Newbie - Help in setting up new acquarium

[Qwazarr]

Hello everyone,

I've been in the hobby in the past and looking to come back, I'd like to set up something which is manageable by someone with low experience and was thinking about the following:

- Freshwater

- 80/100 litres tank (21/26 gallons,not exposed to direct light).

- 3 (1m/2f) Killifishes of some sort (easy and colorful are best), 6/8 tetras of some sort (same, easy and colorful is the aim), 2 bottom feeders (I hate corys, is there something else that can fit in the tank?) as a base, if possible I'd also like to implement some easy shrimps and a couple snails but I never kept these and don't want to overcrowd, in general I'd like for it to be extremely colorful but with plenty of space for all the pets to thrive. I would deeply appreciate suggestions on species/varieties and numbers.

- I'd like to plant the tank heavily, but have 0 experience with that, again easy and colorful is the aim.

- I can take whatever time is optimal to set up the tank, if it takes 6+ months for the tank to be a proper home for the fishes it's ok for me.

- I prefer to be in a spot where I have less fishes than the aquarium can host at maximum capacity but it's maintainance is easier and faster.

The general objective is having something which looks good by choosing a selected few of active and colored fishes, with an efficient cleaning squad to help me mantain the water values/cleanliness of the tank and is not overpopulated so as to mantain the fishes/plants health and well being while not being to hard to mantain for me since I'm not experienced and will not have more than 4/6 hours weekly to mantain the tank.

Do you think my fish choices are reasonable? Would you advice something different? Do you have any tank reccomendations? Everything you'd like to share with me will be precious, from fish/plant keeping info to tank/lights/filter/tools/substrate/food suggestions will go a long way helping me setting up something which can be beautiful and healty for the fishes!

Thank you so much!

 

[Aiken Drum]

How about a fluval roma 90 to begin with. Comes with all the equipment you need, filter, heater, light etc. You can get a cabinet also so you can be certain the cabinet is specifically designed to go with the aquarium. At 90 litres sits right in the size range you are looking for.

https://fluvalaquatics.com/uk/shop/product/roma-90-bluetooth-led-aquarium-set-24-us-gal-90-l

Take a look over this series on setting up a low tech planted tank. Full of useful hints and tips on keeping low demand plants.

https://youtu.be/66Xt4qglbNc?si=fSEfnb03K8vX59Aj

An aquarium doesnt need to be time consuming once its all set up. A weekly water change on a tank that size can easily be done in 30 minutes. Filter maintenance and tidying up the plants maybe another hour or 2 a month.

 

[Qwazarr]

Thank you so much! The acquarium looks great and the added cabinet is perfect for my needs, would you have some reccomendations regarding the choice of fishes I made?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Im not really a fan of making fish recommendations, as you would end up with what i would get rather than what you would like to keep.

Killifish and tetras can be good tankmates. There are many varietys of tetras, from cheap, small and common neons, to bigger, more expensive congo tetras that are less frequently kept. 6 to 8 congo tetras would look great, but are a bit pricey and are a bit bigger so would need a bit more water maintenance than the same number of smaller neond. Depends what you want really, go to an aquatics store and see what appeals to you. I like corys, but as you dont like them maybe some kind of small loach, like a yoyo loach? Nerite snails are pretty bullet proof, a couple of those make great clean up and algae eaters. Ive found red cherry shrimp easy to keep and they do a great job foraging for uneaten food and algae too.