New setup help!

[vintage rose]

We just bought our third aquarium. It is 55gallons. I would really like to have a very natural tank. I want plants and some larger fish native to the North Carolina area. I'm just so unsure of where to start. I have been researching filters, substrate, fish, plants and the like. The problem is I don't know what plants go with what fish and so on. I feel like I need to talk to someone that can give me some kind of tailor made plan. Please help! I'm new here and need all the knowledge I can get.

 

[MyCatsDrool]

Welcome To AA


55 gallons is not all that large a tank for most north american species fish. In general, you want to have 1 inch of fish per gallon, and enough room for the fish to easily swim forward, u turn, and swim back.

I would consider doing a South american biotope tank instead. 55 gallons lend themselves very nicely to apistogrammas, angelfish, even discus if you are so inclined. And south american biotopes are easy to plant, find plants for, and are beautiful.

Asian biotopes are also nice, in which you could put things like paradise fish, gouramis, or a betta, some asian tetras, glass catfish, or other asian fish and plants. Also relatively easy to find and lovely.

I would go south american. I have a planted 55 that has both asian and south american and is very satisfying.

 

[neilanh]

You might also want to post in the planted forum for information specific to plants. They'll want to know all about your tank, lighting, etc, but they can really help you out from there with what's possible. You can also look on plantgeek.net for a great resource on plants.

 

[Purrbox]

I suggest you check out the Read This First sticky at the top of the forum. There are links to lots of great information that will help you to figure out what to do to achieve your goals. Let us know if you need clarification on any of the information and we'll be glad to try to help you clear it up.