new 40 gal tank

[Cartosbartos]

hey guys just bought a new tank recently which was already set up the guy said he had it for 12 months prior and had a few fish but he didnt really seem to know that much.

Iv been checking the water ppm
ammonia today was around 0.12
nitrite was 0
nitrate was roughly 0.12 aswell

these havnt really budged all week either
6 fish came with the tank but non are really significant polluters and i havnt made anymore additions, what i have done is today after it being set up at mine for near a week i have changed the substrate but before you freak out about losing good bacteria i wouldnt worry about it cause the guy i bought it off already had it out of the aquarium and sitting in the hot sun hours before i arrived to pick it up.

I added silver pearl aquarium gravel to it today but only used one 10 kilogram bag to fill the base i would say in general i got a half inch cover in 60 percent of the tank and an inch in the rest is that enough ?

I plan on stocking

6 kuhli loaches
6 congo tetras
1 blue ram
1pearl gourami
1 angel fish

and possibly 6 sterba corys but thats a maybe at this stage.
I plan on having this tank lightly planted.

Thanks for reading and if you have any fish species or suggestions you would like to tell me please do !

I will most likely add pictures as i change things on the tank and show you what it was and what it has turned into.

 

[ankleknee10]

Look into Odessa barbs they are a beautiful fish and mine are very peaceful!

 

[Cartosbartos]

Checked the parameters again today they were still the same as the previous readings on thursday, what should I do ?

 

[librarygirl]

What test kit are you using? What filter is on the tank and are you using the same media that came with the tank? Was it still wet when you got it?

Your params are fine so far; what fish do you have in the tank now? A 40 gal is a good size so if the fish are small that could be why you're not seeing a significant rise in toxins, plus if the media had some bacteria on it that could be helping too. When was the last time you did a water change?

Not sure about Congo tetras in a 40; they are very active swimmers and at least a 4 foot tank is recommended for them.

 

[NinjaTetra]

You could do black neons or silvertip tetras insted of Congo tetras, those are both fairly peaceful. You Gould probably get more angels though.

 

[Lucas82]

I just bought some Black Neons for my 40 Gallon and they are working great with my Boesemani Rainbows. I agree they are a great smaller schooling fish.

 

[Cartosbartos]

Hey guys I ended up going with 5 silvertip tetras and 5 black phantoms. I checked my parameters a couple days ago and it was showing some more nitrates which was good. I am just waiting now to try get the tank a little more properly set up to be able to handle my angel and gourami I'm putting in.
So to summarize what will be stocked

6 kuhli loaches
5 black phantom tetras
5 silvertip tetras
1 blue ram
1 angel fish
1 pearl gourami
1 sterba cory ( don't know whether to add too or give away yet)
1 bristlenose catfish

I know my tank is pretty well stocked as it is but I did want some zebra loaches maybe as bottom feeders instead of adding 3 more Cory's could I add 4 zebra loaches or would you just leave it how it is.
I also wanted to know if serpae tetras can mix with black phantoms because me being the genius I am went to my fish supplier and bought phantoms instead of serpaes. Don't know how I mixed the two up but it happened anyway the lone serpae seems to be getting along fine with the others though ?