First tank, stocking/filtration question

[RabidChild]

I'm getting ready to purchase my first tank. It will be either a 50 or 55 gallon (still looking around for the best deal and possibly a used one). What I'm planning is to keep the 50 gallon in the living room and then eventually if I enjoy it and think it's something I want to expand on go for a 2nd tank, probably 29 gallon, for my bedroom.

Here's my idea. I'm going to start with both an Emperor 280 and Emperor 400 on the 50-55 gallon and then if I start a 2nd tank just move the 280 over to the 29 gallon tank leaving the 400 on the larger tank. Would either require more filtration than this? I'm assuming using the established filter on the 2nd tank would eliminate the need for cycling it, and as a newbie the extra filtration to start on the larger tank would be welcomed.

I am also planning on moving most or more likely all of the fish from the larger tank to the smaller tank and then starting over with the bigger one and being more adventurous once I get a little more experienced. The book I got (The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums) has some recommended stocking guides and following one of those I plan on getting:

3 various Platies
a school of 8 zebra danios
a school of 6 or 8 tetras (maybe silver tip, lemon or another gold/yellow variety)
4 cory cats (not sure which one yet)

I'm assuming that this wouldn't be too much for a 29 gallon tank to handle once I moved them? What about adding a couple of ghost or amano shrimp to the mix?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

In my opinion, it would be over stocking the tank. Not the 55, but the 29 gal. For your first tank, aim at about 1 inch per gal of fish. And since you are choosing smaller fish, the rule will apply. 1 inch per gal is not set in stone, but it is a good guideline to have for beginners. The larger the fish (girth) the more inches they need. So with the stocking list that you listed, you are looking at about 34 inches of fish, and that's not including the Cory's. Ghost shrimp really don't add to the bio-load of the tank. They are very small waste producers. For a 29 gal tank, I'd cut one of the schools of 8. You could have the Platies and the Danios or Tetra's.

That's just from my experience. What do you ultimately want to have in the 55 gal tank?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

BTW- Welcome to AA!

 

[Toirtis]

Welcome to AA. If you went with 5 danios, 5 small tetras, 4 corys, and 3 platys, you would be more in-line with the bioload of a 29. You will likely see a bit of ammonia in the second tank, so add your fish slowly.

 

[RabidChild]

Thanks for the replies and advice. Not really sure what I want in the larger tank eventually. That's probably at least 6 months off. I may end up doing a planted tank, maybe some angelfish, cichlids, or even a saltwater setup... I really have no clue right now. I'm just trying to get my feet wet and take in as much info as possible (while doing as little damage to the fish as possible).

 

[caudelfin]

My own experience with the Emperor's is good and bad. They last a long time, my first one is still in operation and I bought it in 1996. I found the Emperor 400 to be somewhat noisy as soon as the water drops a little in the tank. I have it in my 29 gal. Does a wonderful job there, but if I had it to do over I would buy a cannister for it. I like cannisters better However, the Marineland 350 cannister is hard to load media into and has had no redesign as the others have but the H.O.T (smaller brother of the Magnum350) does an excellent job of polishing the water so I keep the H.O.T just for that purpose, the 350 sets and does nothing.

I love the Filstar XP3 and if you go online with DrsFosterandSmith.com you will find one to fit the 55 gal very close to the price of the big 400 Emperor if they are still on sale. If money is no object then the best filter on the market is, IMHO, Eheim. They are very quiet top notch in most every way and the Fluval is a good whisper quiet filter also. I just happen to think that the XP3, which is very quiet also, is just as easy to load and a lot less expensive.

With the Emperors and Penguins I have found that the bacteria (at least in my case) resides mostly in the mechanical filters. And when you remove them you remove your bacteria converter and bacteria. I have had several ammonia peaks after removing them and killed several fish before I discovered the cause was in removing the mechanical filter from the Emperors. I believe the same holds true with any of the Bio Wheel filters.

I never can seem to get the bacteria to reside to any great extent on the Bio-Wheels. I now just rinse blue mechanical filters in water removed from the tank and put them back in. If I think a new blue mechanical filter is going to be needed I remove the carbon from the new one and stick it in with the other filters still in place (the emperor has 4 slots, only two are filled with mechanical filters the other spaces are to add the gray media filters if desired, thus a space to stick new filters to break in is available, and after a couple of weeks I remove the old filter and soak it in a very light bleach solution wash it rinse it and hang it on the clothes line or fence to dry in the sun and reuse it again and again..

I do not believe in Carbon filtration except to remove medication from the tank. It also removes trace elements necessary for the fishes health from the water. Then the carbon held in the mechanical filters of the emperors is not near enough to do anything with, I regard it strictly as selling point for Marineland, so again IMHO it will soon leach the very things it removed back into the water including any bad stuff it held. For my Emperor I cut the top and remove all the carbon from the new filters before using them.

At last, Welcome aboard and have fun and enjoy your aquariums.
caudelfin

PS I have found the saltwater aquariums to be very expensive, the expensive fish seem to die more often and salt must be purchased on regular basis, then much work in mixing it and letting it sit and cure, plus the rocks and artifacts in the aquarium must be removed, scrubbed and cleaned often in my experience. I want to enjoy my aquarium not work on it constantly. That is why I often have a reduced fish load in a tank. Some people however, find great pleasure in constantly puttering with the aquariums and more power to them. I am too lazy.

And marine aquariums require more equipment such as sumps protein skimmers and etc. My neighbor scrubbed his corals, rocks other artifacts he had to assemble to make the marine life feel at home and soaked them in chlorine bleach to remove red and green algae that is very difficult to scrub off. Once in four years he did not dechlorinate as good as he should and wiped out all his aquarium life. Cost him over $600 to replace his animals. The expense along with all the work drove him from the hobby and he has no aquariums now, collects and restores old cars instead. He does love to work on things.