New Member - Stocking Advice

[Nelsontreyjones]

This is my first post here but have been visiting this site for months now. Very useful site.

I need some advice on stocking my new 40G Breeder. I plan on making this a planted tank as well (Just ordered an 36" Nova Extreme 2xT5HO 78W). As for Filtration I have a Fluval 206 and Marineland Emperor 400. Right now I have a Rainbow Shark and 7 Long-fin Zebra Danio. This is the list I had in mind.

Rainbow shark x1
Tiger Barb x8
Upside Down Catfish x3
Long-fin Zebra Daniox7
Twig Catfish x2

If you have any Ideas or suggestions for fish and plants I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[fort384]

Welcome to AA!

I will let others comment on the stocking list...

As for plants, with that fixture, you will have a light of possibilities.

Do you plan to inject CO2 or use fertilizer?

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

Thanks,

Currently on my 20H I have been using Florish Excel and Osmocote root tabs. I plant to do the same for the 40.

 

[fort384]

Ok sounds good! Stem plants like mayaca and rotala r would work well. Crypts, various anubias species, swords, lilaeopsis, and any aquatic mosses all come to mind.

Without CO2 I would avoid the compact ground covers like HC and glosso, and some of the more needy stems like rotala m, pogostemon e and rotala w.

 

[Rivercats]

Some Bacopa would work well too, along with the smaller Corkscrew Val, and Dwarf Sag.

On your stocking list I'd remove the tiger barbs and go with either cherry barbs or a nice tetra school. There are tons of tetra's to choose from. The tiger barbs can just get too darn aggressive even in schools. As for the twig cats, they are great, but in a 40 I would suggest only 1. I keep 3 in my 220g. They also have to have a piece of DW that is long enough for them to be able to lay fully flat on. They are very ackward swimmers so you don't want to put them with potentially aggressive fish like tiger barbs. I like the long fin danio's but not sure about the 3 upside down cats. I've never kept them before so know very little about them, their size, and temperment. You could do something like 3 Honey Gourami's, 1 male and 2 females. They have nice color and also come in Sunset Honey and Golden Honey color varieties. And are the perfect size for that tank. Not a shark fan so don't have a comment on it.

 

[phishfriend]

I would say a rainbow sharks would need a bigger tank imo. There seems to be a lot of controversy on the subject web wise.

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

@fort384 Thanks for the plant list. I diffently wont be doing CO2 so thanks for the heads up.

@Rivercats Yeah, that's what I keep reading about tiger barbs but I also hear they are fine in groups. I don't know it is worth the risk. I really like the look of the fish but its hard to stock with them. I had the same problem with my serpae tetra in my community tank. I dont know too much about upside down cats but what I read, but they where unique looking but not too costly. Thanks for the info on the Honey Gourami, just added it to the list.

 

[librarygirl]

You might be ok on your stock; a 40 breeder is a good size tank (I have one too) and it has a larger depth than most standard tanks. Since all fish are different it's hard to say for sure what would work. As phishfriend said any "shark" might need a larger tank. A group of 10 tiger barbs might do ok as the aggression would be spread out among them. I've never heard of the twig catfish; from reading it seems a 40 gal would work but as I said I don't have experience with them myself. The upside-down cats get to be about 4" and they are nocturnal, so you might hardly ever see them when the lights are on.
Twig Catfish - Catfish - Tropical Fish Forums
Farlowella vittata (Twig Catfish) — Seriously Fish

 

[Retired_AF]

At some point you may want to recinsider the CO2. My planted tanks were doing ok without it but they grew very slowly even with the root tabs and liquid fertilizer. I added an inexpensive CO2 unit and they have just exploded. I am now having to trim my jungle vals at least once a month, sometimes twice. I have had to pull the hornwort out and divide it in half twice in the past 6 months. My java ferns and microswords have taken off. Here's a pic (sorry for the quality)...

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

Thanks for all the info everyone.

