80g freshwater tank in a school- need help choosing appropriate fish

[little_ninja]

Hi there, I'm new to the forum but I was hoping that there is someone on here that can help me.

I currently have two tanks freshwater tanks set up at home so I have some experience.

Recently I was asked to look after the 80g tank at the school I am currently volunteering for.

Before Christmas the water was so green that we were unable to see the fish at all, so I cleaned the tank
- 100% water change
-relocated the fish to my tank at home
- set up and allowed the tank to cycle (fish less)
Tank info: gravel bottom, lots of hiding places

So now were are looking to replace the fish instead of returning the previous fish
That's where my real questions come in.

Questions:
#1- when should I start putting fish back into the tank
#2- how many fish should be placed in the tank (80g)
#3- what kind of fish will be okay in the tank our school has students in early education (4 year olds) to grade nine as well as special needs students. I only say this as further information to use when recommending fish because the glass will be tapped on, so I need fish that won't be to sensitive to that kind of treatment

we would like to have as many fish as possible without overcrowding, the more colourful the better, schooling fish are preferred also something unique like shrimp or crayfish something the students have never seen before


Any and all advice or input is appreciated

 

[CLR250]

just so I know what to not suggest, what did you guys have in it before the green water? Also, I believe nearly all fish will be pretty sensitive to the tapping on the glass. I do have one idea for what to put in but you might need to get lucky to find them and get a bunch because I know they can be aggresive, Blind Cave Tetras, They literally have NO eyes at all once they are in their adult stage of life and look very interesting/different.

 

[little_ninja]

We had about 10 red platys and three albinos corydoras and 5 neon tetras and two skirt tails tetras, we'd like to get another bunch of red platys because the kids really liked their bright colour.
There is minimal tapping on the glass, but it will happen it is unavoidable because the kids don't know better.

 

[Samzter]

What are the levels reading currently? How often can you do water changes. I would suggest a school of 20 rummy nose tetras. But they are sensitive and need pristine water conditions. I have a school of six and they're amazing. You could do a colony of amano shrimp. They are a little bigger than the neocardia? Shrimp so therefore they are tougher

 

[sugalips124]

Rosy barbs would be great they get a little bigger than the red platysthough roughly 6inches

 

[little_ninja]

I don't know anything about barbs are they similar to look after as the tetras, if we were to get Rosy barbs what other fish would we be able to put with them and how many

 

[little_ninja]

We haven't tested the water sense before Xmas so I don't know what the levels are

 

[CLR250]

I would put corys in again, but this time around get a good shoal of em' they like to be in groups and school/shoal together. You could get the Platys again as well. instead of neon tetras you could get glowlights, they look similar but are clear and have a orange flourescent stripe through them instead of the blue. OH! If they are availabe where you are, you could get a school of Glo Fish, they arent dyed but they are extremely vibrant/neon and come in a bunch of different colors, I believe they are a genetically modified zebra danio so they arent hard to take care of. I'm not an expert on it but I think you may be able to get angel fish in there if you dont have very many other fish in there. Give it some thought, theres plenty of options, heck you could even do a Cichlid tank.

 

[CharlieKlein]

For colors to pop, and a tank like yours allows it, big groups are really coolyou could do
12 platy
20 rumynose tetras(add last)
1 angelfish
20 Cory's
10 giant danios
14 blue eyed rainbowfish

 

[Scottyhorse]

I agree, Rainbow fish would be a great option.

You could do:
Rainbow Fish
Platies (all males)
1 Pleco
Glo Fish
Cory Cats
Hatchet Fish
Angel Fish

Lots of options in that tank! Do you know the demensions? Do you have a test kit? (liquid)

 

[little_ninja]

I personally don't know what the dimensions are but will be finding out exacts pretty soon, tomorrow probably, I know it's wider then it is tall. Which isn't very helpful though. And no we just bought a set of test strips this weekend to use to test them