Cycling complete! Getting ready to stock new 50g tank

[mozcheez]

New to this forum after constantly combing it over for advice, tips, and instructions! Happy to be able to start making my own contributions. I thought I'd post a little about my new tank. I have a smaller 10 gallon at work that I've been maintaining for 3-4 years, so this is my first time stocking such a large tank.

First of all, I'm very excited that I managed to fully (fishless) cycle the 50 gallon tank in only 10 days (thanks to some media from my tank at work) and will be adding some fish tonight! Dimensions are approximately 48" x 12" x 20". Penguin 350W HOB filter and Eheim 150W heater and aquarium gravel as substrate. I've been doing research on the fish I'd like to stock with (checking out ideal temps, pH levels, tempers, etc.), and I've come up with a short list. I haven't been too lucky with finding much variety at my local (chain ) fish stores, but am checking out a local small business about 45 minutes away from my house this evening.

What I plan to choose from (no! I'm not stocking all of these, don't worry!):
- 8-10 cory cats (I'm hoping to find some Julii's or false Julii's at the LFS tonight, otherwise I'll stick to peppered or emerald)
- 6-12 harlequin rasboras
- 6-12 flame/neon/cardinal tetras
- 2 dwarf or honey gourami (male/female.... if I can find a female)
- ?? cherry barbs or pearl danios instead of tetras or rasboras?

I'm really not set on the gouramis, but I would like at least 1-2 fish with some size to give the tank more variety. Also, maybe 1-2 otos once the tank has had more time to establish and I start getting some algae growth?

I will likely be adding some dalmation mollies in several months. They are currently fry that I'm raising in my breeding net. I'll only be adding 3-5 if any. I may end up giving them away, though. No specific plans there.

I feel like this stocking plan is boring.... lol Any tips/help/suggestions?

Here's a picture of my tank at setup. At the moment, it's very sparsely decorated because I had no clue what I'd be stocking when I set it up. I hope to add some live plants in the not-too-distant future (I've never worked with live aquatic plants before, so I'll need to do a lot of reading on that first), and will possibly convert to sand substrate in a year or so.

Thanks for any help

PS > My heater is now at a 45 degree angle in the tank.

 

[anne03]

For plants, I'd recommend a few anubias. They are very easy to grow and easy to find-both Petco and Petsmart have them. They are inexpensive too.

My tank has full spectrum bulbs, but I think anubias can grow without those.

I've had mine now for 3 weeks and no problems. The anubias are tied to decorations or to my lava rock.

 

[mozcheez]

Thanks for the suggestion, Anne! I will pick some up the next time I go.

Last night, I picked up 8 peppered cories, 6 pearl danios (I might get more) and 2 glassfish (my husband was insistent that these be in the tank).

I drip acclimated them all and they all survived the night. One cory looked a little unwell on the way home, in the drip bucket, and now in the tank. He's also darker than all the others, but still has the peppered markings. I'm watching him closely, but so far, so good, just very still. Hopefully he's still with us (headed home from work shortly).

I almost picked up a pair (or 3) dwarf gourami, but there were no females. Has anyone had luck finding females in a LFS? I'm considering ordering the fish online but don't have any previous experience with that either.

Found a store with african dwarf frogs.... wow are they small! Also they had a kuhli loach (also very tiny, but it may have been young?) - that was my first time seeing one in person. They are really fascinating to watch.

The danios are super-spastic! I double checked my water parameters and everything is kosher (I was worried they were suffocating or something!). They are really fun to watch, though, and love chasing each other in the "stream" created by the outflow of my filter. They remind me of meercats playing.

Looking forward to picking up some anubias for my first live plants, then some tetras or rasboras, and maybe some gourami in the near future.

 

[sammybelle]

Concerning the plants, what kind of lighting do you have? I'm using the light kit that came with my 55 gallon tank kit, and was told by pros on this site that although doubtful, I may be able to grow low light plants such as anubias or java fern, but nothing else. That's really fine with me, as I really don't want to get into any expensive lighting schemes right now. I got a java fern the other day which had a couple of "babies" attached. I've attached these three plants to some stones in my tank, so I'll see if they survive. Good luck!

 

[mozcheez]

Thanks for your reply, Sammybelle. I just have the light kit that came with my tank as well. I checked the bulbs last night but there was nothing there indicating their wattage, but I do know that they are flourescent and the hood said 18W or 19W. So with a 50 gallon tank.... 2 hoods... that's about 1.5W/g at best, which I think is pretty low. Like you, I'm fine with just trying a couple of low light plants at the moment. I'm new to it all, so I don't know how I'll like it. If it is something I wish to continue with, I'll invest in better lights and a CO2 system (or make my own).

I bought 2 anubias nana last night and placed them in the tank. I tied one to the top of the (fake) cave-like rock structure on the left of my pic above, and tied the other to a round rock/stone and placed it in the right front corner of the tank. By the way.... tying fishing line around a round rock and trying to get the plant to stay where you want is NOT a fun way to spend the evening

The fish are doing well, even the cory who seemed a bit out of place.

Good luck with your plants! I hope they thrive (or at least survive!)