lynnJ

Hey I am in my final stage of cycling my tank. I know it will probably take one more week or so but now the funny party beginning. I have looked around from other people’s signature and from different photo I have come out with some fish I like but still need help and advise.

1. My tank is 36”X 12”X16” 30 gallon long

2. Filter running right now is canister Rena XP1 and I have Aquaclear 200 but I haven’t set this up but if advised to do that I will put this up in no time.

3. Heaters 2 X 100 Watts

4. Gravel is standard 0.5mm –2.5mm substrate

5. My tap water pH is 7.0

6. I don’t have the glass cover top for now and I am planning to get lights that have mounted legs.

7. Right now I have two 60 watts clip table light (but is a temporary thing)

8. I have plant two weeks ago Java fern, Java moss, Amazon sword and cabomba and they are doing very well.


The types of fish I have seen and like so far but I need more opinion on compatibility and how many will fit my tank. I prefer few fish only that are not community type.

Catfish - (Oto, Upside – down, Panda, Emerald)
Loaches – (Kuhli, striata, Daria, Lohachata, skunk)
Pleco - (Clown, Candy stripe, bristlenose)

Maybe later I will put like two amino and two Red Cherry Shrimps. I don’t know how and what is good when keeping with the other so anyone can help me to choose btn those to mix and match for top and bottom dwellers

Isabella

Hi, good amount of planning in advance

Few questions: How many GPH (gallons per hour) does each of your filters pump? This info should be on a filter's box, or on the internet if you can find it. Generally, you should have a filtration of around 10 x the volume of your tank (i.e. 300 gph in your case). I assume you won't be overstocking.

For a 30 gallon tank, 150 W of heating would be enough, though 200 W is OK as well, as long as the heaters have thermostats in them (i.e. they turn off when water has reached the desired temperature).

Are you planning on having a lot of live plants? What kinds of plants are you interested in? If you only want plants that grow attached to various objects such as driftwood (ex. Java Fern, Java Moss, and Anubias), then your plain inert gravel is fine These 3 plants should be OK under standard lighting, though at least 1.0 WPG would be better in my opinion. Please read his article if you're serious about a planted tank: General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks

If you will have rooting plants such as Amazon Swords, these plants prefer nutrient-rich substrates, or you can use plant root tabs instead. If you read the above article, you'll know what I'm talking about. (If your entire tank floor won't be planted with rooting plants, you can use nutrient-rich substarte only in places where the rooting plants will be planted).

Your tap pH is very good

Glass cover would be useful in that it would prevent your fish from jumping out.

lynnJ

Thanks for your advice.
I don't plan to keep many plants...I want the low tech one for now. I don't want to tuckle two things at the same time.

Filter is 250 GPH and I have aqualclear 200 but I haven't set up this yet.

couple of people give me this list already but i am not sure yet which way to go. Still deciding and some seems to me as too much but still looking for advices.

one
10 panda corydoras
8 kuhli loaches
20 black phantom tetras/30 ember tetras,
10 hatchetfish

two

2 Rainbow cichlids,
3 Rainbow fish,
1Pleco,
6 Corydoras
1 Emerald Green

three

2 Red Tailed Tinfoil Barbs
2 Gold Gouramis
4 cories

four

4 Giant Danios
1 Rainbow Shark
2 Yo-Yo Loches
1 Spotted Synodontis

five

2 pristella tetras
1 serpae tetras
1 black neon
3 kuhli loaches

six
Rainbow Peacock Cichlid,
2 Frontasias,
2Rainbow sharks
Black-neons

Isabella

It's not really tuckling 2 things at a time. If you plan on having live plants in a tank setup, you should learn all you can about how to best maintain them. In a tank where you have live fish AND live plants, there needs to be a correct balance between the fish and the plants as well, so these two things are intrinsically connected in this case. And the article IS precisely about a low-light/low-tech tank that you want to have.

Anyway, any idea how many GPH the AquaClear 200 pumps? 200 GPH? If it's 200 GPH, then 250 + 200 gives you MORE than enough of filtration. Though you can never "overfilter" your tank. As long as your two filters don't create too strong a current in your tank for your fish to swim at ease, then use the 2 filters, why not.

How large do all of the fish that you listed grow?

lynnJ

Initial I didn't plan to have plants but I saw some people with the same kind of things and manage to keep these kinds of plants and grow up nicely. I decided to give a try. I know the cabomba might die b’se of the requirement but the other three kinds I have asked so many people and they say it will grow in a tank with low light and regular gravel.

It is very confusing. Before I set it up my tank I asked a question regarding the things I had and someone told me the RENA Xp2 would be too much for my tank. I had 150-Watt heater and was told 200 watts will be better. I had to return to the store all those things and got the Xp1 and 200 watts instead.

Isabella

Lynn, here's what you should be looking for in a filter:

When you buy a filter, it usually says that it's for "this-and-that" size of a tank. What this information refers to is the tank's need for BIOLOGICAL filtration (it doesn't talk about the tank's need for MECHANICAL filtration). So, for example, Rena Filstar XP2 pumps 300 gallons per hour. The information on this filter states that it's for tanks up to 75 gallons in size. What this information refers to is that it's has a BIOLOGICAL filtration capacity for up to 75 gallons. But it does NOT have the MECHANICAL filtration capacity for a 75 gallon tank.

Like I said, it's best to have a filter (or a combination of filters) that will give you MECHANICAL (i.e. "gph") filtration of around 10 times the volume of your tank. So, for example, if you have a 75 gallon tank, you should have a filtration level of 750 gallons per hour. If you have a 30 gallon tank, you should have a filtration level of around 300 gallons per hour.

NOTE: I've been told that the "10 x the vol. of your tank" rule refers to Hang On Back power filters only, and that if you use canister filters, you should have at least "5 x the vol. of your tank" of filtration.

Hope that helps

P.S. There are generally 3 stages of filtration that you have in your filter: biological, mechanical, and chemical. Biological filtration refers to the filter's ability to provide enough surface area for nitrifying bacteria to keep your tank cycled. That's what biological media in the filter are for (i.e. various bio-cubes, etc.) Although, really any surface in your tank will have nitrifying bacteria on it too. Sponges in your filter house a lot of nitrobacteria too. Mechanical filtration refers to the filter's ability to pump water and get rid of floating debris from the tank water. Sponges in your filter perform this function. And lastly, chemical filtration refers to any chemical media you may be using in your filter such as charcoal, activated carbon, zeolite, and what-not. Chemical media get rid of any water discoloration and toxic coumpounds from the water. However, chemical media are a bad idea in a planted tank as they get rid of all the nutrients from the water necessary for plant growth.

lynnJ

Thank you so much. This will help me a lot.

Isabella

You're welcome