Critique my setup

[martinc9090]

Hello. I haven't had a fw aquarium for 2 years so I just want someone to tell me what they think.

I currently have:

1-55gallon 48" acrylic tank
1-High stand
1-canopy
1-48" power glo 40w light
1-200w Rena Cal heater
1-pair of undergravel filter
1-aquaclear 300
(have a fluval 304 that leaks, once I get the ring I'll add it on)


I have power heads, air stones,air pumps, light bulbs, test kits, additives, etc taht I have from my saltwater set up.

any help I will highly appreciate it

 

[rich311k]

Looks good except for filtration. I would skip the UGF and get that cannister fixed. The AC 300 is not going to cut it. Everything else looks good.

 

[neilanh]

I'd add a 2d 200W heater... will give you better control, and you'll have 2 in case 1 fails.

 

[martinc9090]

i don't think it would hurt to have the ugf.
I know that the aqua clear won't cut it, thats why i'm going to have the fluval 304 to stop leaking. and I have a ton of heaters so I don't think that the second heater would be much of a problem.

I'll post a pic once I get my room cleaned up.

 

[martinc9090]

• 
  what would be a good stocking list.
  
  what do I need to do to add live plants?

 

[squawkbert]

• 
  what would be a good stocking list.
  
  what do I need to do to add live plants?

What interests you (communities, single species, aggressive...)?

w/ that lighting, you need better lighting (and, possibly pressurized CO2, ferts, plants, dropchecker, more test kits, decent substrate).

 

[7Enigma]

You can easily do a low light plant setup with your current lighting. You would be limited to things like anubias, java fern, mosses, and some crypts but it is possible to have live plants without requiring new lighting (which can get expensive unless you DIY).

With that said, UGF's are NOT good with rooted plants since they can get caught (and normally the substrate is not deep). I'd nix the UGF and use the canister.

 

[martinc9090]

wouldn't I be able to get the plants that have "dirt" with them already?

what is pressurised CO2?

I'd like to work my choice of stock around angelfish.

 

[rich311k]

Pressurized CO2 is a way of injecting CO2 into a planted aquarium with the source being a CO2 tank.

Plants can be grown in you aquarium gravel. A lot of low light plants can be tied to wood and rocks.

An angel or two would be a great centerpiece for a 55 gallon tank. You can surround them with tetras and cory cats as well as dwarf cichlids and the smaller types of plecos.

 

[martinc9090]

I've got 1 angelfish, 2 mickey mouse fish, and two of those golden barbs(not tiger barbs) and I've had this sucker fish in there that i"ve had for 4 years already. anything I should do?

 

[majolo]

I would guess the barbs would like to be in a school, like 6 or so. I don't know if that species is prone to nip at fins, but I know with most barbs they say keeping them in a school help keep the horseplay among themselves. I assume the mickey mouse fish are platies, right.

What kind of sucker fish? How big is it?

 

[martinc9090]

I'd say that the sucker fish is about 8"

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

sucker fish is probably a Pleco.

Golden barbs can get to about 3" each so having a school is possible, but that filter would have to be fixed beforehand.

As for plants, I had good luck with anubias, it was one of the only plants that grew well in a low light tank for me (but my lighting was even lower then yours at the time).

If your bulb is more then 1 year old, you will need to replace that as well. Lights become spectrally dead after 1 year (exceptions are Compact Fluorescent and T5/6 bulbs) and can cause sudden algae blooms.

If you want to get into a lot of plants there are a few things that will need to know, most of which can be read in the stickies of the Planted Tank Forum..

 

[martinc9090]

I've already got a problem. one of the mickey mouse platys is not eating and he has been picked on and I don't know by who. his tail is bitten off and like I said he is not eating.

 

[iceywater101]

The only thing you can do now is put him in a qt tank and use metafix.