Help stocking 55 gallon..

[kfelton22]

So my 55 gallon tank is now empty and fully cycled. I rehomed my goldfish and the remaining few are outside in a large tank. I currently have 4-5 stems of anacharis elodea in my tank, and tons of moneywort I recently planted (not in a huge cluster, I spread each stem out with 3-4 inches in between so they could spread ou). I also have a small java fern and a strand of mystery moss I'm trying to keep tied to a rock but it keeps getting loose. My lighting isn't great.. just factory hood lighting with pretty low wattage fluorescent bulbs. Substrate is a mix of gravel and flourite. I do not nor do I intend to supplement Co2. Filtration includes two aquaclear 70's and one small whisper 30 gallon filter I kept on because it was from an established tank.

My questions are:

1. Are what plants I have currently okay with my current lighting plus what light filters through the windows? I know java fern is pretty tough and anacharis as well but I've read moneywort likes a little more light.

2. What other plants can I add to my current setup that would do well?

3. Recommended stocking numbers of the following possible fish I would like: angelfish, guppies, corys, swordtails, white cloud mountain minnows, etc.

4. Do I need a snail or two? If so what kind will leave my plants alone?

5. Do I need to supplement my plants with fertilizers or will the fish handle that?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.



Edit: I may just get a few white clouds for my smaller 15 gallon since they don't mind cooler water. I don't have a heater in it and its empty too.. was using it to quarantine new plants.

 

[Gibberwatt]

As a general rule, more light is better. I like the Flora Sun lightbulb, but you can pick

Java moss is ok in low light, but again, more light, more plants

You need to check your water hardness - angels are more hard, and swordtails are more soft, and the two don't mix. Otherwise, dwarf gouramis are good, but you would need a floating plant for them to hide in.

snails mostly leave plants alone, and concentrate on algea, so a couple mystery snails should be fine (if you get a population boom, get a few assassin snails)

fertilizers are important if you want plants, and CO2 is very important if you want any plants at all - flourish is a good brand.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Hello kfel...

If you want to keep the tank simple, then a couple of T12 florescent bulbs from the hardware store will work. A filter system with a gallon per hour rating (gph) of roughly 200 is plenty. As for plants, stick to the ones that are dark green. Hornwort and Brazilian water weed are good floaters and Anubias, Java fern and any of the mosses are good bottom plants. These require low light and no added ferts as long as you have a decent number of fish in the tank and feed them a varied diet. Danios are hardy fish if you like egglayers and Platys are a very hardy livebearer. If you like a bottom fish for cleaning. Corydoras are likely the best.

Keep the tank water pure with large, weekly water changes and you'll have a healthy tank that requires minimal maintenance.

B