55 fw build help please :)

[jakedalab]

Howdy y'all so I was thinking of getting a 75g as Christmas gift for myself but was talked into a 55g by the warden (aka my wife) so all prior planning has been aborted and trying to gather new thoughts and ideas for the 55. Any tips on how to build a snazzy looking community tank?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Howdy y'all so I was thinking of getting a 75g as Christmas gift for myself but was talked into a 55g by the warden (aka my wife) so all prior planning has been aborted and trying to gather new thoughts and ideas for the 55. Any tips on how to build a snazzy looking community tank?

What kind of fish are you interested in? Are you thinking planted?

 

[jakedalab]

Planted is definitely an option but kinda scares me because its uncharted territory for me. I'm a guppies kinda guy and like alot of the tetras but up until now the biggest tank I've had was a 20g so been kinda limited as to the bigger peaceful fish.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Planted is definitely an option but kinda scares me because its uncharted territory for me. I'm a guppies kinda guy and like alot of the tetras but up until now the biggest tank I've had was a 20g so been kinda limited as to the bigger peaceful fish.

Plants aren't all scary there are lots of low light low care plants. Java fern, anubias, hornwort, crypts, mosses, banana Lillies, tiger lotus, etc.

I good thing to do is go have a look around your LFS and see what kinds of fish they stock and what you like. Then you can research them. A 55 has LOTS of possibilities.

 

[jakedalab]

Sweet. I'm in Casper Wyoming and only been here bout a month so far as I know there is only a PETCO here. But yeah ill for sure go take some notes a do a lil digging on em. And ideas as to what u can put in it as far as guppies friendly fish?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sweet. I'm in Casper Wyoming and only been here bout a month so far as I know there is only a PETCO here. But yeah ill for sure go take some notes a do a lil digging on em. And ideas as to what u can put in it as far as guppies friendly fish?

Gourami, tetras, some barbs (not tiger,etc), bristlenose, cories, snails, Molly, platy, SAE, Otto, shrimp... And the list goes on. Basically nothing that will nip their tails or big enough to eat them (like an angel).

 

[jakedalab]

That's kinda a bummer I was kinda thinking about getting a pair of angles :/ but oh well life goes on. So how hard are the planted tanks?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That's kinda a bummer I was kinda thinking about getting a pair of angles :/ but oh well life goes on. So how hard are the planted tanks?

Do some searching on low tech, low light planted tanks. I have 4 running at the moment. I don't find them hard to maintain. Water change once a week, ferts and excel every day (or when I remember lol) and some pruning here or there. If you get the right kind of plants to suit your lighting and give them some ferts when needed it easy IMO.

Yeah, an angel can swallow a guppy whole. Small tetras too.

 

[jakedalab]

Sweetness. Ill definitely check into the plants. I saw some I really liked and wanted but I have no idea of what its called or how to find it again. It to me looked just like grass but it looked like it stayed very short and didn't grow very tall at all. I think something like that would be neat to have cover the bottom of my tank with other taller stuff in the back for hide outs.

 

[Viperchaos]

I just got out of a big affair with guppys. And found myself falling in love with cichlids, but your looking for a good community tank.
if your planning to keep the guppies you need to really bash some other south american fish in there. Such as:
*white cloud minnows
*ghost shrimp
*swordtails
*glassfish
*neon tetra

These all like a little salt in there water. and to be kept around 78-82°F.

As for plants you want to try and immitate a honduran body of water.
So bogwood, dead leaves, pete ,roots of trees, Amazon sword and brazilian micro sword. , If you want to find out about less common fish to put in your community tank message me

 

[jakedalab]

And what do y'all think about filtration. The tank comes with a filter I'm assuming its rated for a 55g tank would that, should that be good enough? I have been tossing around the idea of getting a canister type filter rated for a 55g to go along with the hob it comes with. Or is that over kill?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

And what do y'all think about filtration. The tank comes with a filter I'm assuming its rated for a 55g tank would that, should that be good enough? I have been tossing around the idea of getting a canister type filter rated for a 55g to go along with the hob it comes with. Or is that over kill?

Definitely look at the canister. The filters that come with those kits are rubbish. Not over kill at all.

 

[Viperchaos]

For a 55 gallon, (208 litres) id actualy recommend the canister type , to inject more Co2 into the water to help plant growth fishes respiration wont produce enough co2 for photosynthesis

 

[jakedalab]

Canister it is then. Would one that was just rated for a 55g be enough? The one I'm looking at I can get an attachment that will double the rating making it good for up to 110g.

 

[Viperchaos]

IMO i wouldnt soup it up,just stick with the 55 that it already gives you

 

[jakedalab]

Ok that's fine by me saves me a pretty good chunk of change.

 

[jakedalab]

So as far as lighting goes. Would I need to get better lights than what comes with one of the kits? I dunno what bulbs it comes with though :/

 

[Viperchaos]

bulbs i will look up for you, but without knowing if you have afixture already installed i dont know what im looking for, so you wil have to keepme posted

 

[jakedalab]

Lol alright cool I appreciate your help. Ill try to do some looking and see if I can figure out what all the kit comes with.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I would recommend a filter rated at least twice the size of your tank. The more filtration the better IMO. Co2 isn't needed for a low light tank a carbon supplement like excel is all you need.