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3K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Just set up a 30 gallon...need some ideas for a good mix for a community tank. Any suggestions....:-D
 
#2 ·
exciting! do you want an active tank or a mellow tank? you're water could be factor in determining which fish would be happy and healthy too. but without knowing anything, i would suggest some type of bristlenose pleco as they are industrious algae cleaners and wont out grow the tank (and they are fun to watch).. i think a more solid approach would be to go to your LFS and fishhunt and then post a list of potential occupants that you are in like with, and your water parameters, and then everyone could let you know where/if you might have problems :) is your tank going to be planted? if you're not sure i would recommend it.. plants make the tank seem more complete imo and several require little additional maintance or care.
 
#5 ·
Will check the water today and post. How long do you suggest before adding fish? Bought a marineland 350 yesterday and got it running. Love the bio wheels..Tank is crystal clear..have about 5 live plants...want to add more.Do you reccomend snails...I know once they start laying eggs....look out...I but I always liked watching them. lol Appreciate the feedback.:-D
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'm in love with my golden honey gourami, If you can find them where you live I highly recommend them for a mellow community tank, throw some life plants in and they are as happy as can be - mine started spawning less then a week after I got them. They havent tried to eat any of my shrimp so your open for some ghost or cherrys, my rasboras do well with them and I'm still ironing out other fish but the sky is the limit as long as you stick with other mellow fish


 
#10 ·
You need to put a few fish in now. Unless your doing a fishless cycle. But if not get a few hardy fish. Maby 3 or 4. Then you need to do small water changes every few days. Until the amonia, nitrite, and nitrate read 0. After they read 0 give the tank a couple days to stabilize. Then you can slowly add the fish you want. Oh and i recoment a schoool of tetra not the little ones, but some like black shirt tetra. They go well with a mellow tank.
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#11 ·
You need to put a few fish in now. Unless your doing a fishless cycle. But if not get a few hardy fish. Maby 3 or 4. Then you need to do small water changes every few days. Until the amonia, nitrite, and nitrate read 0. After they read 0 give the tank a couple days to stabilize. Then you can slowly add the fish you want. Oh and i recoment a schoool of tetra not the little ones, but some like black shirt tetra. They go well with a mellow tank.
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Thanks Taylor, I would love to have a school of tetras... I will check out the black shirt tetras. :-D
 
#12 ·
well cycling the tank refers to establishing bacteria that convert poisonous fish waste(amonia) into nitrite and then nitrate which is relatively harmless. you should have at least an amonia test kit (ideally/ nitrite /nitrate /GH /KH /pH as well) so you can know for sure when it's ok to put fish in..a few hardy fish or a small piece of raw shrimp in your tank will produce plenty of amonia to kick start the cycle(if you use shrimp make sure to take it out after a day or so as too much amonia will slow down the process)..it may take 3-6 weeks for the tank to cycle but the only way to know is to test for amonia/nitrite/nitrates.. if available from someone you know, adding some gravel from a cycled tank can speed it up.. also they sell gravel/sand with bacteria in it.. there are products that claim to "instantly cycle" your tank... while i wouldn't count on that, i think some help significantly.. tetra safestart is good... i would not recommend nite-out or night-outII as i'm pretty sure they contain the wrong type of bacteria.. used it on my first tank and cycle still took over a month.. my second tank i used bio-active gravel, tetra safestart, seeded gravel and a rock from my first tank, and some old filter media, and i saw nitrates within a week and no amonia within 2 weeks. make sure that you use a chlorine eliminating water conditioner as chlorine will kill bacteria and slow or stop the cycling process.. lots of addtional information on the web if you search "nitrgen cycle"
 
#13 ·
You mentioned live plants, so if these are numerous and some are fast growing (floating plants are ideal for this) you will not have any "cycle" to worry about. The plants assimilate the ammonia/ammonium from day one. Just don't overload with fish, a few at first and gradually increase to avoid overwhelming the system.

What fish are intended in the end? Some are better than others in new tanks due to the unstable biology [not the cycling here, something different].

Byron.
 
#16 ·
Out door Ponds?

Anyone know anything about them. I have a question. I have a 35 gallon patio pond. During the winter months I was wondering if I put a submergeble heater like I have in my aquarium so that I could keep the fish active through the winter. I hate the dormant time,,,not crazy about using a de-icer..I know they stop eating at 39 degrees. Has anyone ever done this? Figured it might work? What do you think?
 
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