New To Freshwater Tanks

Just to start off thank you for checking out my post and any help you maybe able to give.
I have had saltwater coral tanks over the past 10 years but since my recent move across country I am gonna try a new hobby in freshwater aquariums. I was recently given a 46 gallon bow front with a Marineland emperor 400 filter. My long term goal is to have a freshwater aquarium with live plants. Since I’m new to this hobby I’m looking for any advice as to what lighting, substrate, heaters, fish, etc. to get to help me on the right track to my future goal of live plants and fish. I know it will take time for the tank to start up and for everything to acclamate before plants can be introduced. Any beginners advice would be much appreciated.

 

HI Ryan,

What fish are you looking into having? Once we know this it will be easier to advise on what substrate etc, would you prefer a more aggressive tank, e.g angelfish or a more community tank such as neon tetras, guppies or mollies?

 

I would say I’m looking for a more peaceful to semi- aggressive type of tank. Nice live plants and community colorful fish is my goal

 

What size of tank are you looking at? Do you have a specific budget? Are you thinking of getting nicer lights? Are you comfortable with shipping fish in? Sorry for all of the questions, but these are auestions that really need to be asked before stocking a tank like ghis!

 

If you are looking for colourful fish, guppies are most likely your best bet, guppies come in a range of colours. it is recommended 2 female guppies to every male guppy and they should be kept in groups of 5+. If you don't want the guppies to breed and to have 20+ fry then I would just get all males. Mollies are also quite colourful and can go well with guppies these are not shoaling or schooling fish so can go alone in a tank, but if you do get more than 1 it is recommended to have 3 female mollies to 1 male molly. Schooling fish such as neon tetras or harlequins are pretty cool too. These should be in a large group though, I would say 8+, but I still have my harlequins in a group of 10.

Platies and Danios are also good community fish

Bottom dwellers are also kinda cool, such as corydoras, which come in a range of shapes and sizes, or shrimps which can be all different colours and sizes too. I have wood shrimp which are quite big and fun to look at.

With a 46 gallon you may also want to look at plecos, however, I would do a lot of research into what one you want before you go and buy them, some of them get up to a foot long, better off sticking with either a bristlenose pleco or a clown pleco

if you are looking for small algae cleaners- otocinclus are also small and good for a community tank

look into some of these fish for now, see what you like, get back to me and I'll give you a hand with stocking.

It takes a lot of time to stock a tank like this so in my opinion I wouldn't rush into anything.

 

I already have the 46 gallon now front and the emperor 400 filter. Next would be which substrate and lights to get? I work away from home so I'm looking for suggestions on things to buy to set the tank up so I can order it and have it waiting for me when I get home so I can put the tank together. Once the tank is running I’ll look into where I’ll get my fish from. Now I’m just looking for suggestions or ideas on what features to put in the tank to reach my end goal of live plants and community fish

 

Having the saltwater experience will carry over well to freshwater. Since you are looking for a planted tank, I’d suggest:
1. Eco-complete as a substrate, or
2. Dirted tank capped with gravel or eco-complete, or
3. Sand using root tabs, or
4. Part of the tank dirted and part sand
The Fluval substrate is good as well but I don’t have direct experience with it.

For lighting, you can’t go wrong with a finnex stingray or an Odyssea plant light. I’m currently running an Odyssea 6500 on a 20 long and it’s growing plants like crazy. Watts/gallon rule is an ok guideline but now with LED and other light options you really have to do a bit of research based on the size of the tank (how deep) and the plants chosen. Some freshwater plants like anubias, Java moss, etc are low light and really need nothing more than a desk lamp.

For a heater, I wouldn’t go less than 200 watts. Aqueon makes a great heater at a great price.

For fish, you have tons of options. I’m into the nano fish at the moment and like having schooling and shoaling types. Their behavior almost mimics that of a larger singular organism at times which fascinated me.

 

Having the saltwater experience will carry over well to freshwater. Since you are looking for a planted tank, I’d suggest:
1. Eco-complete as a substrate, or
2. Dirted tank capped with gravel or eco-complete, or
3. Sand using root tabs, or
4. Part of the tank dirted and part sand
The Fluval substrate is good as well but I don’t have direct experience with it.

For lighting, you can’t go wrong with a finnex stingray or an Odyssea plant light. I’m currently running an Odyssea 6500 on a 20 long and it’s growing plants like crazy. Watts/gallon rule is an ok guideline but now with LED and other light options you really have to do a bit of research based on the size of the tank (how deep) and the plants chosen. Some freshwater plants like anubias, Java moss, etc are low light and really need nothing more than a desk lamp.

For a heater, I wouldn’t go less than 200 watts. Aqueon makes a great heater at a great price.

For fish, you have tons of options. I’m into the nano fish at the moment and like having schooling and shoaling types. Their behavior almost mimics that of a larger singular organism at times which fascinated me.

You pretty much covered what I was asking for perfectly. Thank you. The Aqueon heater and the eco-complete substrate were my top choice so far but just wanted to see what other people suggested. I’ve been looking at the Finnex 27/4 automated led system, it has good reviews and I like that it’s all automated so I don’t have to worry much about it when I’m away from home. I’m gonna start off with easy low light plants then work my way up from there. As for fish that’s a hard choice cuz I like smaller fish but also some semi- aggressive fish so I have to see which ones are compatible with each other