40/50 Gallon Tank Planning

[alia258]

Yes I have bad expirences with fish at petco but they have great plants! And petsmart has great fish but barely any plants!

But will albino cories group together with my one peppered Cory?

 

[Austin.b]

Yes I have bad expirences with fish at petco but they have great plants! And petsmart has great fish but barely any plants!

But will albino cories group together with my one peppered Cory?

Be careful, since you are still new to plants, petco and petsmart usually sell alot of terrestrial plants (more for a terrarium than aquarium)

The WPG (watt per gallon rule) is outdated, and most people say it is innacurate but I think of it more as a BASIC guideline

I'm pretty sure the cory's will school together, but it Is always better to have a school of the same type as for the oto's, I would get at least three. But as mentioned before, get those very last. Good luck!

 

[alia258]

Be careful, since you are still new to plants, petco and petsmart usually sell alot of terrestrial plants (more for a terrarium than aquarium)

The WPG (watt per gallon rule) is outdated, and most people say it is innacurate but I think of it more as a BASIC guideline

I'm pretty sure the cory's will school together, but it Is always better to have a school of the same type as for the oto's, I would get at least three. But as mentioned before, get those very last. Good luck!

Thanks for the luck sent! the terrarium plants and aquatic plants in the tubes were actually accurately marked today, they said semi aquatic and aquatic/submerged on the lids, though only my bro and sis got some swords for their 2g beta tanks. I inherited this little half dead plant:
View attachment 85157



View attachment 85158
So for high light just shoot for the WPG rule as a basic guideline, and get lots of frogbit for the low light plants to hide under

But I have bad news, my mom said she might only get me a 20g tank! I said I'd pay for it, but I can't afford $359.99 dollars of fish tank I posted a thread asking for a deal on a 40 or 50g tank but nobody seems to have any extras lying around! Only if I come up with the difference in cash (about 300$ still) will she get me the 50g (it comes with a stand and a fluorescent light lid, I want the lid but not the stand, and the stand is why it costs so much)

Would it be too much to ask for someone on here to help me find a cheaper tank? I don't need the stand, ive got a sturdy enough dresser (it's an old fasoned heavy duty one) and its big enough to hold the tall version of the 56g tank, so all I rally need is the tank for cheaper and I could do the rest! (I'm not asking anyone to buy me one, just asking you to perhaps find a cheaper one that I could buy)

Help! Please!

 

[skywhitney]

Yeah, the WPG is definitely not an "end all, be all" rule but a good guideline at first. It's a nice easy reference.

Coy's will not school with with different species of cory (peppered with peppered, albino with albino, etc.). You'll be better off buying more of the same species or a school of a new species.

For a deal on tanks youre best bet will probably be craigslist. Having others search for you is good and all but likely not efficient. I know you've mentioned issues with being unable to search craigslist by yourself so ask your mom to search with you.

 

[somethingsfishy]

+1 for craigs list. That's where I got my tanks. And it was much cheaper. Lights really depend on the tank length. When you do find a tank you like you can either buy a fixture to suit your specs or get a DIY kit with reflectors.

 

[alia258]

Oil have to check Craigslist, I hope I find it nicely cheap, and I decided I want a tall tank instead of a long one because the long wouldn't fit on my dresser ^^

 

[alia258]

Ill* I meant I'll check craigslist

 

[somethingsfishy]

Tall tanks don't abide by the wpg saying. Any tank over 24 inches needs stronger lighting. I'd try and find a 4' 55 gallon on Craigslist. It is a great starter tank and would give you alot of room to aqua scape.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Ya be careful with the male mollies...I would get the 2 females like someone suggested even though they might be pregnant but the angels I had took care of any babies I had lol and the frogbit doesnt tend to stay in one place too well...But I have two filters that push it around so it doesnt stay still too much.

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Also regarding the tank...Petco always has those dollar per gallon sales going on (I'm smacking myself for paying full price and not waiting)

 

[alia258]

How could I look up the dollar per gallon sales at petco? I could definitely afford the 56g tank if that was the case!

 

[brunettebaby4571]

Umm I'm not really sure when they do it or if its just random but you could try calling and see if they have any info on when they are going to have one again.

 

[Austin.b]

I am also waiting for Petco's dollar a gallon sale. They usually have it every few months. I think they might have it during April!!

 

[alia258]

That's great because I can cycle the tank with my current fish and seed the tank for all my new fish I'll be getting in May-July! I'm going to write a second, more detailed list of the fish I'll be getting, but I have two questions:

How do I tell the gender of mollies?

What would be some good ornament fish to be in the 10g? My mom wants to use it on the kitchen counter as a display (I'll be keeping the 56g safely in my room, for my guests who happen to be invited in, because I won't have enough decor for them to feel safe with the amount of people that are usually in my house if the were in the living room)

Writing the list down, I'll be planning for a plain 50g and if I happen to get that 56g then I'll have the extra 6g as swimming space, so tell me if I go over IYO. Will have list in next post.

 

[alia258]

I've gotten on Craig's list, emailed a few people to see if prices can be brought down if I only buy the tank, and things are looking up for me

 

[fishdude25]

You tell the gender of mollies the same way you tell with guppies, the males have gonopodiums, while females have anal fins.

 

[alia258]

Oh that's great then, make it a world easier!

 

[brunettebaby4571]

You could always get a betta for the ten gallon and some apple snails maybe? I'm not really sure what you have in mind. But you could put some plants in it with them and I think it would look really good. Plus you would have a very happy betta

 

[alia258]

I feel a beta would be too small for the tank size, and wouldn't fill it out enough. And they don't move, they just sit near the surface a large amount of the time IME.

I was thinking I might stock it with three peppered cories and some glo fish and have a black light instead of a regular light since cories like slightly dimmer light anyway. Is that a good idea?

 

[alia258]

You could always get a betta for the ten gallon and some apple snails maybe? I'm not really sure what you have in mind. But you could put some plants in it with them and I think it would look really good. Plus you would have a very happy betta

Oh and I really don't like snails, I'd only get them as a snack for my guppies but that's when my list for needs of a snail ends. I know they have lots of benifits but I haven't seen any with a sheep pretty enough for me to want it