Setting up a 60 gallon tank :D

[DoomSayer]

My cousin bought a 60 gal. setup a few months ago. He put a bunch of goldfish in it and they all died. So he gave the whole set up to me.

I've had tanks in the past, but haven't had one set up for a couple years.

I'm using sand as a substrate, and will be doing a fishless cycle, but probably not until after christmas. I'm also looking into doing a low light planted tank, but the lighting confuses me.

Anyways, I was looking for some ideas for a stocking list for a tropical community. I don't really have anything spectacular in the way of ideas. I like clown loaches but I think they will get too big, so will probably get some corys. And that's all I've got. Thanks for any ideas, suggestions, info.

 

[zach_1_6]

i like tetra in my 65 gal planted. they love the room and chase one another around the tank. maybe get a red tailed shark or rainbow shark they look nice in a tank that size. im not sure how they will do with corys i dont have experience with them. maybe some angel fish, i tried them and they didnt make it but i think my raph ate them. try a nice pleco. you could aslo go with cyclids, im not sure if you want them or not. but thats just my opinion, good luck and have fun

 

[mudraker]

Wow, with 60 gallons you have a lot of choices.

Low light is easy to figure out, as the plants basiclly need low light. I have several fully planted tanks that thrive with the cheap fluorescents that are ususally included with full set ups. Just be sure the plants you get are truly low light.

As for fish, you have a lot of options. Cories are a nice start.

Are you thinking lots of small fish or a few bigger fish? Or a few small fish with one or two big showy types?

 

[DoomSayer]

I'm thinking a couple nice big schools of smaller fish, 6-8 cories, and a couple larger centerpiece fish would be cool. I'm not a fan of cichlids.

My husband was really excited about the upside down catfish at the pet store, does anyone have experience with those? I was thinking about opaline gouramis as my "big" fish, and would the upside down catfish do ok with that?

Does anyone keep peacock eels?? Those were really cool...would they make a good community fish..or would it eat the other bottom dwellers?

The tank is up and the sand, rocks, and water are in. I will start cycling after I get unlazy, that was hard work!

 

[XimeD]

I have kept a peacock eel, I loved it and mine was very peaceful. However, even though my tank was fully covered it managed to climb out through my biowheel filter and died =(

The peacock eel is one of the smaller spiny eels so it should be good in a 60gal community tank (avoid the smaller fish like neon tetras, it would probably eat those, ghost shrimp are also a no no, unless you're feeding it that), just make sure your tank is escape proof (sigh, I thought mine was) and that your substrate is not too sharp since they like to burrow. Also I had the eel with a small common pleco and they got along just fine.

Also, mine was a picky eater and would only eat live worms but I heard other people have gotten theirs to eat frozen bloodworms.

I don't have a ton of experience but hopefully this helps