Setting up a New 30 Gal Tank - Need Advice

erinbirdsong

OK so after my thread last week my son and I decided to get yet another tank since his 10 Gal was overloaded.

This is what it houses currently. Only the Glo Tetra's and Shrimp will be staying in the 10 Gal. Going to add 3-4 more Glo Tetra's.

2 Black skirt Tetra's
2 Glo Tetra's
1 Long skirt Tetra
3 Red Eye Tetra's
1 Panda Cory
3 ghost shrimp

We will be moving the following into the new tank and increasing the schools.

2 Black skirt Tetra's ( Adding 2-3 more)
1 Long skirt Tetra ( Adding atleast 3 more)
3 Red Eye Tetra's ( Adding 2-3 more)
1 Panda Cory ( Adding 4-5 more)

He wants a pair of Blue Rams for some color but I am not sure they will all be compatible.
I was also considering adding some guppies for a few colorful top swimmers.

We are looking for suggestions for a few additional colorful fish.

This will be a fully planted tank the following is coming in today and will be added to the tank this weekend to really begin the cycling. Tank has been running since Sunday with just the sand in it.

The Deluxe Plant Pack comes with the following plants: Micro Sword or Dwarf Hairgrass, Anubias Nana or Anubias barteri Round Leaf, ChainSword - Narrow Leaf, Java Fern, Red Cryptocoryne or Green Cryptocoryne, Water Sprite, Ludwigia - Broad, Anacharis or Hornwort, Cabomba, and Amazon Sword Plant.

Byron

Both "skirt" tetra are in fact the same species [in our profiles as Black Widow Tetra], the long-fin or white are developed variants. I might not add more whites, as the fins are nipping targets and having this could be less than an enjoyable experience.

Be careful with livebearers; only males works to avoid hundreds of fry every month, something than can quickly cause water problems if they are not removed, and few stores will want with livebearer fry that are so common.

The Blue Ram is a very delicate fish. It needs warmth, no less than 82F, and this high a temp will wear down your tetra and corys fast (C. panda will not last). Check our profiles, all these fish are included, and optimum water parameters including temp is given for each species. On temperature, all fish with very few exceptions are best in the middle of their given range; the high end is OK for short-term, but not continual as higher temperatures cause fish to work harder just to "live" and this weakens them.

When you move the existing tetra into the new tank, I would suggest doing so when you also have the new fish of that species. This will allow the entire group to enter the new environment together and establish their hierarchy; having 2 or 3 fish in a space, then adding a couple more, can result in bullies in the species like the skirts that are feisty to begin with.

Byron.

erinbirdsong

Thank you for the advice Byron. We were reading about the Rams last night and I told him that I didn't think they would be a good idea based on the profiles on here.

We were also reading about the "shrimp" cycling with frozen shrimp. Would you suggest this with the plants to kick in the cycling?

Also yes I know about the guppies breeding quickly as my female in my office tank is about to burst and I have only had her 2 weeks... So I was going to bring any surviving fry home to his tank but may nix that idea and get some other top swimmers.

Also, I guess we will not add any more of the White Tetra's so we won;t have to worry about fin nipping. And just add a few more black skirts. I am hoping to more them over first.

About how long would you suggest until we start moving fish?

We will be getting a API master test kit this weekend to begin testing the water.

Byron

No, I wouldn't. Decaying shrimp is not pleasant, plus with live plants this is all unnecessary as the plants will take up the ammonia directly. Just add a few fish each time.

Once the plants are in, the nest day for the first few. You've got some fast-growing plants in that earlier list, esp the floating plants like the Water Sprite which is an ammonia sink as we term it. But I would get some fertilizer to get the plants going well, they will likely be a bit "tired" after their journey. I use Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement [make sure it is this exact product, they make several in the "Flourish" line], and there is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti which is much the same thing. It takes very little, a 1/2 teaspoon doses a 30 gallon tank; I would use it twice weekly [1/2 teaspoon on day 1, 1/2 teaspoon on day 4, and day 1 should be the day after the water change] at the beginning, as there are very few natural nutrients in a new tank.

Byron.

prestono2014

I just wanted to go ahead and thank you Byron for all the help you have given us with our tank! Do you have any fish you would recommend for a singleor paired similar to the Blue Ram that would add color to the tank.I was trying
to avoid any more schooling fish.

-Preston

Byron

You are very welcome. As to other fish, to recap this is a 30g tank, with 6 "skirt" tetra, 6 Red Eye Tetra, and 4 panda corys. And live plants. Sand substrate.

I would not increase the upper fish, I think this is going to be the limit; both species grow, and they like space to swim.

The substrate is where a few more can work. Another cory species (4-5) is fine. For something "different" perhaps a Whiptail Catfish?

Byron.

prestono2014

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Don't know if this picture will upload correctly!

Attached Images

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Byron

That is quite lovely, nice work.

Byron.

Nilet699

Thats great work with the tank straight from the off! Looks just lovely! And that central plant works very nicely there! (what is it btw?I Know i know it!)

Fell free to add more pics and keep us updated

erinbirdsong

Thanks for the comments guys. We are very pleased with how it came out.

We will be updating with pics as it grows and as we move the other fish over.

I believe the plant is ChainSword - Narrow Leaf. We ordered the Deluxe pack from Liveaquaria.com