You "fish" your tank looked this good!

[rlstoll]

Haha. Seriously though. I just set my 37 gal tank up this last week. After an extensive search for ammonia it was found. I just added the ammonia and it is a bit high a little over 4ppm. Im going to retest tomorrow and see if the test was accurate if it's too high I'll do a water change.

Just thought I would post my progression through this process. And if anyone has any opinions or advice I would greatly appreciate any incite. I am still debating what types of fish I am going to put in. I really like cichlids and rainbow sharks. I know they don't go together but any stocking suggestions would be good. I also like colorful and schooling fish.

Thanks everyone!

 

[AngelWings]

Beautiful!

 

[Convict2161]

Not bad... If Cichlid's you'll need more hiding places and that blue plant is killing me.

How about a background? Black maybe? Or blue?

Just being honest. I mean no disrespect at all.

 

[rlstoll]

Haha you don't like the blue plant?? My girl friend picked that out. So I had to put it in.

I thought about that with the cichlids. And it seems like there isn't as much variety when you pick cichlids. I might go the other route. I really love the electric yellow lab. But oh well.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

I like what you did with that wood looks nice

 

[Convict2161]

Haha you don't like the blue plant?? My girl friend picked that out. So I had to put it in.

I thought about that with the cichlids. And it seems like there isn't as much variety when you pick cichlids. I might go the other route. I really love the electric yellow lab. But oh well.

Haha I hear ya... Gotta keep the women happy! You can dwarf Cichlid's and shell dwellers if your set on them. But the yellow labs I don't think will fly in that size tank. You still have options.

 

[rlstoll]

What does dwarf cichlids mean? I'm assuming keeping them in a smaller tank makes it so they don't get as big??

 

[Convict2161]

Here's some good reads.

http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/index.php

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/dwarf.php

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/dwarf_cichlid.php

 

[Sharkbait54]

I totally understand the blue plant.

The tank looks fantastic good job. Dwarf cichlids would look Awsome, here are some pics of my guy so you can get an idea it's a cockatoo cichlid you can also mix them with German blue rams and Bolivian rams.

 

[Convict2161]

I totally understand the blue plant.

The tank looks fantastic good job. Dwarf cichlids would look Awsome, here are some pics of my guy so you can get an idea it's a cockatoo cichlid you can also mix them with German blue rams and Bolivian rams.

That's a beautiful fish!! WOW!! See OP you have some great options!! I heard that dwarfs don't like blue plants though lol!!

 

[librarygirl]

A couple of dwarfs might do OK in a 37 but you wouldn't be able to have much else due to their potential aggression. If you wanted a nice community tank you'd have more options, such as: guppies, platies, sparkling or dwarf gourami, most any type of tetra, danio or rasbora, maybe corys for the bottom (if your gravel is smooth and not sharp). Not all of these together of course but you'd be able to mix and match a good number of them to some variety in there.

 

[rlstoll]

Thanks everyone. Those cockatoos look amazing. How many dwarf cichlids do you think I could have in my tank? Also, are they pretty hard to find? I only have a petsmart and pet supplies plus near me. I know probably not the best place to get fish but I am limited.

Librarygirl the community tank and cichlids still have me torn. What would be a good stocking plan that includes rainbow sharks. And maybe a set of schooling fish.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

I would go with either a pair of German blue rams and a nice school of small tetras. Or go with the apisto's like that cockatoo. But their are a ton of little terra fish like emerald green tetras, ember tetras, ruby tetras, etc. those are considered micro fish so you could probably put a school of about twenty in there with the dwarf cichlids, but as mentioned if you go cichlids you will need more hiding places and I would suggest some live plants as well.

 

[librarygirl]

I'm not sure the shark would do well in a 37 gal; 55 gal minimum is preferred. They can grow to 5-6" and as it gets bigger it'll probably get aggressive and the limited confines of your tank will make it worse. Rainbow sharks are aggressive toward their own kind as well so you could only have one. I've read of some instances where a Rainbow Shark can co-habitate with certain types of Cichlids but I think your tank is too small to even try it. Plus both the shark and Cichlids would prefer sand over gravel. Even a shark with schooling fish in a 37 might be a gamble.

It's up to you of course but for your first tank I'd go for an easier, peaceful type of setup (when you get a larger second tank....and you probably will at some point, one is never enough once you get started in this hobby...then maybe you can try the Cichlids and/or Shark).

Just an example, for a 37 gal peaceful community tank you could do something like:
8-10 Rummynose Tetra
9-10 Neon Tetra
1 sparkling or dwarf gourami (centerpiece)
6 Corys (again assuming your gravel is smooth and not sharp)

I'd suggest going to some fish stores in your area, write down fish you like and then research them and ask here.

 

[tamtam]

Thanks everyone. Those cockatoos look amazing. How many dwarf cichlids do you think I could have in my tank? Also, are they pretty hard to find? I only have a petsmart and pet supplies plus near me. I know probably not the best place to get fish but I am limited.

Librarygirl the community tank and cichlids still have me torn. What would be a good stocking plan that includes rainbow sharks. And maybe a set of schooling fish.

37 isn't big enough for a shark. You'd need 50 at the least, generally more is best.

You could do a nice community with rams, they are another type of dwarf cichlid. Usually not too hard to find though can be pricey. Or at least around here. Cheapest I've found them is 15 bucks a fish and I need to have it ordered in. 20 bucks is the next cheapest.

With Rams you could do most tetras, danios, rasboras, livebearers and even a dwarf gourami.

Something like
2 rams
1 honey or dwarf gourami
a school of smaller fish
maybe a bottom dweller like a clown pleco or shoal of dwarf cories.

The rams are also more bottom level fish so you don't want to jam up the bottom too much.

As for the tank I love that wood piece. I would def to a back ground, prob a basic black to help make those colors pop. I've also add more plants for hiding. I like grouping my taller plants in the back and filling out the front with the shorter ones. Just makes a nice flow to the tank.

 

[rlstoll]

Thanks everyone. Great ideas and advice. I really like the look of the rams and cockatoo. So maybe a pair of either rams or cockatoo. With maybe 2 school of microfish. And would there be another medium size fish that I could get with all that. I'm not the biggest fan of the gourami but I could use it if I didn't have any other options.

 

[tamtam]

I would suggest a single angel but your microfish would most likely become a snack. Something like a rummy nose tetra would work nicely.

 

[rlstoll]

I like the look of the rummy rose. Is there any other suggestions??

I can't wait to start putting fish in. I tested the
Ammonia again today and it's still pretty high. I wish I could get something to seed the aquarium.

 

[azmodan]

Nice tank! Fake plants will never trump a planted tank though.

 

[rlstoll]

Thank you!!! I know the real plants look great. Are they hard to take care of? If they are easy maybe I'll consider getting them. This is my first tank so I don't want it to be too hard.