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Hi All. New to the hobby and looking for some adive on a good setup for my 35 gal.

Fishes that have piqued my interest are loaches (specificly the zebra), rainbow fish and the African Butterfly. But I am open to suggestions at this point.

As well, which is easier for a beginner - rock only, or plants?

Thanks,
murgus

As well, which is easier for a beginner - rock only, or plants?

If you do a bit of research and start with easy hardy lowneed plants such as hornwort, java fern, wisteria....ect the plants will greatly benefit the tank as they help consume nitrAtes (sometimes too much ) and help in a small part by filtering impurities from the water.
However without doing a bit of research you can easily end up with double work on your hands trying to keep fish and plants alive. Additionally, if you're using a standard lighting fixture such as came with the tank you likely havent enough light for even many of the lowlight plants and would need an upgrade.

^_^[font color="#999999][hr width='40%']"Let's compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse
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We get by just fine here on minimum wage
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welcome to F.P

umm, like babel said, hornwort is a very good plant, and is very easy to grow with nothing fancy,(if u need help finding some, let me know ) rocks and or flower pots are also very basic, but still good hiding places.

With rainbows, the larger kinds like Boesemans, and Reds will need alittle bigger aquarium, maybe around 55, and with open swimming space, so plan ur tank depending on what fishes u are actualy going to get. How ever i would stay away from the african butterfly fish, seeing how u are new to the hobby(or obession)

good luck with ur tank.

Plants can help keep the water quality high especially when your new to aquarium keeping. However plants require as much research as fish or you will have dying plants which ruins the water quality, alot of frustration, and quite a bit of wasted money. Most importantly you need to look at how much light you have and what plants will grow in that light.

loaches (specificly the zebra), rainbow fish and the African Butterfly

1 African Butterfly
4 zebra loaches
&
12 neon rainbowfish

I think a rock only tank would look cool

Thanks for the replies guys. The java fern and hornwort looks intriguing. I don't think I've seen any hornwort in my area though (I live in Ottawa).

dude_dude, that was almost the exact numbers I was thinking of - just trying to find a source for the zebra loaches as well.

Thanks,
murgus