stocking help, new 45gal bow

[screaminglemon]

This is my first tank, an acrylic 45gal (but measures 44 without substrate) bowfront (36" long). Plenty of filtration, a Eheim pro3 2073 and an airstone. Its planted with a dirt substrate capped with small natural colored gravel i got from the LFS. Also have 2 peices of driftwood and a couple of ornaments.

The tank just finished cycling and I'm itchin for some swimmers. I want a peaceful community tank. All I have my heart set on so far is neon tetras, but I keep reading that a pleco is great. I also currently have a snail infestation, a bonus that came with my plants, and would like to get something early on that will help control the snail population. Maybe zebra or polka-dot loach but I'm not against an assassin snail.

So help me stock this thing. I prefer vibrant colors (i know, not much to choose from with freshwater) but I will consider plain jane silver if they have a personality. I'm also kind of keen on black or white fish(black mollys etc). So what, how many and I'm new so how many to start with?
Thanks.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome! How did you cycle the tank? If you didn't add an ammonia source then I'm afraid it isn't properly cycled (sorry if you did, just double-checking ). Does the tank have a heater? I'm assuming so if you want tropical fish.

A 45 gal bow is a good size. You probably have pond snails (common with plants) but if you don't overfeed they shouldn't get out of control (unless they already are?). If they do, an assasin snail or two will eat them. Or you can remove them manually. Or the loaches as you said.

You have a lot of options. I'm not the greatest on stocking, but you could do something like:

10 Neon Tetra (since you want them I'd get a good number as you'll see their behavior more0
5-6 guppies (some people either like them or don't, but there are a lot of colorful varieties)
1 German Blue Ram as a centerpiece
5 small loaches
1-2 small pleco (bristlenose?)

I'm sure others will have more ideas. You could also look into dwarf cichlids as they can be very colorful but they wouldn't be compatible with other fish and sometimes not even with each other as they can become aggressive when they spawn, but another option to research if you wanted.

 

[screaminglemon]

I followed the instructions on this site for fishless cycling and used the Ace brand janitorial strength ammonia. The heater is a 200W Hydor Eth inline and seems to keep the tank at an even temp. Was at 80 for the cycle but I just turned it down to 76 and might need to go further down depending on what fish I decide on.

Thanks for the recommendations. I will start my research.

 

[emerald76]

This is my first tank, an acrylic 45gal (but measures 44 without substrate) bowfront (36" long). Plenty of filtration, a Eheim pro3 2073 and an airstone. Its planted with a dirt substrate capped with small natural colored gravel i got from the LFS. Also have 2 peices of driftwood and a couple of ornaments.

The tank just finished cycling and I'm itchin for some swimmers. I want a peaceful community tank. All I have my heart set on so far is neon tetras, but I keep reading that a pleco is great. I also currently have a snail infestation, a bonus that came with my plants, and would like to get something early on that will help control the snail population. Maybe zebra or polka-dot loach but I'm not against an assassin snail.

So help me stock this thing. I prefer vibrant colors (i know, not much to choose from with freshwater) but I will consider plain jane silver if they have a personality. I'm also kind of keen on black or white fish(black mollys etc). So what, how many and I'm new so how many to start with?
Thanks.

Since you like black and white fish and colorful fish, here are my reccomendations-
1- black Molly
1- silver Molly
1- albino bristlenose pleco
4- male guppy (I recommend one yellow, one blue, one red, and one green or orange)
6- neon tetras
5- khuli loach
5- glofish(if you like them, I usually don't recommend them but you want colorful fish, one of each color)
5- penguin tetra

 

[screaminglemon]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Although I like color, I find the glofish to look too artificial. Im still undecided about guppies.

Im off to the LFS to see what they have. Would 5 zebra loach and 6 cardinal or neon tetras be too much to add at once? I need at least a few loaches because these pond snails are eating my plants now.

Later on, probably a bristlenose pleco and more tetras. I think that german blue ram would be interesting too.