Want to set up a planted tank! It's my first tank so can you guys check my plan?

Hey, so this is going to be my first tank other than the large goldfish tank my family had as a kid, from which all I can remember is all the things we did wrong (after doing my research now), but still had them for 2 years and then gave them away.

I would like to write here my plan and it would be awesome if you guys could go over it, so rather than figuring out what I did wrong after the fact, you lovely people could stop it from happening in the first place!

Starting off, I'm a noob BUT! I have been doing a lot of research in the past 2-3 weeks so although it has yet to sink in assume I know the basics.

General overview: What I am aiming for is a low-maintenance medium-light planted Small-fish tank of size either 45L (12 Gallon) or 130L (35 Gallon). Budget isn't tight but basically "as cheep as possible" to keep the fish healthy.

Fish: I am planning to catch some wild guppies which can be found in small puddles/ponds near Maroubra (a beach in Sydney) unless I am strongly advised against it. <-(which the only reason I could find so far not to do this is disease, but since I am not mixing store-bought fish is it not as big a problem?) If advised against it then I will probably get some guppies or other small hardy fish form the local fish store.
Questions: Is keeping wild fish strongly ill-advised?

Substrate: This is one thing I was considering splurging on, to get some proper aqua soil. However this is extremely expensive especially in Australia for me so I was considering getting a cheaper substrate and more water column feeding plants than rooted ones.
Questions: If opt for a cheap substrate but want to have a carpet of something like Cryptocoryne wenditii, what substrates should I go for? Also, how can I aerate the substrate when there are plants there, or before they grow out everywhere? also if I use Seachem should I use Onyx Sand or Flourite dark? Onyx raises PH by 0.1-0.5. <- I think I can work this one out myself though.

Plants: I am planning to get some Cryptocoryne wenditiI for the carpet, some rocks, driftwood and something like Java fern, Java moss, Anubias, Dwarf Sagittaria for the BG and mid ground. Basically low-light water column feeders.
Questions: Any other recommendations especially in Australia?

Water regulation: I plan to get a API master test kit, test the water I get the wild fish from and then try and mimic that in my aquarium. I don't know much about regulating these stats though (other than the nitrogen cycle), something I was going to research on-demand.
Because I was going to use wild fish I planned to not have a heater, coupled with the year-round warm climate of Sydney room temp seems sufficient.
Questions: Are heaters really necessary? Or only for specific fish? I'm assuming I should check each fish before I get it, but wouldn't many not need one?


Some extras: I was thinking of putting some algae-eaters with them, I would do this a little after the tank cycles and the wild guppies are put in but maybe this is a bad idea? Same with some snails or other critters for aeration etc. I am mainly going for this type of tank because of the relative low-maintenance other than the setup and knowledge needed. I think I will be responsible enough to take care of it but I know me, and I do less better and more worse + studying rocket science at UNI takes some time, so would this setup be relatively low maintenance or am I missing something big? (I assume 0.5-1 per week water changes and water tests, substrate clean until plants carpet it, and regular feeding, taking out the excess food after about 10 min.)
And long as I have a good over the edge filter I wouldn't need an air-stone.

Also is the smaller tank fine for this kind of setup? or do I need the larger one (simply budget and space reasons). And how necessary is the hospital tank? Should I get both tanks and use one for hospital? This would really be pushing it though, so is it essential or more important than any of the other things?

Summary:
Expensive option - Cheep option (Bold is what I am leaning towards)

Store bought - Wild fish
Mineral substrate - Cheap option
Heater - Just my room air-con
Two tanks - Large tank - Small tank
Full testing kit - just PH strips
Good lighting - Average lighting
Filter and air-stone - Over the top filter

I would like to not get the expensive option for too many things, are any of them more important than the ones I have now?

Thanks guys!

