New Aquarium Adivice! Advice for my Tank?

[ttw1223]

I just set up my account of Aquarium Advice and would really appreciate some advice on my fish tank! It is a Marineland 55 gallon Aquarium/LED Hood. The filter is a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel aquarium power filter. It has an Aqueon Circulation pump, a Marineland heater, and a thermometer.
Thanks you guys!

 

[jtez]

Welcome to AA

What advice were you particularly after?

 

[ttw1223]

Just wondering if it is good as if or if someone would recommend doing something differently!

 

[jtez]

Well in that case
What's your stock/what fish do you have?
Are your plants live or fake?
Do you know which model of marineland filter you have?
What filter media do you use?
Do you use test kits for your water and if so what are your most recent readings?
Do you vacuum your gravel?
What's your water change schedule like?

There's a broad range of things to look at in aquaria I hope you enjoy it here, its a great community. How long have you been keeping fish/is this your only tank?

 

[ttw1223]

Stock: Haha I just have a bunch of different small tropical fish. I have; a small pleco, two small catfish, a small loach, two small bolivian rams, two small cherry barbs, two tiny rainbow sharks, and a few small platys.
Plants: all are fake.
Model of Filter: 350b-75 gallon model
Test Kit: API aquarium test strips
Gh:about-10, Kh:about-40(water is very hard where I live at!),
Ph:about-7, Nitrate and Nitrite:about-0
I have only had the tank for about a month and I have yet to vacuum the gravel(catfish and other fish seem to be doing a good job as of now) I will do so very soon though.
I do a water change about once a week or two.
(Is this often enough on the above items)

It seems like an awesome place! I look forward to getting into it! Anything you would recommend that I check out on the site?

 

[ttw1223]

This is my only tank, I am currently looking into maybe getting a second smaller tank to use as a refugium.

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Did you cycle the tank? Nitrates should be above zero. As for set up, if you like it that's all that matters. I think it looks good. I would up your cherry barb school to about 8 or so

 

[redsea]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice! Thanks for joining us!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Welcome to the site!

 

[james77]

If that how you like it then no one else's opinion's should matter. It up to you how you want it decorated. Now if your wanting a certain theme or bio type or fish compatability then we can all help ya. But your tank looks good oh and I have the same exact tank.

 

[jtez]

I have only had the tank for about a month and I have yet to vacuum the gravel(catfish and other fish seem to be doing a good job as of now) I will do so very soon though.
I do a water change about once a week or two.
(Is this often enough on the above items)

Many people like to change 25-50% of the water weekly, but it's entirely up to you how often you choose to, so long as you keep water parameters under control. In a cycled tank, nitrates is the important figure to keep down, preferably under 20ppm as I don't think your rams are tolerant of a high level. Nitrite should be 0 and ammonia should be less than 0.25, preferably 0. Also if you have a siphon gravel vacuum, vacuuming is usually done with the water change

Do your test strips have an ammonia test? In a new tank ammonia really should be monitored closely. If you don't have an ammonia test i recommend the API liquid tests, thats what most here use. Test strips can sometimes give inaccurate readings. The liquid tests take a few minutes more effort but i believe it's worth it for the accuracy.

Did you cycle the tank? Nitrates should be above zero. As for set up, if you like it that's all that matters. I think it looks good. I would up your cherry barb school to about 8 or so

Couldn't agree with TCC more. Cycling a tank is the hardest and probably least well known step of fish keeping for beginners. If you've done that then well done, but if not you can still cycle with fish in.

Like said the cherry barbs will be more comfortable in larger schools. If you know the names of your catfish and loach then we could offer more advice on them my guess is they could very well be schooling fish too.

Apart from that I THINK your stocking is good, not sure about the sharks but maybe someone can chime in on them.

Anything you would recommend that I check out on the site?

I'm a personal fan of the DIY and planted tank section, but that's relevant to my interests. Hopefully you find what areas you love the most, like breeding or just various fish types. But I recommend you research as much about your fish as you can, if you haven't already, and ensure you can always cater to their needs.

Also have a look at the cycling guides, I'll see if i can get a link but I'm on my phone at the moment