1. Welcome to Aquarium Space! We are a friendly online community for aquarium owners all over the world who love their tanks including their fish, reefs, corals, invertebrates and their aquatic livestock. If you haven't joined yet, we invite you to register and join our community!

What do I add next (Stocking)

Discussion in 'Freshwater General Discussion' started by caronsd, Jul 22, 2008.

  1. caronsd

    caronsd Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    172
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    What do I add next


    Okay So i have my tank (details listed below) all set up and its definitly lacking numbers and variety. I'm looking for something interesting to put in but not something thats going to cause problems. Also I'm looking for some plant ideas. Any suggestions?
     
  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

    Messages:
    5,728
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Re: What do I add next

    With a tank that large and such small fish you can really add a lot more. Have you thought about adding several types of Tetras ? Having the mollies in there is going to inhibit adding any other livebearers to the tank. If you did they would all cross breed and you'd have a tank full of weird looking fish very quickly.

    As far as plants goes, that depends on your lighting. What type of lights are on your tank now and would you want to upgrade them if necessary ?
     
  3. caronsd

    caronsd Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    172
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Re: What do I add next

    Right now i just have a basic florescent hood light but i guess its good enough for those walmart buds to grow lol. I'd be willing to upgrade yes, and I'm looking for another tank as we speak to put some livebearers in.
     
  4. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

    Messages:
    5,728
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Re: What do I add next

    Okay, since you're willing to upgrade the next question would be how much do you want to pay for the lighting itself. On average if you want to be able to keep the most common plants you'll need about 2-3 watts per gallon. So for a 55 gallon tank you'd need about 137.5 watts of lighting.

    If you want to keep the price down and start out with lower light plants you could get by with the lighting you have now and get plants like java moss, java fern, crypt and several others.
     
  5. caronsd

    caronsd Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    172
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Re: What do I add next

    I think thats the route I'm going to go till I really get going with this, now I have to find where the best/cheapest place to get those plants is
     
  6. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

    Messages:
    5,728
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Re: What do I add next

    If you can't find them at your LFS you can find them on Aquabid, eBay and some members here may have some available.
     
  7. YellowCichlid

    YellowCichlid New Member

    Messages:
    572
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Re: What do I add next

    As far as the plants go I agree with Anthony. Start off with "beginner" plants and work your way up

    With that size tank you have many options! Some angel fish might go nicely in there
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Top Poster Of Month

    Re: What do I add next

    We adore our fresh water stingray..would be a fun addition to your tank, as would a golden dojo..lotas fun, will feed from your hand..not a plant expert here..just buy what looks healthy from the store, would LOVE to know more about plants, all mine are fine..but think we are just really lucky, as we have fish that don't "match", crayfish breeding like bunnies..and angels that have to be ALONE to raise a brood...go figure..even have a tank for feeder fish that survived..uggh