Stocking My Tank

[Kylie Marie]

Hello, thank you for reading this. I am looking for ideas on how to stock my new Freshwater Aquarium. It is a 16.5 gallon rectangular tank. The specific dimensions are, length- 20 in, height- 19 in, and the depth is 10 in. I am looking to make a nice freshwater planted tank. I have been doing research for a solid 6 months. I would love to keep Kuhli Loaches, but I don't think they would do well in this tank, but I would like to keep something similar. I would love some fish with some color that are non-aggressive, and possibly some shrimp if I could. If you have any plant suggestions that would be appreciated as well. Thank you again! I'm really hoping that this aquarium will be soothing and helpful for me, I have major depression and anxiety, and my reptiles, and planning this aquarium really help me on my bad days, so I'm hoping having a nice community tank would give me something to watch and something that would help me relax. So, thank you again!

 

[nirbhao]

Aquaria are great for anxiety - mostly. They can give you reasons to worry, but that's a different issue. I have bipolar type I, which has increasingly manifested in the form of anxiety. I can just sit and stare and everything is better. At least a little.

Do you know what kind of substrate you would like to use?

I'm not very well versed on a wide variety of fish, but the most satisfying fish I have are Harlequin rasboras. They are a small schooling fish, and it's wonderful to watch them all move together. Plus mine are garnet colored and very sparkly.

I also love our blue rams, but I've found they don't work well in a community because of their water needs.

My plants tend to either be whatever was dying at Petco that I got for cheap or free and stuff I got here because IT'S SO PRETTY. Microsword has been one I've really enjoyed, although it needs high light. I've also been appreciating our ozelot swords.

Wonderful stage to be in. Get that cycle started!

 

[Mcfly]

A fish tank is wonderful distraction, and very soothing on the ol' nerves. Mine is in the living room, and more than once I've missed parts of my TV shows because I got locked in on watching the fish instead.

Fill the tank, get your Nitrogen cycle going... there's still time to decide on fish.

I would start with stocking the tank with plants first... and find out what your water conditions will be. Hard or soft water, high or low pH will all factor in on fish choices.

Look here for reliable information on fish: Knowledge Base — Seriously Fish