Suggestions?

**Plant Man** · 04-10-2010, 12:42 AM

Hey guys, I need some help picking out a school.

I have more experience growing plants and building the environment then I do keeping fish. Building as perfect an environment as I can comes first, because I really enjoy the look of a “live” tank. I think my tank is just about ready for some really nice schooling fish. I’m thinking of adding 2 small schools one consisting of 12 Cardinals tetras mixed with another tetra school of about 10.

Could someone suggest another school of 10 “Neon sized” tetras that will compliment the Cardinals?

What is in the tank now?

10 Long-fin-Leopard Zebra’s
3 2 1/2 inch Clown Loaches (they seem happy I’m going to leave it at three)
1 3in Gibbiceps Plecostomus
3 Red Cherry shrimp.

Parameters,

46 gallons
Temp 79
NO3 barely detectable (I’ll be adding it soon with fertilizers)
Phosphate barely detectable (I’ll be adding it soon with fertilizers)
PH 6.8 (Co2 injected, without it, it’s 7.6)
KH 7.0
GH 9

There’s a picture in the pics forum of my tank.

Thanks for any suggestions guys.

**cichlids209** · 04-10-2010, 12:58 AM

Hi there i would say the clown loaches are a problem . they will outgrow your tank and will need a 125 gallon and prefer 5 or more reaching 12 inches so will your pleco getting up to 15 inches right now your stocking is about 104 % you have extremely well filtration for it so the 104% isn't really relevant right now . I would like to know how u got 3 canisters on 1 intake and outake ? :)

**Irish2539** · 04-10-2010, 01:24 AM

Bare in mind clown loaches grow very slowly.... So u will have alot of time to upgrade the tank. Iv had mine for 6, maybe 7 years and my biggest one is around 7 ". Its a 211gal tank. I have 4 and they are very happy... obviously more is much better and they wud be happier... i find 4 works just fine. I mean alot of tetras dont actually properly school, Only when scared. Id suggest some rummy nose tetras, They are always swimming in a nice school. Oh "Neon sized".... em harlequin rasboras?

**Plant Man** · 04-10-2010, 02:09 AM

Originally Posted by dane

Hi there i would say the clown loaches are a problem . they will outgrow your tank and will need a 125 gallon and prefer 5 or more reaching 12 inches so will your pleco getting up to 15 inches right now your stocking is about 104 % you have extremely well filtration for it so the 104% isn't really relevant right now . I would like to know how u got 3 canisters on 1 intake and outake ? :)

With a little ingenuity. I am losing a bit of flow individually; I measured the whole system to 335gph. I am up a bit from that as I have just switched out the 2215s impeller for a 2217 one. They are identical in size except the 2217 has a slightly stronger magnet and 5 blades instead of the 3 on the 2215. I could see the difference when I turned the 2215 back on. Can you say OVERKILL! But hey, I got nothing else to put in there.

I plan to remove the clowns when they get over 3 inchs and the gibb well I've had those for many years. I'll replace him with a smaller one when he hits the 5inch mark.

**cichlids209** · 04-10-2010, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by Plant Man

With a little ingenuity. I am losing a bit of flow individually; I measured the whole system to 335gph. I am up a bit from that as I have just switched out the 2215s impeller for a 2217 one. They are identical in size except the 2217 has a slightly stronger magnet and 5 blades instead of the 3 on the 2215. I could see the difference when I turned the 2215 back on. Can you say OVERKILL! But hey, I got nothing else to put in there.

I plan to remove the clowns when they get over 3 inchs and the gibb well I've had those for many years. I'll replace him with a smaller one when he hits the 5inch mark.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...tedtank011.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...tank2041-1.jpg

that looks so awesome great DIY project as well thats alot of money invested in those . thanks for the pics

**Plant Man** · 04-10-2010, 02:28 AM

Originally Posted by dane

that looks so awesome great DIY project as well thats alot of money invested in those . thanks for the pics

I didn't buy them all at once. I got them over the course of about 4 years and bought each one on sale. I saved about 30-35% on all three. Boxing day sales.

The best thing about it is I've got three large filters going and the tank is wisper quiet!

**Plant Man** · 04-10-2010, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by Irish2539

Bare in mind clown loaches grow very slowly.... So u will have alot of time to upgrade the tank. Iv had mine for 6, maybe 7 years and my biggest one is around 7 ". Its a 211gal tank. I have 4 and they are very happy... obviously more is much better and they wud be happier... i find 4 works just fine. I mean alot of tetras dont actually properly school, Only when scared. Id suggest some rummy nose tetras, They are always swimming in a nice school. Oh "Neon sized".... em harlequin rasboras?

I like the rummy nose tetra's idea.

Keep in mind the 1inch per gallon of tank doesn't really apply here. The water has not been changed in 6 days and today I did a NO3 test with a liquid test kit and a test strip. The test strip showed just a slight change and the liquid showed just about 0 as well. I think with all the plant eating up the No3 and Phosphate this tank can hold a lot more fish. But I will still stock really slow and keep a very close eye on all my numbers. I'm starting with the firts this weekend. I hope I don't get any algae.

**thatcichlidguy** · 04-10-2010, 02:46 AM

Black neons maybe ? I really like mine. They dont seem to school all that much , but they are a very nice looking fish. Columbians are good schoolers but geta bit bigger than neon sized.

**Plant Man** · 04-10-2010, 02:54 AM

Originally Posted by thatcichlidguy

Black neons maybe ? I really like mine. They dont seem to school all that much , but they are a very nice looking fish. Columbians are good schoolers but geta bit bigger than neon sized.

I really like the black neon’s idea! I think they would complement the Cardinals perfectly. Do you think a Red-Tailed Black Shark in the 2-2 1/2 in size would make then school a bit more without over stressing them?

**terrapin24h** · 04-10-2010, 03:33 AM

Originally Posted by thatcichlidguy

Black neons maybe ? I really like mine. They dont seem to school all that much , but they are a very nice looking fish. Columbians are good schoolers but geta bit bigger than neon sized.

bugger! you got it before me. I really like my black neons. You might also want to look into gold barbs if you want a more medium size fish. You'd fit 2 black neons to every gold barb though

--chris