I have changed my mine on the Tiger Barbs I got a really good deal on some at the LFS. I got the smallest ones I saw thinking maybe the wouldn't be as aggressive as the bigger ones. So far there has been no aggressive even towards each other. If Push comes to shove I can take them back in 14 days. I don't think I will getting upside catfish anymore and have changed to just 1 twig catfish. Anymore suggestions for what I have now.

So right now I have
x1 Rainbow Shark
x7 Zebra Danios
x8 Tiger Barbs


As far as the CO2 goes, I really don't much about it but from what I looked up it seemed like a lot of work and costly. I have a baby on the way so don't really want any tanks or anything in the way. I just thought Flourish Excel would be easier.

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

At some point you may want to recinsider the CO2. My planted tanks were doing ok without it but they grew very slowly even with the root tabs and liquid fertilizer. I added an inexpensive CO2 unit and they have just exploded. I am now having to trim my jungle vals at least once a month, sometimes twice. I have had to pull the hornwort out and divide it in half twice in the past 6 months. My java ferns and microswords have taken off. Here's a pic (sorry for the quality)...

Which Co2 unit did you buy.

 

[Rivercats]

At some point you may want to recinsider the CO2. My planted tanks were doing ok without it but they grew very slowly even with the root tabs and liquid fertilizer. I added an inexpensive CO2 unit and they have just exploded. I am now having to trim my jungle vals at least once a month, sometimes twice. I have had to pull the hornwort out and divide it in half twice in the past 6 months. My java ferns and microswords have taken off. Here's a pic (sorry for the quality)...

CO2 is great, I'm not disputing that but you can do alot without it. I run a high light 220g heavily planted tank and no CO2. Check out what can be done without it (and since I posted pic's most of the short stem plants in the back where there are holes showing the background have already filled in to the water line)... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/220g-planted-newly-rescaped-231568.html

 

[Rivercats]

As far as the CO2 goes, I really don't much about it but from what I looked up it seemed like a lot of work and costly. I have a baby on the way so don't really want any tanks or anything in the way. I just thought Flourish Excel would be easier.

With a baby on the way buying Excel is expensive so I buy glutaraldehyde. It is the same thing as Excel. Here is the product I buy... Glutaraldehyde Cold Sterilization Solution 14 day 1 Gallon: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific. It's 2.6x stronger than Excel so you mix the 1 gallon of Glut to 1-1/2 gallons of RO water (which you can buy cheap at many grocery stores and LFS) to make up 2-1/2 gallons of Glut for a few cents over $27. Look up how what that amount of Excel would cost... alot. One thing tho, it comes with a very small bottle of activator that you need to throw away, you never use it as that is what makes Glut into a sterilizing solution.

 

[fort384]

That is a slightly better deal, considering 2.5G of excel would cost somewhere around $150.

Glut is a great thing to use, if you cannot or don't want to inject CO2. While the initial setup can be expensive, I do think that CO2 injection makes a world of difference on an otherwise balanced planted tank. It certainly isn't a requirement, but after running without CO2, I would have a hard time going back

Rivercat's tank is proof though that you don't need to inject it to have a stunning planted tank.

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

Yes that is a very nice tank. I will be ditching Excel for this once the bottle runs out. Do you dose it the same way, as in daily?

 

[Rivercats]

Yes you dose it daily the same way. The reason you have to dose daily is because Excel/Glut only remains in the water column between 12-24 hours before it totally breaks down. Also be sure to mix it with RO water don't use tap.

 

[librarygirl]

You said it's a new tank; do you know about cycling? You're starting the cycle with too many fish IMO. Here's some links for you:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

Double post

 

[Nelsontreyjones]

@librarygirl

I forgot to mention that I used my Fluval 206 from my other tank. Also after adding the fish I dosed with Tetra Safestart 70G. I have had great success with it before. This is my third time using it, and the only product of that type that has worked or showed results. I just tested with the freshwater master kit and this is what I got

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 to 10 ppm. (Very hard to tell the difference with this chart)

 

[librarygirl]

Awesome! Looks like you're good and have things under control.