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new 40g, stocking help for inhabitants and plants

2K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,
New to the forum and to fishkeeping in general. I am in the slow process of trying to set up my first tank, a planted 40g breeder. Any and all suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated, I want to do it right!

I have 100 lbs eco complete on the way (is this enough/ too much?)
am planning on an aquaclear 50 and 2 125 watt ehiem thermostat heaters
aqueon dual light fixture with 6700 K light and color max light (both come with the fixture)

because my water is soft from the tap I was planning on
10 black neon tetras
8-10 colombian tetras
1 bolivian ram
4 shrimp (will they be ok with eco complete?)
1 clown plec or 3 otos

is this too crowded/ do I have room for another school or larger schools?

not sure about which plants yet...still doing my research

thanks in advance everyone, I really appreciate it!
 
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#2 ·
Hi and welcome to the forum and the hobby! You seem to have done much more research than the average newbie and look like you are off to a great start.

I think the 100lbs of substrate is a bit much, tho. The rule I've been told is 1lb per gallon. So with 100lbs you'll have a very thick substrate. Plus, every pound of substrate you have in the tank displaces that much more water.

Personally, I feel that you have room for another shoal of fish in there. Since you seem to have a south american theme going on you could add something like a shoal of 10 rummynose tetra or maybe glowlight tetra.

As for plants, there are a lot of great low-light plants in the hobby. If you want to stick with the South American theme there are plenty of amazon swords that do well in soft water. There are large swords for the background and dwarf sword for the foreground. Floating plants like water sprite and frogbit will help calm your fish as they all come from shaded streams.
 
#3 ·
Hey fishy and welcome.
I found this website after a grim realisatioon that my tank was overcrowded. www.aqadvisor.com. It is a quick refernece tool that allows you to put in the relevant information and fish species. It will then tell you stocking percentage and any possible issues with the fish. i.e need driftwood. Please use it as a guide only, but it will point you in the right direction.

How do you intend to cycle the tank? I ask as some fish in your list may be more fragile than others. (i know that the shrimp wont tolerate ammonia at all). Definately double check in the fish profiles.

Otherwise it all sounds good.

My last bit of advice is slow and steady.

Goodluck

TitanTDH
 
#4 ·
Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum, and the hobby.:-D

Byron.
 
#5 ·
Welcome to the forum!

100 pounds of Eco Complete in a 40 gallon breeder (had no idea if you had a 40 long or breeder) is just about right for 3 inches. It took me three bags to get that depth in a 29 gallon. I checked for you a substrate calculator and it said you'd need 108 pounds, but I wouldn't worry about the other 8. Eco Complete comes wet so you actually need more than other substrates since they don't include liquid as part of the weight.

One other thing. I've no experience with this, but I'm not sure how well the shrimp would do with the ram. They might just become a snack.
 
#6 ·
Thank you everyone for your valuable advice and imput! I feel so much better that I'm on the right track. For clarification, the tank is a 40B and I was planning on being fully planted (which eliminates the need to cycle, right?) I will definitely have to look into rams and shrimp...thanks for the heads up :)
 
#7 ·
the tank is a 40B and I was planning on being fully planted (which eliminates the need to cycle, right?)
Correct. Plant well and the first few fish can go in on day one.
 
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