I have a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank set up as tropical. When I first got the tank I had a pretty good idea on what type of fish and what look I wanted. From that point on it was all about doing some more research and planning.
Main point in all of this: Work out what you want before hand. Im not talking about just the fish, Im talking about the more important things like "How often is someone available to clean it", "is the tank in a busy area?", "is there direct sunlight on it ever?" etc etc.
Ive had mine running for about 4 months now and its 70 - 80% done.
I have:
Shoal of 11 Lemon Tetras (they bred within 2 weeks of putting them in!)
Shoal of 12 Neon Tetras.
2 x Kribs (1 male and 1 female) have just produced 2nd batch of babies and Im hoping they dont eat em this time.
2 x Dwarf Cuckoo Chiclids (Male and Female)
1 x Keyhole Chiclid
2 x Dutch Rams
2 x Bronze Corys (will be adding a few more in to make up the shoal soon)
1 x Golden Nugget Pleco (JUST bought him. VERY happy
)
1 x Clown Plec
1 x Bristlenose Plec
4 x Green line Rasboras
Ive got a fair few 'normal' fish which are nice to look at and also make up a large proportion of the tank population. Ive then been adding, slowly, some 'show' fish like the Golden Nugget pleco, the dwarf cuckoo chichild, dutch rams etc.
Ive tried not to have too many show fish so that you have to search a little in the tank to see them.
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Filteration (I think i got the model nums right).
1 x 1000ltr/hr 2217 Ehiem canister filter with ceramic hoops and a bag of activated carbon. Returns via a spray bar, just breaking the surface.
1 x 600ltr/hr 2117 Ehiem canister flter with in built heater in case other heater breaks down. This one is loaded with ceramic hoops and 3 foam discs (2 course , 1 fine). Returns via an open ended pipe into the tank, going in the same direction of flow as the other filter so that it helps push the crap down to one end. So far, so good it works without making too much of a flow.
With this set up, the water quality is 100% crystal clear. NOTE: I had a very large piece of bogwood in the tank, as well as other smaller bits, hence why Im using the activated carbon.
Its not cheap, but the carbon lasts 6 weeks and costs £12.00 for a big tub.
If the appearance of the water is important to the business then I would suggest that you spend some time thinking this through. a) For the good of the livestock within the tank and b) for the appearance of the tank.
Hope Ive not rambled on too much and I hope it helps.