New Tank Suggestions

[Sinder]

Howdie,

Current tank size 90 gallon with a gravel substrate, rocks and some nice fake plants.
Water hardness right out of the tap according to the city is medium hard.
PH is 7.4 - 7.6
Not sure what type of fish.. rainbows maybe? Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[sudz]

never trust city water. Test it yourself. you can get a cheap GH/KH test for less than 10 bucks. I got mine for 9 canadian, by Aquarium Pharmicuticals.

Rainbows appear to be a hardy fish. I was thinking i would stock them too! most aren't picky about tank mates OR food. As long as they don't EAT the tank-mates, i'm happy

 

[Jchillin]

This topic was split from the sticky it was originally posted in. This will allow members to provide advice via the correct forum.

 

[Tiffi]

Have you already read the stickies/article about how to cycle a tank? If not, here it is:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15
(In there is says Salwater but don't worry about it, it works the same way. You could also use pure ammonia to cycle it.

Further it will be neccessary when cycling your tank to have a nice complete test kit. That will also help you to know when the cycle is over, in what stage of the cycle you are, prevent your fishes from dieing because of bad water quality, etc, etc.
Check this one out for example:
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19383;category_id=3111;pcid1=3233;pcid2=

What kind of fishes you put into your tank depends on what you would like. Do you want a biotope with fishes and plants from a specific area in the world? Do you want a mixed community tank? Do you want a species tank (e.g. just rainbowfish, just cichlids, etc)?

 

[Tiffi]

Oh and what are your preferences? Do you want very colorful fishes, fishes with very interesting behavior/personalities, fishes that are easy to breed?

 

[Sinder]

Tank is currently going through the cycle, using the ammonia method of fishless cycling.

I've been taking walks in the local aquarium place, Big Als in Canada actually. Spoke with the Freshwater guy, gave me a few suggestions.

It struck me I have a fairly large tank (not huge but decent) so I decided on larger species of fish... nothing extrodinarly huge. Tinfoil barbs etc...

Though more research will be required as to how many larger fish I could keep in this tank.

Does this 1" per gallon rule work with larger fish?

 

[sudz]

Bigger fish like bigger tanks. A 10 inch fish in a 10 gallon would be one severely stressed dude. In a 10 gallon, i wouldn't think of exceeding a 3 inch fish. Thats personal preference. It'd be like locking you in a 9X9 room for your entire life. :-|

The fish didn't CHOOSE to be in your tank. Treat them like royal guests, and make sure their life is good

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The 1 inch per gal guideline is really only for small fish like Tetras. When you get into large fish like Bala Sharks and African Cichlids, you have to take into consideration the activity of each fish and the girth. Basically just what are you looking for?