New 55g! Taking suggestions and applications! :-D

Shadowhawkiv

Hey everyone,

I acquired a 55g for free this last fall, with a stand, UG filtration system, air pump and all, from a nice couple who would take their Koi and Goldfish inside for the harsh Minnesota winter. Well...they didn't take them in this fall. Thus, they gave their equipment away! In any case, I have a pretty decent setup darned near ready to rock and roll. Here's the question posed by every single aquarist when they have a virgin system...what do I put in there?

I've been really getting into the aquascaping and aquatic gardening & all my plants have been doing very well, though I don't know if I'd rather go Dutch & go for the Japanese Sunken Garden look or go Biotope with it. Anyone have suggestions, thoughts, or questions?

This ought to be a fun topic

jeaninel

Ah, a free 55...you're so lucky!! If I had another 55 I think I would do a pair of angels, about 10 Rummynose Tetra and 6 Sterbai cories for the bottom. Or maybe Botia striata. Tank would have lots of plants and driftwood and sand substrate for the cories (or loaches).

Or 1 Leopard Ctenopoma and 6 Congo Tetras. Again planted and driftwood with maybe small black gravel.

herefishy

A HUGE group of CPD's!!! 100 or more. Planted of course.

iamntbatman

That would be like $800 in fish alone! That is, unless you started breeding them yourself...

How about 12 or 15 threadfin rainbows and a small herd of zebra loaches?

bf2king

Shadowhawkiv

What the heck is a CPD? <(o_O)>

iamntbatman

Celestial Pearl Danio. They also go by the name Galaxy Rasbora.

Cody

Celestial Pearl Danio, AKA Galaxy Rasbora.

I, would do a huge group of Cardinal Tetras, with Marbled Hatchets for the top and and some specie of Corydoras or Botia striata for the bottom. 8 fish for the bottom, 10 Hatchets, and...20+ Cardinals. Do a South American Biotope for them, and it would look very pretty IMO.

Shadowhawkiv

Wow...very cool! I know I'm going to be planting the snot out of it, anyway. I really enjoyed the effect of this waterfall that a coworker sent me a pic of, and, being the adventurous engineering student I am, is a great challenge. From what I understand, the biggest challenge will be to make sure that water circulates to every part of my tank and I don't end up with 'dead zones'

http://bp0.blogger.com/_cwbt2D65i9k/...0-h/2007_7.jpg

Mostly, I enjoyed the calm, pastoral setting, the kind of hobbiton-esque feeling that a setup like that evokes. Also, since my girlfriend is a mite obsessed with Faeries (and fish, she is just as excited about me setting up a new tank as I am :D ) I do believe I'm going to make an underwater faerie garden. There's a smattering of how-to's online in reference to sealing various things with aquatic epoxies and even more small and cheap faerie houses and ornaments that I could easily see working in a setup like that.

I was really thinking hard about getting schooling fish versus a couple a bit larger than the Ember Tetras and Dwarf Puffer I've got currently, but I do believe the CPD's tipped the scales ridiculously in favor of schooling fishies, not to mention how well they'd work in a setup like that.

Lupin

Scientific name: Danio margaritatus