42 replies to this topic

[cameroncuz]

Hi all, 

Planning to set up my first larger planted community tank (6ft x 2ft x 2ft) 

The tank is planned to be heavily planted and have a bit of driftwood or two.
I am after a bunch of hardy fish, my ideas so far are: 
Rosy barbs x 10
White mountain cloud minnows x 10
Zebra danio's x 10
Has anyone had these fish together or ideas of other fish suitable? 
Cheers 
Cameron

[JackMack]

Look up Dustin's fish tanks on youtube, he may convert you into wanting rainbows.

[malawiman85]

The only problem with the fish you have picked is that they wont offer much colour and they are not terribly interesting either.

Dwarf gourami are cool and colourful, chuck in some cardinal tetras or black tetras maybe a Black Ghost Knife fish OR.

You could do something like neons a dwarf gourami, a catfish and heaps of shrimp.

OR

As Jackmack suggests look at rainbows... Not he most exciting fish ever but colourful and hardy.

[dank]

As Jackmack suggests look at rainbows... Not he most exciting fish ever but colourful and hardy.

I disagree, the biggest problem I have with rainbows is that they are too active for my bedroom tank. Good fun to feed though.

 

I do agree though, the fish you have picked are not only not that colourful but they would form 3 sort of small, weak and somewhat mixed schools if you kept them in those numbers.

If you want a small schooling fish I'd suggest some type of smaller tetra and to get around 30-40 of that single type at least in a tank that size.

They will school better and look way nicer in those numbers, plus you would still have plenty of room for some highlight fish such as a couple of dwarf gouramis and a good sized crew of cory cats.

[Bermont]

Discus are good, they barely touch any plants, tropheus are good if you have a lot of fast growing hardy plants, but they will still nibble on them and sometimes pull them up if they arent well rooted.

[malawiman85]

Dank,

 

By way of not very interesting I didnt mean lack of activity as such just a lack of interaction and complex fishy behaviour as is common with cichlids, etc.

[dank]

ah fair enough

 

if you are looking for a fish with good personality but can't keep cichlids because you want a lot of plants, I've heard good things about purple spotted gudgeons. You could keep them with a school of the larger rainbow species

[JackMack]

As for a cleanup crew, sterbai corys look pretty cool in amongst plants.

[Just Drive]

 Most tetras does well in a planted tank, so does live bearers, barbs and dwarf cichlids (Properly not to hardy) Bristlenose catfish and Siamese algea eaters can be a good choice for a clean up crew. Angelfish might work (not so sure about compatibility, you could lose a few white clouds)

[Westie]

With a 6x2x2 why go for small fish? Some wild colour Angelfish would look nice, or Discus as watto suggested.

If you did want tetras in this tank, go for a school of 50+ (on ya dank!)

I have congo tetras in my 6x2x2 and they are really nice to watch. I will slowly be adding to the school of congos, as they are stunning to watch.

[Bermont]

i tried to go cheap with my discus and used neons, haha, took like 3 weeks and they were all gone, lol, definately go for a larger tetra species if you wish to keep them with angels or discus, congo, emperors, phantoms etc, i find whiptails are an awesome cleaning crew combined with SAE to combat any kind of algae, corys are good cause they help dig up the substrate and keep things clean, Dwarf geos are also great, eg, butterfly/german blue/neon blue/gold rams and ive also heard red breasted acaras are great in planted tanks too.

[malawiman85]

Red Line Torpedo Barb.

On special with live fish... Only $109.00 each

[JackMack]

Got to love the torpedo barbs, shame they come with such a hefty price tag.

[cameroncuz]

I do like the idea of a whole bunch or neons like 50 or so but I guess the tank would have to be quite a few months old before tetras would live happily? 

As for cleaners a whole bunch of glass shrimp would be easy to look after? 

[MrLeifBeaver]

I do like the idea of a whole bunch or neons like 50 or so but I guess the tank would have to be quite a few months old before tetras would live happily? 

As for cleaners a whole bunch of glass shrimp would be easy to look after? 

 

I have found that Cardinals are hardier. By the time you save with the 50 Neons, you will have them slowly die off. Just pay a bit more and have a fish live much longer than neons and even look better.

Rummynose Tetras are aweseome too....

 

Wait for it..... ... get some Discus too. Very cool fish which will not upset the planted tank too much.

[malawiman85]

Leif,

 

I knew you would say discus... HAHA. 50 cardinals will cost a gazillion dollars and I take it from the OP's first post that he was generally looking for less expensive fish.

 

Cameroncuz,

 

Just build up your numbers over a month or two. Cherry shrimp breed nice and easily and look better than glassies. Neon Tetras wont munch the shrimp... Most other fish will... Dwarf Gourami are hit and miss with shrimp safety.

[cameroncuz]

Mm neons and shrimps would look sweet, could get the tank running with some rosy barbs from my first tank.

Edited by cameroncuz, 17 January 2014 - 02:15 PM.

[malawiman85]

Thats the go!

One thing with the neons... Quarantine the shit out of them. Once you know they are healthy they usually go ok. Last thing you wanna have to do is try and catch sick fish in a planted display tank.

[cameroncuz]

How long would they need to be in quarantine for? Could they go in with rosy barbs?
Cheers

[MrLeifBeaver]

Thats the go!

One thing with the neons... Quarantine the shit out of them. Once you know they are healthy they usually go ok. Last thing you wanna have to do is try and catch sick fish in a planted display tank

 

Good idea.

 

Leif,

 

I knew you would say discus... HAHA. 50 cardinals will cost a gazillion dollars and I take it from the OP's first post that he was generally looking for less expensive fish.

 

Cameroncuz,

 

Just build up your numbers over a month or two. Cherry shrimp breed nice and easily and look better than glassies. Neon Tetras wont munch the shrimp... Most other fish will... Dwarf Gourami are hit and miss with shrimp safety.

 

Tee hee hee, of course I would. Btw i do have EY's and a little marine tank so I am not completely biased to them

I know cardinals are expensive (compared to Neons), but they are really worth the double in price. I find IMO that Neons just slowly die off, 1 per week. Until you have like 3 left that last for months. I guess if you buy 50 of them you will have a 'years' worth of them. Good idea, maybe quarantine them all first.

Edited by MrLeifBeaver, 17 January 2014 - 11:22 AM.