Here is the plan - New 36 gallon!

My beautiful wife got me a Top Fin 36 gallon bow front. I have had a lot of smaller tanks (10 gal or less) and been fairly successful with them and I currently have a 10 gallon setup for my Betta which is going ok.

So what to do! Below is a list of what I am thinking, I have not decided on numbers yet (of each fish) or decor (substrate, rocks, logs). I do not have many plants listed and know I want/need more...and snails, I need snails.

Tank came with a 200w heater which I think should be ok. The HOB filter it came with is a Top Fin Silentstream 40 and I am a little concerned it is under powered.

Plants - Java Fern, Javal Moss, Anubias
Tetras - Green Neon, Red Phantom
Cory Catfish - JullI Cory
Barbs - Cherry Barb
Rasbora - Galaxy Rasbora
Rainbow shark and/or Bala shark
Honey Gourami

Thanks for advice and support.

 

200 watts should be ok for a 36.

everything on the stocking list looks fine except for the bala sharks and the rainbow sharks.

Balas get too big for a 36. Around more than a foot long and also require schools.

I would also suggest keeping the schools of fish down to one or two canidates.

 

Thanks for the info, the sharks were a oh those are neat moment and I have done my homework on them yet...I did not know they got that big. That is why planning is key.

I also was a little worried about how many schools for the tank size and will probably limit it to 2.

 

I also have a 36 bow, and I love it!
I would do;
6-10 of some schooling fish
6-10 of another schooling fish
6-10 juliI corries
and a trio of pearl gouramis!
in mine I have: guppies, 2 swordtails, a trio of pearl gourami, 4 neon rosy barbs, and 7 aeneus corries.
I would also up the filtration.
in mine I have the Fluval c3, and a tetra whisper 40-60 gallon. Look on amazon, there are so many cheap hob filters, the C3 used to be $47 now it’s like $22! I paid $47!

 

Definitely look into plant choices as that can be as much or more important to plan than the stock. A good resource is a book called 'Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants' that's pretty commonly carried by most shops that stock literature and I've found it invaluable.

As far as your stock, glad you abandoned the sharks for already mentioned reasons. You may want to take a look at some algae eaters on your list as well. Even a few can really help with tank maintenance and don't add a lot to the bioload. I use Otocinclus cats and Bristlenose plecos (check by species) as they usually stay much smaller than their common pleco relatives.

 

So here is the final plan (sticking info below)...thanks for all of your support and ideas. I will set every thing up and only add the tetras, plants (also substrate and decor) for cycling. I will test water ever 2 to 3 days and do up to 20% water changes as needed (probably weekly but we will see. This should take about a month before slowly adding in the rest of the fish.

36 Gallon Bow Front (Top Fin)

Substrate
Black fine rounded gravel with very small amount of course white grave mixed in...like stars in the night sky...

Small rock with drift wood to the right
Taller rock structure toward left
Taller planting to back middle
Medium height plantings right/left sides
Smaller plantings random front

Plants -
Amazon Sword x 2
Cryptocoryne x 1
Java Fern x 2 (1st to tank)
Javal Moss x 2 (1st to tank)

Bloodfin Tetra x 6 (1st to tank)
JullI Cory x 6
Cherry Barb x 6
Honey Gourami x 1 (Last to tank)

 

Consider adding a few more honeys. They are quite social fish

 

Pics or it didn't happen, right!

 

Looks good, are you planning on putting the tetras in while the tank cycles?

 

Yes but I want to give it a day to settle out and let the temp stabilize...in the mean time they are chilling in my quarantine/ER tank...it is a 3.5 gallon circle tank so I am watching them really closely...

 

Oh I am sorry those are Cherry Barb's...the blood find I went and saw today did not looks so great ( possibly sick).

 

Since you are doing a fish in cycle, you probably want to monitor your water a little closer. Your tetras are going to be sensitive to the ammonia levels in your tank.
I would recommend maybe using Seachem Prime and Stability for your cycle. It’ll help speed things up and keep your fish a little happier.
You also will probably need to go closer to 50% water changes

 

Thanks for the great advice.

 

Barbs are in, let the cycle begin...oh yeah I got them new tank cloudy water blues. Unfortunately I do not have any more filter floss....