26 Gallon

[Jakaris]

I'm about to come into possession of another 26 gallon tank (gotta love relatives :D), and since I have cichlids in my first 26 gallon tank, I'm looking to go with a tropical community. Any ideas on stocking suggestions? I've had tropical communities before, and if not for a huge ich outbreak I would still have one.

I'm trying to go for a more relaxing tank this time, so any ideas? Heres a list of freshwater fish I've had before, in no particular order.

Harlequin rasboras
rainbow shark
kissing gouramis
brown knife
cardinal tetras (those guys dont know how to stay alive)
Neon tetras
corydoras
pleco's
angelfish
Bettas
Endlers livebearers
Otocinclus
guppies
mollies

And how much would it take to start a saltwater tank? I have all I need to start another FW, but I've heard that SW can be very expensive to start up.
Thanks!

[salman]

Get some discus. I love them! They are beautiful and looking at them only will make you relaxed.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

What do you mean by "relaxing"?

[salman]

What do you mean by "relaxing"?

I think he means by something that looks beautiful and doesnt move alot.

[Jakaris]

I think he means by something that looks beautiful and doesnt move alot.

More or less, something I can look at after a hard day.... ehh, nvm the "relaxing" part >.>

And thta list wasnt of fish I dont want again, just my experiences.

[salman]

What are you looking for exactly? Just any kind of fish you havn't had before?
Can you please tell us what you have had before so we can narrow down the list? There are ALOT of beautiful and relaxing fish.

[Jakaris]

Heres a list of freshwater fish I've had before, in no particular order.

Harlequin rasboras
rainbow shark
kissing gouramis
brown knife
cardinal tetras (those guys dont know how to stay alive)
Neon tetras
corydoras
pleco's
angelfish
Bettas
Endlers livebearers
Otocinclus
guppies
mollies

Thats just fish I've had before, not a list of fish I don't want anymore.
I'm looking for smaller fish, the angel and kissing gouramis were quite large. Just list a nice tank thats along that line of thinking (not large). I'm quite braindead on the subject atm.

[salman]

You have tried almost everything, if i were you, i would have a SW tank.

[Jakaris]

How much would those cost? I'm not currently swimming in money like I used to be >.<

[salman]

oh, SW is a bit expensive, so are discus fish that i have mentioned earlier.. I would go with a livebearer tank.. they are cheap and they dont need too much care, and you can see their babys in a month.

[Jakaris]

Probably just going to go with a nice large school of cardinals/neons and some sailfin mollies, I have some ottos that are about to drop eggs, if i can get the fry to grow (not likely >.<) I'll put them in there, and try corries again, or some other type of bottom fish. Kinda figured out what I do wrong tank-wise: I try to add a HUGE variety of fish, so now I'm going with 2, up to 3 main fish, and then cleaners.
Thanks for the help... just in case I change my mind, how much do discus tanks cost to set up? Because I could splurge a little if I found nice fish >.>

[salman]

My mollys give birth every month, and ive had them for like 3-4 months now, I havnt had any deaths of any of the fry yet. Not even one baby, all of them made it. It is really easy, just let them to their thing and when you see babies swimming around, you can put them in another small tank or leave them.. But i think they do better in a tank alone.

[Jakaris]

I've had Black mollies before, so I'm familiar with how "productive" they are :D I generally just leave the fry in the tank, survival of the fittest, and only a few make it through. I've been looking at the sailfin's, and they look beautiful >.> so I'll most likely go with that variety (the balloon molyl just look wierd to me.

No info on the Discus though?

[salman]

I've had Black mollies before, so I'm familiar with how "productive" they are :D I generally just leave the fry in the tank, survival of the fittest, and only a few make it through. I've been looking at the sailfin's, and they look beautiful >.> so I'll most likely go with that variety (the balloon molyl just look wierd to me.

No info on the Discus though?

Discus are a little expensive, and you said you are on a budget.

[Jakaris]

And I also said I would stretch it if I could, say I had 100$ to work with and they would cost 125 to set up, I could do that.... I COULDN'T do 200.

[salman]

I would get 6 small discus. But make sure you read about them before you go out and buy them. You need to treat the discus as if they were special, well they are. But you need to pay more attention to it. Make sure you have a test kit.

[Jakaris]

I went to my local Petland (best pet store in my area), and I saw some beautiful fish, and I of course want them all. Since I cant do that, can you give me your recommendations on what you would put in there.

2 small (quarter sized) Angels. The tank had angels, and the tanks great for them since its tall rather than long, but I found them to be somewhat fragile (total, 2/3 died over the course of the tank).
Neon Tetras: Very nice looking, on sale for 1$ each. The hardiest fish I've experienced outside of catfish.
Cardinal Tetras: 3$ each, and the last group that I bought all died. So I'm somewhat hesitant to pick them up again, but they do look a lot nicer than neons.
Swordtails: They had some beautiful Swordtails, and since their mollies all looked like mutts, if I was going to get a Livebearer this would be it.
Corydoras: I saw some beautiful peppered (right name?) cories there, but the last time I had cories, they all hid behind a big piece of driftwood set at the back. I have this driftwood set up in this tank again, so the risk is there.

Fish I have no experience with:
Pristella Tetras, Tiger Barbs (I've heard these are aggressive though),Rummynose Tetras.

Possibilities I thought of:
The 2 angels and a school of Neons/Cardinals/Rummynose(input needed), but I was worried that the angels might possibly eat them when they get older. I know their supposed to grow accustomed to them after awhile if they grow up with one another, and my angel never ate the Harlequin Rasboras, but I would like further input on this.

Swordtails/Mollies (if they get some good ones in by tomorrow), a school of Neons/Cardinals/Rummynose(input needed), and something else.

They also had other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head, suggest away and it might strike a chord in my brain >.>
Thanks!

EDIT: Just remembered, they had golden barbs as well.

[RobbieG]

If you want a nice relaxing tank I would go with some hardy plants a school of the neons (probably a dozenish) - 4-5 of the cories - and 4-5 diamond tetras.

Change the lighting that comes with the tank to a blue spectrum type lamp and you will have aquatic valium!