Build, Stock, And Rearrange

So I am going to be expanding my house's aquatic arenas, and I am thinking about rearranging and expanding into some areas that I haven't explored much.

My existing setup is the 185G "Monster" as the wife calls it, and a little 20 gallon unit. The combined contents of these tanks are a handful each of neon, Priscilla, and Buenos Aries tetras, 5 female mollies, 4 adult guppies, between 30 and 40 fry of those two species, a lot of cories, a common pleco, a clown loach I got from someone who bought it without realizing how big they got (but it is still small), and some ghost shrimp and pond snails.

Over the next few months I will be replacing the 20 with a 125, and adding two 55 tanks, one long, one irregular.

As I said, I want to take this opportunity to foray into some areas that I haven't touched much, but I feel this will require some re-arranging of my fish for everyone's safety. I am ok with that. I also do not expect the neons or the female guppy to live much longer, just due to age. They are nearing the longest I have ever had those types of fish live.

My current restrictions are this:

One molly and one male guppy must go to the 125. It is my son's tank and those are his fish. We will fight about it if they go anywhere else.

The one 55 I want to be planted, heavily. I want to use a soil-type substrate, but I am open to other types.

I am open to a wide range of fish, but I am partial to fish native to the Amazon.

I have also recently become interested in raphael cats. I understand they tolerate a wide range of conditions, are very hardy, get somewhat large, are long lived, and can live with almost anyone.

I am open to, and thinking about, turning the 185 into a "large fish" tank.

This is the one I want to plant:


This is the corner I want to put it in:



I need ideas for rearranging, to a degree (that isn't the kind of thing my mind processes easily). I would like to have this arranged so that I am not continuously breeding fish, but so that I can move one or two males occasionally to restock.

I also need ideas and advice for starting and equipping the planted tank, and good plants to go with. I have never tried a real planted tank with any level of seriousness before.

Finally I would like ideas for largish fish that will go well with a pleco and a clown loach. I have seen many places people said they have had both fish in with Raphaels so that being in the mix would be a plus.

 

I'm not expert, but following, because this sounds awesome

Crypts are great plants, easy to grow and lots of different color varieties. Amazon swords, java fern, and anubias are also easy. Stems like bacopa caroliniana or temple plant. I'd move the neons, pristella tetras, and most of the guppies over there--they don't need a super-long tank, and they'll look very pretty in a planted tank.

 

Cool, thanks Viking. I am looking forward to this for a few reasons. In addition to the new aspects of what kinds of tanks, I have been playing with the idea of building my own tanks since Christmas, and the two 55s both need torn apart and rebuilt. I am the kind of person who would rather spend hours of my own time doing something myself, especially hand on, rather than pay just a few dollars to have it done for me, so the idea of rebuilding two tanks I got for free is very exciting to me.

The other big thing, and I don't know if my wife has figured it out yet, this will put a tank in every room of our house except the bathroom.

I think you are right about the tetras and gupppies in the planted tank I can put a cory or two and some shrimp in there as well, and then split the rest of the cories along gender lines between the three other tanks. Seriously, I have more cories than I can count.

I also need advice on where to get good plants. On my last attempt I bought them from Petco or PetSmart and I feel like low-quality plants contributed to the failure. They never seemed super healthy and always had a lot of dead leaves.

Has anyone ever bought plants from That Fish Place? I don't live too far from them.

 

I'd keep at least 6 cories in the corner tank... they'll be happier (schooling fish) and more fun to watch! They always look kinda sad when they're alone.

I've actually had pretty good luck with Petco and Petsmart plants, the main thing is to be sure they look healthy when you buy them. Can you give any info on your lighting or substrate? Or, what type of plants you've tried in the past? Could be something about your setup that wasn't working for them...

 

Well it has been a while. IIRC my last attempt was in my old 55, so it was either a gravel or "cichlid rock" substrate. I don't even remember what the plants were anymore. I do know when I tried with the cichlids they just kept pulling the plants up, but I think I may have tried again after switching back to tropical community fish with similar failures. I have not tried since going to sand.

 

If they were African cichlids, yeah those can be pretty hard on plants.

With proper lighting and substrate, plants aren't hard

 

Sounds like you already have some good plans! I definitely encourage the dirt approach for plants. I just started my first dirted tank about a month and a half ago and it's been great. I made a post about it on here not long ago if you want some advice on that front.

 

If they were African cichlids, yeah those can be pretty hard on plants.

With proper lighting and substrate, plants aren't hard

Melanochromis. Another one of my hybrid projects. I wish I had pictures from that one.