 

Welcome to fishlore
I'm fairly new myself, but I can tell you that it's always safe to go for the bigger tank. Two reasons for this: 1) a small tank. Very much limits your options, especially with live breeders like guppies 2) smaller tanks are harder to control, in terms of water parameters. The larger your body of water, the more stable your ecosystem

For sustrate, if you have access to fertilizers, you can use whatever looks good to you. Root tabs keep things like Amazon swords fed, and seachem flourish in the water will feed the others

I know that there is a person on the forum who gets wilds Betta fish, but I haven't heard about collecting guppies. I'll leave you now to more experience members...good luck

 

My opinion, of course, but unless the Fish and Game people have a regulation against it, you are just cutting out the middleman, if the guppy type fish of which you speak, are not in great demand/are commonly used bait fish/you won't be impacting the local population in any meaningful way.

Just remember : once you've got them, you can't return them. YOU CAN DAMAGE THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION BY RETURNING KEPT FISH TO THE WILD!!!

With store-bought fish you can trade them back to a shop or give them to another keeper should you decide to get out of the hobby or change the sort of fish you keep.

Go bigger, if you have the space.You probably will want to upgrade shortly after you set up the smaller tank, usually because there's always one more something you want to have. Or babies.

Which, thinking about it, might be another tick in the 'No' box. What will you do with the babies of your wild caught fish? Guppies, like most livebearers, tend to be prolific. If you do go wild, you should sex the fish you take and only keep males.

Snails, especially something like a Malaysian trumpet snail will aerate your substrate for you. I like to manually turn it when I'm cleaning my sand tanks. My heavily planted tanks, I don't fuss with overmuch.

You only need a heater if your fish require one. Not all do. Temperate tanks (those that float with room temperature, ) are pretty common.

The plant sub forum would be a good place to direct your fancy substrate questions. I raise plants on gravel and sand, fertilize haphazardly, and manage to do okay.

Enjoy your new tank!

 

Definitely go for a test kit. Strips are more expensive in the long run and less reliable.
For lighting, id talk with a live plant expert here, figure out what plants you want (and have access to!) And go with the lighting that best suits it.
And for filtration, I'll tell you this.. there is no such thing as over filtration.. but there is such thing as not enough. So definitely get good filtration.

"Good" and "great" does not necessarily mean expensive. You can find good deals on new and used stuff!

 

Cool, ty guys. I'll have a peek at the substrate guys. Last thing I would need to know is the importance of the hospital tank. I guess for breeders it might be important, but I was planing to have moss to shelter them and then just give them away/sell them. Would that be not really practical?

 

Cool, ty guys. I'll have a peek at the substrate guys. Last thing I would need to know is the importance of the hospital tank. I guess for breeders it might be important, but I was planing to have moss to shelter them and then just give them away/sell them. Would that be not really practical?

You need to research the relevant regulations for your area. Wildlife infractions can come with heavy fines and occasionally jail time. I would do my homework before going collecting.

A hospital tank is a useful thing. If you are bringing new fish in isolating them before adding to the new tank can save heartbreak.

Sometimes fish get sick or injured and need to be treated separately.

And yes, sometimes there are babies you want to raise up without fear of them being eaten.

 

Hmmm, actually it might not be allowed now that I think about it, since it is a "national park" kind of area, The fish isn't rare though, maybe I could get permission somehow? although that's probably unlikely because bureaucracy.

 

Hmmm, actually it might not be allowed now that I think about it, since it is a "national park" kind of area, The fish isn't rare though, maybe I could get permission somehow? although that's probably unlikely because bureaucracy.

I would think the park service would be your first port of call then. (Probably followed by a trip to your LF S. )

Have fun whatever you do!

 

HI I was reading part of your thread and got confused about one part. You were saying you wanted a "carpet plant" and referred to Cryptocoryne wenditiI as your carpet plant. If you are looking for a "true" carpet plant then try and read this as these are "carpet" plants.

​https://www.aquascapingaquarium.com/aquarium-plant/

 

Yes, go with tropical java ferns. I have had those in my 20 gallon for about 2 years now. They are the healthiest plants in my tank and are continuing to grow. The other plants are actually losing leaves.

 

I see cool, ty.