Totally new to this, looking at starting up a 28G community tank

[missmonday]

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of buying a 28 gallon tank with some great filters and other goodies I saw on Craigstlist (hooray!) and want to ask for opinions on what I eventually plan on stocking the tank with.

More research needs to be done on my part for tank cycling, and I'm aware that it'll take me several weeks to a few months to get the nitrogen cycle down, and in the meantime, I'll do research on fish compatibility!

Well, I'm a total novice so please be gentle (As of yet I only have a single betta, but he's doing just fine) but I'm looking at:

• kuhli loaches (maybe 5?)
• corys (maybe pandas or dwarf, depending on what I can find, maybe 5)
• platys (4, preferrably all female)
• a single dwarf or honey gourami
• ghost/red cherry shrimp (6?)
• neon tetra (a small school of 7 or so?)

I definitely don't want to overstock the tank, and I have plugged in the fish and tank dimensions into aqadvisor and it seems to be satisfied (there will be 2 different filters on the tank to help).

I'm definitely looking into having a planted tank as I feel tanks with natural plants just look prettier. I'm a little less sold on the tetras, so if someone has a better suggestion I'm all for it.

I haven't yet looked at the selection of fish from my local petco, petsmart, other local fish stores, etc. so I know what I'm interested in will be dependent on what I can find, but other suggestions/friendly advice will be very helpful in deciding how to stock my tank!

[ImACoolguy]

Welcome!!!

Great to see you are doing research before you buy the fish because many do not.

You have a great stocking list that shouldn't run into any problems.

What I didn't see mentioned and would suggest is a quarantine tank. 10 or 20g is fine and you can use one of your cycled filters on it. Reason being is not all fish at chain stores are in the best shape. Quarantine is a great preventive measure to keep disease on new arrivals out of your main display tank. It's extra work, but if something does come down with a disease, you saved yourself a lot of hassle if it had infected the whole tank.

On to plants yay!
Have you decided how you want to go about this?

solely IMO, if you want smaller foreground plants like star repens I would steer clear of gravel substrates. It can be quite a pita trying to plant those tiny stems in rocks. I'm a 100% sand lover!

Lighting is another important thing to consider. Not just any bulb or LED will grow plants!

I always recommend if you have bulbs to use T5 bulbs. If you prefer LED(raises hand ) then I suggest Finnex! Wonderful fixtures that won't break the bank like other brands. I have a few different models on some of my own tanks and never had an issue with them!

Just one example, this is the Finnex 24/7 (fully remote control and adjustable!) on my 10g heavily planted:

http://i.imgur.com/CLFcSSK.jpg


Here's a list of low light plants that are not difficult to grow with a decent light and some fertilizers:

Anubias
Java Fern
Java moss
Christmas moss
Hornwort
Water sprite
Wisteria
Anarchis
Crypt parva
Amazon sword
Ludwigia repens
Vallisneria
Bacopa Caroliniana


Hope this helped!


Caleb

[Clayman]

Instead if tetras you could do harlequin rasboras.

[SpaceFish42]

Welcome to the hobby! You seem like you have done lots of research already. Instead of neon tetras, I might recommend black neon tetras, as they are very hardy and fun to watch (in my opinion). As for plants, what sort of lighting are you thinking of using? Some good low-light plants include java fern, java moss, and anubias, but if you want to have a higher light level there are a lot more options.

[SpaceFish42]

Oops, it looks like other people responded while I was typing!

[missmonday]

I plan on using sand if I can, I still have a bit leftover from stocking my betta tank, but I know I'll need a lot more for 28 gallons. Any recommendations for type? Or does it not really matter so long as it's fine grain?

I have some wisteria with my betta and it seems to be growing fairly well after a few weeks, my betta seems to like hiding in it as well. I'd prefer getting more low-light plants, I feel like I'll have more success with those haha. I'll also look into getting some mossy plants too for shrimp to hide in.

[ImACoolguy]

Originally Posted by missmonday

I plan on using sand if I can, I still have a bit leftover from stocking my betta tank, but I know I'll need a lot more for 28 gallons. Any recommendations for type? Or does it not really matter so long as it's fine grain?



I have some wisteria with my betta and it seems to be growing fairly well after a few weeks, my betta seems to like hiding in it as well. I'd prefer getting more low-light plants, I feel like I'll have more success with those haha. I'll also look into getting some mossy plants too for shrimp to hide in.

Any premium sand will do, or you can try Black Diamond Blasting Sand from Tractor Supply. They come in 50 pound bags and much cheaper (roughly $10 a bag) but you need to thoroughly rinse it first. I used blasting sand as a cheaper alternative to my 75g because of the volume.

About all those plants I listed will do well in low light conditions and some ferts. Some require root tabs as they are root feeders and sand is inert.


Caleb

[TheresaM]

If you're in Portland check out Wet Spot Tropical Fish. I've ordered from them quite a few times, never had a problem.

[missmonday]

I went to The Wet Spot in person and it seems really great! I had someone help me out and got some wisteria, and 2 other low-light plants that I forgot the name of! I also put in a few fake plants to give the tank a little more dimension.

I bought some instant cycling stuff as well so I could hopefully put some fish in right away, and at the recommendation of the sales guy helping me, I now have a school of 10 golden cloud mountain minnows, so I don't think I'll get tetras or rasboras anymore.

I still have to get a water testing kit (which I'm already working on!) But what should the readings look like before I can add other fish?

[ImACoolguy]

Originally Posted by missmonday

I went to The Wet Spot in person and it seems really great! I had someone help me out and got some wisteria, and 2 other low-light plants that I forgot the name of! I also put in a few fake plants to give the tank a little more dimension.



I bought some instant cycling stuff as well so I could hopefully put some fish in right away, and at the recommendation of the sales guy helping me, I now have a school of 10 golden cloud mountain minnows, so I don't think I'll get tetras or rasboras anymore.



I still have to get a water testing kit (which I'm already working on!) But what should the readings look like before I can add other fish?

Never trust those bacteria supplements. Sometimes they help a cycle and sometimes they do nothing. It's a game of chance.

A test kit is what you want right now as a sure fire way to see what's going on in the tank.


Caleb