Help with stocking goptions

[oilpays]

Help with stocking options

So I am looking at a 36 gallon bowfront.

I am very new to keeping fish but I've been reading about fishless cycling and I understand the nitrogen cycle.

As far as stocking goes, I need fish that will be able to survive without me doing a PWC for 10 days at a time.

I would like to have a school(6-8) of some brightly colored fish (prob some sort of tetra), I like angelfish and all other types of cichlids, bala sharks.

I would like to be able to have a school swimming around and have a few larger fish as well...also any recomendations for some bottom dwellers to round it all out

I would like to have some live plants in there but im not sure i should get into that as this is my first tank


Any advice on what would work here would be appreciated.

Thanks, this site has been an awesome wealth of knowledge for me so far.


JIM

 

[beepboop]

I've had angelfish and like them a lot. But, they get very large and would be cramped in a 36 gallon. I tried keeping some harlequin rasboras with them and they nipped the angelfish's fins, but they were active and schooled well. Currently, I'm considering some Glofish (genetically modified zebra danios that glow really brightly when exposed to UV light in red, orange, or green) for a new tank. Danios are supposedly hardy too, but I haven't had them before. I've had neons before, but they're not very active and are kind of boring, but have good color. They hid 90% of the time.

I've had African cichlids, but they don't get along with anything else and fight and chase each other frequently. There are a few south american species that stay small, like the blue ram (haven't kept those). They're not as bright as the african cichlids though, but they only get about 2 inches big instead of 5-6 like other cichlids.

Other fish I've kept: swordtails (can be bright, and are peaceful), mollies (varying success with keeping them alive, come in a variety of colors), guppies (they stay at the top constantly and are kind of boring, but pretty), goldfish, koi (awesome color, active and fun, but dirty and get really big). Rainbowfish (one of my favorites, come in a variety of colors, but get 3-4 inches big. One school and one other small fish would be all you could have in a 36 gallon). Dwarf Gourami (sometimes shy, and die easily if the heater stops working).

If you really want to avoid water changes as often, use something like Purigen or Chemi-pure in your filter. Or, you could build a plant filter like I'm doing.