andspencer11

Hey everybody! I have been doing a fishless cycle for about 2 weeks so far. My ammonia is going down, and the nitrites are peaking and hopefully will decrease soon.

This is what the tank looked like in the beginning:
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And after I added some more plants and a background:
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I cant wait to add fish!!

Lucy

Nicccccce!

I'm glad you're cycling fishless. What are you planning on stocking it with?

andspencer11

I have been doing some research on some fish. I know I want a school of corrys. I am not set on any other fish yet. I live about 5 minutes away from That Fish Place, so getting fish that I want wont be a problem.

Do you have any recommendations?

Lucy

I'm not good with stocking suggestions but several members are.

I know when they see this, they'll have plenty of advice.
Good luck

andspencer11

what would everybody suggest with stocking my 55g tank? I will start off with a school of corrys

thanks!

jdhef

Well, I have Boseman's Rainbow Fish, Gourami's,Odessa Barbs and Panda Cories. If I had additional space I might add a school of Dwarf Neon Rainbow fish or some Cherry Barbs or Platies. I also like Serpae Tetra's, but I'm not 100% that they are compatable.

Blub

I wuv stocking tanks....

If you like corys, you may as well have a storm. 10 Panda corys, with 8 Neons, and 2 other schools of small tetra type fish. Cherry barbs, Dwarf neon rainbows, Serpae tetras, Zebra danios, Harlequin rasboras and Black neon tetras would all be good candidates.

Your tank looks neat! I think a few cryptocrynes would really make this tank. (They make nice shade for corys)

Oh, and get yourself some Malaysian trumpet snails. They did in the sand and prevent the sand compacting, which is bad for plant roots and also can lead to a build up of dangerous gas bubbles! That or disrupt the tank every few days by swirling the sand around. MTS snails eat algae as well.

aecw

I have 4 Pandas and 1 pepper cory and they are the cutest things to watch - I highly recommend them! I did have a problem with platys being very aggressive about food and purposely scaring the pandas - not nice at all!! (they live in a different tank now.)

Blub

Platys will do anything for food! They do the same to Hatchets - I'm currently trying to find a new home for them.

sirdarksol

andspencer11: What kind of sand do you have in the tank? Certain types of sand are not good for bottom-dwellers with barbels (like cories and kuhlis), because it will rip their barbels up. If you're using pool-filter sand, you should be good, because it's rounded stuff.

As far as the other fish to put in the tank, I'm going to say the same thing I usually do: What interests you? We can all shout out our favorite fish, and you'll get hundreds of different possibilities, and it may be that none of them is what you want.
Try heading over to That Fish Place and finding the fish that interest you. Get as many different ideas as you want to list. We can then help you pick through them and put together a good stock list.

Blub

Go without money though. Temptations can be hard to resist!

sirdarksol

A good point. If you're an impulse buyer, leave money, checkbook, and credit cards at home. I can walk into a fish store and walk out without any stock, so I don't worry about this, but I can't go into a grocery store without buying twice as much stuff as I planned on getting.

Blub

You should see my mother at the supermarket. She goes in for bread and comes out with several bags full!

Shawnie

ahahahaha thats most of us!! a gallon of milk seems to cost $100 by the time we leave especially if we bring our children with us LOL

the tank looks awesome...I love the white sand look...ive never had a tank with sand but thinking my next case of MTS might just have to be with the same look as yours!

andspencer11

Sirdarksol- I have pool filter sand.

I bought 5 green corrys, they did not have any pandas. I also bought 7 cherry barbs. The barbs are pretty small.

Those should do for a week or 2, then buy more!!

-andrew

sirdarksol

Keep a very close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels. Those small fish in that large of a tank shouldn't create any huge problems, but putting a lot of fish in a tank at once can overload the cycle.

I wouldn't feel too bad about missing the pandas. They're really neat little cories, but they're also fragile (even for cories).

fishlover27

love the tank! Its better than mine!

andspencer11

Do the malaysian trumpet snails reproduce a lot? I don't want many snails.

Butterfly

Malaysian Trumpet snails like other snails in that they reproduce according to the food supply. If you aren't over feeding your tank you won't have a snail explosion. MTS are also nocturnal, most likely you won't see them out except at night. They are excellent for sand tanks.
Carol

sirdarksol

I do see a few of mine out during the day, but most of them stay in the substrate.

andspencer11

I will have to check them out. How many would you recommend?

sirdarksol

I just put a few in each new tank. Within a month or so, they have reached their optimal population.

Darlene

Your tank looks beautiful, I can't wait to see pictures of your new fish.

small-fish

op where did you pick up some of those rocks? i have been looking for some but i cant find any.

andspencer11

Hi, my name is Andrew and I buy rocks. HAHA
I cant believe I bought rocks, too lazy to go find 'em. I bought them at my LFS. They were $3/lb , so from now on I will be looking for rocks outsideI cant quite remember what the names of them are.

small-fish

I didn't know you can use rocks from outside, you probably have to boil them first right?

andspencer11

All rocks come from outside, you just need to know what they are so they dont raise the pH if you dont want that.

But you would need to thoroughly clean rocks that you would happen to find.


And I have another question,
What would be a low light plant that would be more of a floating plant. I have seen a few but I dont know.

Darlene

I have hornwort in my betta tank, you can let that float...I actually have a hard time getting it to stay planted. My has grown like crazy since I got it and I only 2 watts per gallon in that tank.

andspencer11

I will have to try that!
Thanks