MTS and indecisiveness have gotten the better of me. I have this gorgeous black 40 gallon stretch hex and an INCREDIBLE piece of Malaysian driftwood (pictures to come) to put in it, hopefully that will be covered in java moss or the like. So naturally, I want to do a nice soft freshwater tank. Here are some of my must-haves and my really-wants:
*Panda Corys
-I have 5 I'm going to transfer over, I've been thinking of enlarging the school
*Royal Farlowella, bristlenose, or rubberlip pleco
-whatever won't rasp away the entire piece of wood, and I like how relatively easy Farlowellas breed
*Celebes Rainbows
-not a must, but I'm in love with them and will probably have subdued lighting to make them stand out
*Blue Tetras
*Bloodfin Tetras
*Blue Rams
-a little wary of the other fish if these decide to breed
*Pearl Gourami(s) or a pair of kissing gouramis
-I know the kissers get big, but I'd probably do a trade-in at an LFS when they outgrow the tank
*Blushing Angels
-I'd get a pair and hope for breeding, but worried about them/others eating the eggs
...And a teacup stingray. But that won't happen, so I'll keep dreaming.
So what do you think I should keep in there? I have a Fluval 304 running on there with straight RO water with Discus Buffer added, and if I need to I can hook up an Emperor 280 or 400 instead of the Fluval. I have that real tiny filter media gravel on the bottom, enough to play with sloping sides and stuff. (And the wood is soaking to leach out tannins and to, er, make it sink.)
I'll most likely put a black background on the tank. I have a ton of fake plants, but I haven't decorated yet and plan to have at least SOME if not all live. I've just never done live before. I have no problem adding liquid fertilizer to the water, though, if that's what it'll take to keep some Amazon Swords, Java Fern/Moss, microswords, etc. alive in there. I just want it to be pretty.
And I'm confident enough in my experience to keep all these guys, I just need some help deciding which ones to put in and how many! Like I said, anything is cool, I just have to have my corys.
(Also, I have a 5" Chinese Algae Eater I've inherited from a friend; I could put her in there but all she does is bury herself in the rockwork and under the gravel and I don't think my plants would stay planted long with her in there. Does anyone know why they do this during the day? My last adult CAE did the same thing.)
...I can't get HTML turned on for the post, so here are image links to pictures of the fish so as not to be image-heavy:
*Panda Corys:
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/panda3.jpg
*Royal Farlowella:
http://www.poisson-or.com/media/sturisoma_aureum.jpg
*Bristlenose Pleco:
http://www.brooklands.co.nz/fisharticle/pic/pleco1.jpg
*Rubberlip/Rubbernose/Bulldog Pleco:
http://www.plantedtank.net/images/fish/bulldogpleco.jpg
*Celebes Rainbows:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/images/celebes_rainbow.jpg
*Blue Tetras:
http://www.fishbase.org/images/thumbnails/jpg/tn_Bofre_u1.jpg
*Bloodfin Tetras:
http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/TetraLarge/BloodfinTetra2.jpg
*Blue Rams:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/ram2.jpg
*Pearl Gouramis:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/Trichogaster_leeri_1.jpg
*Pink Kissing Gouramis:
http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/Arch02/1108466598.jpg
*Blushing Angels:
http://andysworld.org.uk/aquablog/bblog/images/angelfish.JPG
*The tank (but black instead of cherry):
http://www.jewelsfromthesea.com/images/40-lg.jpg
*Panda Corys
-I have 5 I'm going to transfer over, I've been thinking of enlarging the school
*Royal Farlowella, bristlenose, or rubberlip pleco
-whatever won't rasp away the entire piece of wood, and I like how relatively easy Farlowellas breed
*Celebes Rainbows
-not a must, but I'm in love with them and will probably have subdued lighting to make them stand out
*Blue Tetras
*Bloodfin Tetras
*Blue Rams
-a little wary of the other fish if these decide to breed
*Pearl Gourami(s) or a pair of kissing gouramis
-I know the kissers get big, but I'd probably do a trade-in at an LFS when they outgrow the tank
*Blushing Angels
-I'd get a pair and hope for breeding, but worried about them/others eating the eggs
...And a teacup stingray. But that won't happen, so I'll keep dreaming.
So what do you think I should keep in there? I have a Fluval 304 running on there with straight RO water with Discus Buffer added, and if I need to I can hook up an Emperor 280 or 400 instead of the Fluval. I have that real tiny filter media gravel on the bottom, enough to play with sloping sides and stuff. (And the wood is soaking to leach out tannins and to, er, make it sink.)
I'll most likely put a black background on the tank. I have a ton of fake plants, but I haven't decorated yet and plan to have at least SOME if not all live. I've just never done live before. I have no problem adding liquid fertilizer to the water, though, if that's what it'll take to keep some Amazon Swords, Java Fern/Moss, microswords, etc. alive in there. I just want it to be pretty.
And I'm confident enough in my experience to keep all these guys, I just need some help deciding which ones to put in and how many! Like I said, anything is cool, I just have to have my corys.
(Also, I have a 5" Chinese Algae Eater I've inherited from a friend; I could put her in there but all she does is bury herself in the rockwork and under the gravel and I don't think my plants would stay planted long with her in there. Does anyone know why they do this during the day? My last adult CAE did the same thing.)
...I can't get HTML turned on for the post, so here are image links to pictures of the fish so as not to be image-heavy:
*Panda Corys:
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/panda3.jpg
*Royal Farlowella:
http://www.poisson-or.com/media/sturisoma_aureum.jpg
*Bristlenose Pleco:
http://www.brooklands.co.nz/fisharticle/pic/pleco1.jpg
*Rubberlip/Rubbernose/Bulldog Pleco:
http://www.plantedtank.net/images/fish/bulldogpleco.jpg
*Celebes Rainbows:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/images/celebes_rainbow.jpg
*Blue Tetras:
http://www.fishbase.org/images/thumbnails/jpg/tn_Bofre_u1.jpg
*Bloodfin Tetras:
http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/TetraLarge/BloodfinTetra2.jpg
*Blue Rams:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/ram2.jpg
*Pearl Gouramis:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/Trichogaster_leeri_1.jpg
*Pink Kissing Gouramis:
http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/Arch02/1108466598.jpg
*Blushing Angels:
http://andysworld.org.uk/aquablog/bblog/images/angelfish.JPG
*The tank (but black instead of cherry):
http://www.jewelsfromthesea.com/images/40-lg.jpg
