of ideas. First, get a sheet or two of plain black construction paper from the hobby/craft store and make a background. This will really make a difference and the Diamonds (beautiful fish) will sparkle even more.

Second, look for some substrate plants, and here I would recommend Pygmy chain sword or Chain Sword. And there is space (and will be) for a common sword, Echinodorus bleherae, just one.

Byron.