Upgrading from 10g to 36g bowfront

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Young227

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 7, 2013
Messages
27
Location
New Jersey
So my wife and kids got me a 10g starter kit back in spring and since I've had fun with it and kept the fish alive (4 glofish Danio 5 neon tetra) I got a bigger tank recently and just set it up

Have a marineland 280, a large sponge I ran in 10g for about a month, a 150w heater, airstone, fine gravel, plants and some blue stone I broke up from a huge piece I had left over from a landscaping project.

Daughter wants angelfish but I am not sure tank is big enough and also don't want them to be only fish in tank. These are some that caught my eye last trip to LFS.

Neon dwarf rainbow
Celebese rainbow
Scissor tail rasbora
Sunburst platy
Denison barb
Peppered or emerald Cory

Hoping the donated sponge filter and some transplanted gravel speeds up the cycle so I can stock tank ASAP.
 

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You could do two angels in a 36 along with 6 sissortail rasbora's, either 6 dwarf neon rainbowfish or the celebese rainbow (although the threadfin rainbows are my favorite and would use the upper water levels as would the celebese), and a nice shoal of about 6 cory cats. You could even do a dwarf or honey gourami for alittle more color.
 
Leery of the angelfish so input would be great. Have read that it's best to keep 4 / 6 or more but I didn't want a tank that big. If I get only two and they don't pair will I wind in a situation where I would have to separate them so they don't torment each other or tankmates?

I can see a 40g breeder that I looked at when deciding to upgrade in my future but not right away (I think the wife wouldn't be too happy)
 
I've kept angels over 30 years and keeping 2 is usually fine. But they are cichlids and sometimes some individuals just don't have good temperaments. You can only keep 1 and it will do just fine. Also if you get a small bodied angel and raise them with other small fish you generally don't have issues.

If you have a large tank you want to do either 2 or 6 or more. When you have 6 or more there are enough to keep aggression, if there is any, spread out without any one individual getting picked on exclusively. Right now I have 12 adult angels in my 220g planted.
 
I would advise you to listen to and trust everything Rivercats says- she's one of the most experienced and knowledgable people on the forum ;)
 
I would advise you to listen to and trust everything Rivercats says- she's one of the most experienced and knowledgable people on the forum ;)

thanks will do. tank still at 2ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites 0 nitrates on 3rd day so it looks like using transplanted sponge filter from my 10g is not speeding up the cycling process
 
The sponge filter is helping but remember that there is only so much BB on the seeded media and if the supply of ammonia is greater in the tank than the seeded media can handle the tank is still going to have to cycle to produce more BB to build up to the level of ammonia it needs to process. At least the seeded media has some BB on it to give the cycle a jump start.
 
The sponge filter is helping but remember that there is only so much BB on the seeded media and if the supply of ammonia is greater in the tank than the seeded media can handle the tank is still going to have to cycle to produce more BB to build up to the level of ammonia it needs to process. At least the seeded media has some BB on it to give the cycle a jump start.

thanks, i figured the jump from a 10g to a 36g wouldn't allow for an instant cycle but def thought it would have jump started it a little. On day 3 and nothing seems to have changed. I have only slightly more patience than the 6 year old who keeps asking... did we get the new fish yet Daddy :(
 
I've kept angels over 30 years and keeping 2 is usually fine. But they are cichlids and sometimes some individuals just don't have good temperaments. You can only keep 1 and it will do just fine. Also if you get a small bodied angel and raise them with other small fish you generally don't have issues.

If you have a large tank you want to do either 2 or 6 or more. When you have 6 or more there are enough to keep aggression, if there is any, spread out without any one individual getting picked on exclusively. Right now I have 12 adult angels in my 220g planted.

Like stated above Rivercats knows what she is talking about. My mom has had an adult angel fish for years. And Rivercat has described it perfectly. It use to have a small problem with a Cory but not anymore. The angel fish is her favorite fish in the tank it knows her and any time she goes around the tank it swims up to greet her it's really cool. It does like to stare at people though (it's watching me now) it's really funny and is an on going joke at my house. I feel like it thinks we're it's pets.

thanks, i figured the jump from a 10g to a 36g wouldn't allow for an instant cycle but def thought it would have jump started it a little. On day 3 and nothing seems to have changed. I have only slightly more patience than the 6 year old who keeps asking... did we get the new fish yet Daddy :(

I know how you feel I am waiting on a shrimp order to get to my house and all I can think of each morning is "Are they here yet?". I feel like a five year old on the way to Disney land.
 
Tank cycled and brought home two angels and a school of filigree cories. They seem lost in the tank. Spent most of first day by sponge filter but move around some now. Is it normal they don t come to the surface to eat? Have been eating but only as flakes and blood worms sink to them. Seem to like the bottom and middle of tank. Not what I'm used to as Danio/tetras I have practically jump out of tank when I raise the lid to feed them.

Based on research tank is close to fully stocked but I'd like to add some color. Swordtail and topsail platy caught my eye in LFS. Would they be an option? Any other options to consider?
 
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