Beginner help

[Natev32]

Plecostomus, Koi Cobra Guppy, Dumbo Halfmoon Betta - Male, Glofish Tetra
Are these fish easily cared for, how hard is it to bio vs non bio and there benefits, and a list of general maintenance I’ll have to do with these fish in a bio vs non bio habitat, also price it will take to be bio vs non bio, i planning to have a 50gal tank

[Colin_T]

Plecostomus need big tanks (6 foot plus) and lots of big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate to remove the waste they produce.

Guppies are inbred and weak these days. They are also regularly infested with intestinal worms and gill flukes and should be treated for these as soon as you get them. They also need water with a GH (general hardness) around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. Local bred guppies are generally healthier than fish from Asia or fish farms.

Betta splendens are inbred too and are not good quality. If you can find good quality fish, they are easy to keep and should live for 3-5 years, but most of the stuff sold in shops are inbred and genetically weak.

GloFish tetras (depending on the actual species) can be easy to keep. Get a group of 10 or more and have lots of plants and they are usually fine. Some tetras will bite the fins on slow moving fish or fish with long fins and they should not be kept with guppies or Bettas.

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All freshwater aquariums should get a partial water change and gravel clean once a week. You can get a gravel cleaner from any pet shop or make your own from a plastic drink bottle and length of garden hose. There is a picture of a basic model gravel cleaner on the following link. It's about half way down the page. You can look on YouTube to see people using gravel cleaners.
New water should be free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

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Filters should be cleaned at least once a month. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it, wait until it is 6 weeks old before cleaning it for the first time. Then do it monthly after that. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

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Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean soap free sponge, once a week before you do the water change.

[Natev32]

Originally Posted by Colin_T

Plecostomus need big tanks (6 foot plus) and lots of big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate to remove the waste they produce.

Guppies are inbred and weak these days. They are also regularly infested with intestinal worms and gill flukes and should be treated for these as soon as you get them. They also need water with a GH (general hardness) around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. Local bred guppies are generally healthier than fish from Asia or fish farms.

Betta splendens are inbred too and are not good quality. If you can find good quality fish, they are easy to keep and should live for 3-5 years, but most of the stuff sold in shops are inbred and genetically weak.

GloFish tetras (depending on the actual species) can be easy to keep. Get a group of 10 or more and have lots of plants and they are usually fine. Some tetras will bite the fins on slow moving fish or fish with long fins and they should not be kept with guppies or Bettas.

---------------------

All freshwater aquariums should get a partial water change and gravel clean once a week. You can get a gravel cleaner from any pet shop or make your own from a plastic drink bottle and length of garden hose. There is a picture of a basic model gravel cleaner on the following link. It's about half way down the page. You can look on YouTube to see people using gravel cleaners.
New water should be free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

-------------

Filters should be cleaned at least once a month. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it, wait until it is 6 weeks old before cleaning it for the first time. Then do it monthly after that. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

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Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean soap free sponge, once a week before you do the water change.

Please tell me what freshwater fish you’d find ideal to put in a habitat and what flauna fake or bio, you’d do with it, I’ll just research what they need and get high quality everything to make sure it’s a good habitat for them

[Colin_T]

I need to know tank dimensions and water chemistry before I make suggestions on fish. The water chemistry can vary from state to state and different countries.

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What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

[Colin_T]

LIST OF PLANTS TO TRY
Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow or twisted/ spiral Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).
The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

Ambulia, H. polysperma, Elodia/ Hydrilla and Vallis are tall plants that do well along the back. Rotala macranda is a medium/ tallish red plant that usually does well.

H. ruba/ rubra is a medium height plant that looks good on the sides of the tank.

Cryptocorynes are small/ medium plants that are taller than pygmy chain swords but shorter than H. rubra. They also come in a range of colours, mostly different shades of green, brown or purplish red. Crypts are not the easiest plant to grow but can do well if they are healthy to begin with and are not disturbed after planting in the tank.

Most Amazon sword plants can get pretty big and are usually kept in the middle of the tank as a show piece. There is an Ozelot sword plant that has brown spots on green leaves, and a red ruffle sword plant (name may vary depending on where you live) with deep red leaves.

There is a pygmy chain sword plant that is small and does well in the front of the tank.