90 Gallon Setup, Questions/Stocking

[KaeJS]

To begin, this is my first post on AA. Hello, everyone!

I am not new to fishkeeping or aquaria, however, I have been out of the hobby for a while (3 years). I had a girlfriend.... and a TV quickly replaced my beautifully planted 29G.

Well, life goes on and things change.

The girlfriend is now gone and I just purchased a new home by myself. Now that I have a new house (closing date is October 30), I'm planning to go all out on a 90Gallon!

I have previously had a 10g, 20g, and 29g. This move to a 90g will be a big change for me, and I can't wait.

I am planning to have this tank as a fully planted Freshwater community tank. Here is what I plan to get so far:

Marineland 90G, 48x18x24, Glass Rectangular
Newport Black Wooden Stand w/Canopy
Marineland C-360 Canister Filter
AquaticLife T5 HO 48" Lamp w/timer
AquaMedic AM1000 Reactor
pH Controller of some sort???

I plan to put in some driftwood, rocks, and have an "open space" in the middle of the tank, with both sides and the back planted heavily with various plants.

I need your help with my "centerpiece" type fish. So far, I'm thinking of throwing in:

15 Rummynose Tetras
15 Neon Tetras
2 German Rams (would like more of these guys, but in my experience, they tend to claim opposite ends of the tank for their territory)
6 Corydoras
6 Otto's
20 Red Cherry Shrimp

Now, with the above listed fish, I would like one of the following, or a combination of:

*2, 4 or 5 Angels (Must be white/silver with yellow. No black, no koi's, no zebra)
*2, 3, or 5 Discus
*5-8 Boesemani Rainbows

The problem I'm having is that I like to get as many colours as possible. For example, if I were to get your plain old Blue Coloured Discus, I might swap the Neon Tetras for Serpae Tetras or Harlequin Rasboras to get some more red colour. However, Discus are generally harder to keep, cost a lot of money, and take up lots of space. Personally, I think Angels look horrible when they are fully grown, and I'm not too sure I like the behaviour of Boesemani's.

I need your help, guys!

I'm not opposed to Gourami's, but they are boring fish. They just gulp air all day...

Recommendations? Suggestions?

 

[ErinF90]

Dwarf Flame Gouramies!!! I love mine, they aren't boring at all, and very colourful! They are all red and have a blue strip at the top of their dorsal fin. I have 2 males in my tank and they 'dance' often and swim around feeling everything with their cool feelers (not sure what they are called, but very cool).

 

[Rivercats]

You talk about angels but what about Veil angels or Super Veils. I have 10 in a 220g and 4 in a holding 55. White pearlscales, blue platinums, there are some really super colors out there now. Check out Mello Aquatics, you buy angels but their picture, not what someone picks out and sends you. Discus require high temps that alot of other fish can't tolerate. Also if you like color look into Gold Rams, hifins are really nice. They add a real pop of color. Rummy's are my favorite tetra, I have 21. Another fish that you could look into are the hifin gold or white skirt tetras. Don't like the black shirts but the other two really stand out in a tank. For a Rainbow with color nothing beats the Orange Albino Millenium Rainbowfish.

 

[mikem691]

I had bad luck with angels and serpae tetras The serpaes are fin nipers.

 

[Rivercats]

Oh yeah!!! I have 10 veil/superveil angels, 21 rummy nose tetras, 11 rams (German Blue, hifin gold, electric blue), threadfin rainbowfish, 3 yo-yo loaches (they are very amusing and the more the merrier), oto's, albino longfin BN pleco, and my favorite, 3 whiptail catfish (sometimes call twig catfish). Almost got the OA Mill Rainbows but just didn't think they'd look good. IMO if you really like color I'd go rainbows, Iranian reds are another favorite of mine. There is a large choice of colors, check out oddballfish.com as they have alot of different rainbows and they breed all the fish they sell.

 

[KaeJS]

Love the OAM Rainbow.

I checked out oddballfish.com. Looks like a pretty decent website. I don't think they ship to Canada, though.

Not a huge fan of the veiled Angels...

 

[KaeJS]

2 Gallon!

So, since I still have another 2 months until I get my 90 Gallon setup, I couldn't quite wait.

I decided to start up my Fluval Spec Nano, 2 Gallon Aquarium again.

No, I do not have any patience.

The plant to the left is fake, but the plant to the right (and small one in the front) is an Ambulia Ambulia Sessiliflora.

I have jump started the tank with some used aquarium gravel with bacteria, aquarium water, and of course the live plant. I have also added some fish food, just in case the bacteria gets a little hungry.

At the moment, there are no fish as I would like to get the bacteria cycle going a bit.... However, I plan to get a few neons and these fish (along with the media, plant and gravel) will be put into the 90 gallon to help "jump start" the 90 gallon.

I know it looks a little plain, but I did not want to spend too much money as I will be spending a ton on the 90 Gallon. This whole setup cost me only $16.35 CAD.