My first tank

[Barkerno1]

Ok so I thought I'd introduce my first tank setup here and see what people think,help, tips etc would be wonderful.

I have a 36 gallon tank with a bow front.
My fishlist : Breeding black and white Molly
4 black skirt tetra's
3 male 2 female fancy guppies
2 platties
2 blue gourami
2 swordtails
A rainbow shark
An albino bristlenose pleco
A bamboo shrimp
A dwarf frog
Am wanting to plant my tank with some live plants rather than the plastic ones but I think I need to upgrade my lighting first (17w t8)

 

[peppermint]

Pretty tank

 

[Barkerno1]

Thanks
Forgot to mention I have a raphael cat also
Sucker is never out in the daytime so is forgetful sometimes hehe

 

[roundar]

I think you may be overstocked. :/ Can't wait to see it with real plants though.

 

[rich311k]

Nice looking tank. I have that tank and you will need to up the lighting to grow plants.

 

[Barkerno1]

What sort of problems come with being overstocked??
I kind of went with the inch per gallon thing, but I know that as some of my fish grow, I'll defiantly need something bigger. I shall have to convince my wife into getting something bigger from cl

 

[Barkerno1]

Also, if I do upgrade the lighting do I need to worry about the clear plastic part that is between the hood and the light fixture melting, if I have 2 17 watt t8's?

 

[adadkins1]

I also think you are overstocked. Overstocking just means that your water parameters can quickly get out of hand and kill your fish. You can make your tank work for the time being by keeping up with weekly or twice weekly water changes. DO NOT use the inch per gallon rule exclusively. It is only a rough guesstimate, and not nearly as accurate as an experienced aquariast. When you do upgrade you should get more black skirt tetras because they need schools of 6+ and another frog or two. The Dwarf Frogs really enjoy the company of their own species.

 

[Barkerno1]

Right now I do a 33% water change weekly with my gravel vac, think that is enough to keep things ok, or I guess I should just do a test of the water perams and do water changes as needed?

 

[adadkins1]

That sounds like an O.K. schedule but you are right that testing params and doing changes as needed is the way to go.

 

[Barkerno1]

Heh thanks for the info. I appreciate it lots. Totally a newb when it comes to this stuff, but have totally gotten bit by the bug.
Really can't wait until I can start putting some live plants in.

 

[Barkerno1]

Just a few more pictures of my tank-mates.
I added a new Adf and a shot of my bamboo shrimp and my rainbow shark.

Am getting a new 40 gallon this week so I should be able to switch some fish out to there to sort out my overstocking problem

 

[alLexX]

the shark should really be in A 55 gallon or bigger tank.

 

[adadkins1]

+1, that shark will need a fairly large tank. Glad you are upgrading to fix the problem though!

 

[Esoteric Backbone]

Bamboo Shrimp are very beautiful. Mine is a bright orangish, reddish color.

 

[Barkerno1]

Strangely mine likes to change colors quite often, in the last 3 days he's went from a peach color to a deep red back to peach again.