Setting up a new Cory tank 90g

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scarthell

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Surprise, Arizona
Finally getting around to setting up a 90g tank for corydoras! I have 7 dupes and about 12-15 pygmy currently. Last tank I had them in the sand was too high, so I'm going with under a 1/2" in most spots except where I want plants to grow.

I have had lava rock lying around for some time and decided to use it as decoration. The tree roots I attached with an inset screw and a steel plank and some silicone underneath to seal it.

No water yet, I'm trying to decide if I want to have two filters or one. I have an old cascade 1000 that needs tubes and such that I can pair up with a fluval 306 I have running. Or I can buy an fx5. The former option is cheaper but more work involved. What do you think?

I'm looking to buy one more type of similar sized Cory for the tank, any suggestions?


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Bad pics but you get the idea

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Looks good so far! What plants are you planning on?

I'd run all the filters you can get. The more filtration the better. Are you planning on getting more of each kind of cory? I'd up the pygmy school to 20 or so and then make the other school 25 or so. Really awesome when a big school is moving around together.
 
I have tried a few plants and the ones that stay put are those lily plants. I have some anubias as well and Java fern but I would like to fill it mostly with one type of plant.

Increasing the pygmy count is already on my list and I want about 10-15 more duplicareus.
I'm also open to suggestions for a fish that stays at the top of the tank with the corys and if I can find an excuse to use the ten gallon tank my corys are leaving, I want to house scarlet badis.

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For the top a school of hatchetfish would be cool. Marbled and silver hatchetfish seem to be the most common.
 
Yes those would be awesome,I forgot about pygmy hatchets. I think that's exactly what I will get, thanks!

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Hatchets are great! But you have to make sure the entire tank is covered as they JUMP!!! Even the back needs to be covered....

You could also get some tetras or swordtails for the middle area....
 
I wasreading that about marbled and silver hatchets, but is it the same for pygmy hatchets? I plan on having glass lids anyway but not always closed if possible. Funny thing, I've never had tetras or swordtail fish. I was considering harlequins but I have some already. Almost all of my livestock has come from other hobbyists, but I am having a hard time finding someone with corys and hatchets to sell...the wetspot has dupes but they are $15 each and wild caught...and no pygmy hatchets at the moment. Pygmy cory are easy to get at my lfs.

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Anyone know if pvc is ok in aquariums? I wanted make the filter intake have a longer column covered in sponge so it draws water from top, middle and bottom. Also I have a lump of bituminous coal I picked up from a surface mine here in Arizona a few years ago and I'm wondering if I can put that in the tank. It's unprocessed raw coal. I cant find info on this so I'll likely not include it.

Are there any plants that will grow on the hanging root but will hang/grow downward into the water?

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Anyone know if pvc is ok in aquariums? I wanted make the filter intake have a longer column covered in sponge so it draws water from top, middle and bottom. Also I have a lump of bituminous coal I picked up from a surface mine here in Arizona a few years ago and I'm wondering if I can put that in the tank. It's unprocessed raw coal. I cant find info on this so I'll likely not include it.

Are there any plants that will grow on the hanging root but will hang/grow downward into the water?

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PVC is fine in aquariums. Lots of people use it.

All hatchets jump, it's the way that they naturally get their food. Just make sure ALL holes are covered, no matter how small.

Since most plants grow towards the light I can't think of one that would grow downwards. Maybe pennywort would? I'm not sure really, that's a good question.
 
Hatchet fish are almost impossible to breed in captivity, it's very hard.

+1 to nils!

Swordtails are one of my favorite fish, very pretty(both males and females!) and very easy to breed!
 
Thx Nils. I was thinking the same thing unless...I shine a light upward in the area I want upside down plants...I could get upside down catfish and bolt my furniture to the ceiling.... :p

I'm thinking I want marginal plants on the root but need to figure out which don't require soil

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I was about to say that you could have plants growing above water and the roots growing down into the water, kinda like plants growing downwards.
 
Hatchet fish are almost impossible to breed in captivity, it's very hard.

+1 to nils!

Swordtails are one of my favorite fish, very pretty(both males and females!) and very easy to breed!

I considered breeding my dupes at one point but don't have the desire for it right now, so I'm ok with eggs being food. :) I know how to get all my fish to spawn, they do it every month when I do a 75% water change, but they are community tanks so getting to the eggs in time is difficult. Also the fry feeding reqs and such, just not in the cards.

I am going to grow mystery snails as I have been but without assassin snails. They keep killing off my mystery snails. Is there another snail like mystery that doesn't invade?

I'm also looking for rare shrimp to go in the 90g. Not much experience with shrimp except for BlackBerry and ghost shrimp. Suggestions there?

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Honestly I would not keep expensive shrimp in such a large tank as they are so small and hard to see, as well as that they might be eaten!

Ghost shrimp, and amano shrimp are the ones you want, the first see cheap and the second are hardy and larger.
 
I only keep very small fish (1.5" and under) so I haven't had a problem with them being eaten. The biggest issue I had was the filter sucking them up but I fixed that as well.

To your point tho, tiny shrimplets would certainly still be prey. I want a colorful shrimp to contrast the white sand so I suppose it doesn't have to be uncommon/expensive.

I've never had Amano, but heard they won't reproduce in the aquarium so I'll probably stay away from them. My blackberry shrimp have turned reddish brown, blue and clear as the generations come and go. I'm not sure why.

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Is the color change thing same with other shrimp? I saw some orange Sakura that looked amazing, but I'm worried they will just lose color and at $4-$5 a pop, it seems risky. I could always just grab some juveniles and a pregnant shrimp from the 55 but there's so many other types I haven't kept.

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I was just thinking more practically, a 90G is huge, putting 10 cherry shrimp in and you won't really see them, as they hide and are tiny....

I also doubt you would be able to breed them if you have any kind of tetra/rasbora/etc, as they'd eat the baby shrimp.

If you want to really see shrimp you'd probably want to get 20+, IMO.
 
Is the color change thing same with other shrimp? I saw some orange Sakura that looked amazing, but I'm worried they will just lose color and at $4-$5 a pop, it seems risky. I could always just grab some juveniles and a pregnant shrimp from the 55 but there's so many other types I haven't kept.

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They shouldn't change color much, it's more having different kinds/colors mate will lead to wild colored offspring.

Just remembered, they do try to fit in with their surroundings, so if you keep them on white substrate they'll have a more full color than on black or dark substrate... That could also be the case.
 
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