Just one last "Is this ok" before I start

[Cash Turtle]

my tank is a 30 gallon, sand bottom,3 bunches of anacharis anchored to rocks and planning on getting more anacharis some hornwort and maybe 2-3 water lettuce.
I want to stock the tank with
1 banjo catfish
6 pygmy corys (if I can find them)
1-3 male fancy guppys
whatever number of female guppys will comfortably fit
maybe an apple snail or a few shrimp (completly optional just thinking about them)

will male fancy guppies breed with female wild guppies or is it better to have female fancys?

right now I have a whisper 20 on the tank with a regular whisper filter pack and a bag or nitra-zorb but im going to get an aqua clear probably rated up to a 40 and stuff it with biomedia

I took my water to get tested by the lfs ( I cant get my fish until they test it apparently) my nitrites were high so i got the nitra-zorb thing and there going down, I expect to get my banjo tomorrow after having the water tested again.

I also have a cupful of rocks from my establish ACF tank rubber banded into a pantyhose bag, sitting on the floor of the aquarium.
I had them in the back of my whispr filter but moved them so I could stuff the nitra-zorb thing in there

oops I also have a heater I dont remeber the watts but its an acura 150 maybe?

 

[talloulou]

I'd recommend you get your own water testing kit.....Freshwater Master Test Kit Aquarium Pharmaceuticals is a good one. Since the tank is new you are really going to have to keep an eye on the water even with the nitra zorb thingy.......I believe those have to be recharged don't they? Also I wouldn't add the catfish first. I always add bottem feeder last as they tend to be hit the hardest when water conditions aren't ideal. I'd either wait till the tank is cycled......not sure how that works with nitra zorb.....or add the guppys first and see how they do.

 

[rich311k]

I would not add the catfish first either. They seem to be more suseptible to uncycled water. I would try a few guppies first and go slow.

As for the male guppies they will mate with anything that resembles a female guppy.

 

[Cash Turtle]

I do have my own master kit but thefish store does it free and wants to do it before they sell me my fish.
I see I wanted to get the catfish first becuase they only have one, the guy said he'd try to keep it for me but they dont normaly hold fish for people and it might get sold. I'll ask again maybe they'll let me pay for it first so that they cant sell it to anyone else.

I'll try to be patient

 

[bosk1]

Glad I stumbled in here. I wasn't aware of the rationale behind not putting bottom feeders in first. VERY good tip! ...especially since I was entertaining the idea of possibly putting loaches in as some of my first fish. But as far as a catfish, aren't cats of all types pretty tough fish that can take bad water conditions better than most? Not that you would want to intentionally subject them to a likelihood of having to suffer with bad water, but still...aren't they hardier than most?

 

[talloulou]

I always add bottem feeders last because many of them are scaleless and therefore more sensitive to ammonia and nitrites. Another good point for adding bottem feeders last is that many are scavengers that search the bottem of the tank constantly grazing. If the tank is pretty new there won't be much for them to find. That said I would agree that they are hardy.

Another tip is obviously to not add any algae eaters till you have algae. And if you are going to stock a tank with a fish that might be aggressive.....add it last. Sometimes that can help cut down on aggression. For example over the years I have kept bettas in community tanks but I have found if the betta is the first fish he usually decides the tank is his and is more likely to attack new additions. However if the betta is put in an already established/stocked tank they generally are less aggressive. ...That's just my personal experience anyway. Hope that helps.

 

[Cash Turtle]

just have to be patient right, I was hoping the nitra-zorb would bring my levels down to something that my current bacteria could handle.
would It help if I took more gravel out of my frog tank for this tank?

how many male guppies can live comfortably in my setup with out fin nipping or struggles to be teh dominant guppy? would it be best if I only got one?

I'll see how my water is tomorrow but im afraid that my nitrates and amonia with jump back up as soon as I remove teh nirta-zorb, I dont want to keep it in there forever.

oh yeah, if there anyhting I can put in the tank to natualy lower teh ph a little? my water comes slightly acidic out of teh tap but becomes alkaline in my tanks, is tha sand or plants doing this?
my frog tank only has a layer of large smooth black stones anda terracotta pot hide .

anything else I should be asking?

 

[Rockcrawler]

I see I wanted to get the catfish first becuase they only have one, the guy said he'd try to keep it for me but they dont normaly hold fish for people and it might get sold. I'll ask again maybe they'll let me pay for it first so that they cant sell it to anyone else.

I'll try to be patient

My LFS will let you pay for the fish and then they will hold it until you are ready to take it home

They got your money and your fish, they can't loose.

8)