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Well, after two cross-country moves, I'm back.

Next week I'll be setting up a new tank (an Eclipse 12) and I'm trying to figure out what to put in it.

Obviously it's a pretty small tank so there won't be room for a lot. I'm thinking a few cories, one or two kinds of tetra (or Harlequin Rasbora or similar) and one or two larger centerpiece fish, like a smaller type of gourami.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'm also toying with trying my hand at a planted tank. I've had a few plants in the past, but never really done the plant thing "right".

stariel
Unless I am wrong that is a 45 lt tank I have a 45lt with Cardinal tetras, Khuli Loaches, plus a unknown number of breeding CRS. The tank is very heavily planted as you can see.
Since that photo was taken the front is now full of Crypt nevilli
Once I had this tank set up it is extreamly easy to maintain.
Keith

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well id go with 4 corys about 6-8 of one kind of tetras like rummynoes tetras, flame tetras, or neons...... for a centerpeice fish id go with some type of small cichlid like bolivian rams or blue rams or redbrest acaras if u can find them...... and if u want to do plants just get florite gravel wash it really really really well or it can make a mess..... then just get a ok light and u should be fine for the hardy plants.....

A blue acara would be a really bad choice in that small of a tank. I don't know that I would even do rams.

Yes, Keith, that is 45 liters. I should have specified - the 12 means 12 gallons.

I've had many tanks of various sizes before... I was considering making this tank a "wussy tank" as I did before with a 10 gallon that had dwarf cories, ember tetras, and something else smaller - I can't quite remember but it may have been Endler's livebearers, and a sparkling gourami.

But my friend, who I'm setting up the tank with (well, actually, we both got Eclipse 12s and will be setting them up together) thinks I should do "regular" fish in this tank and save the wussy tank for later.

At the moment I'm not really set on any particular fish. In the past I've mostly had community tanks with various types of tetras and saltwater tanks, though I did have a few African cichlids before realizing that there aren't very many good and accessible LFSs in Boston.

Now I'm back in Seattle where there are quite a few good stores, so I have access to many types of fish, both common and less common.

My friend is the one who had the idea of doing a planted tank, but the more I think about it the more interesting I find it. Do you plant folks have any recommendations for good easy plants? The tank comes with a fluorescent fixture in the hood, and I'm unlikely to get any special lights. The tank will be located in my living room, which gets lots of afternoon sun - although I usually keep the blinds down. If the sun would help, though, I'd be willing to leave them open.

Oh, get German Blue Rams! Or maybe Balloon Mollies! I saw some at the fish store I was at today, and they were so cool! The rams were fun to watch because they kept butting heads with each other! And they're such pretty fish!

i didnt say a blue acara i said red brested acara max out 2-3"........ blue rams would be fine in that size tank....... well unless u got a uv i wouldnt let direct sun light on the tank for long as u might get a algea bloom if u get florite gravel...... i live in seattle to so i can tell u some of my favorite stores around here and theres a awesome one in whitecenter that has all kinda of cool fish mainly for 100 galls+ but they got a few smaller fish.....have 2 3' Oxydoras Niger and a 2' proon shark........ very nice store with a lot of cool fish at cheap prices but not a good slection of plants....... a place for pets in beurien has a lot of plants and fish and the employes know what they are going........ well yea i know the seattle fish store so if u got any questions about stores just ask!!!!!!

Thanks riri, I actually lived in Seattle before when I had tanks. I really like The Fish Store on Roosevelt - they have a great selection of smaller fish too. I'm unlikely to get out to White Center or Burien since I live in north Seattle.

And thanks for the suggestions Delenn, but balloon mollies sort of creep me out.

I don't know about rams - I did once rescue a ram, I think it was an albino. Someone had it at work in a bowl because it was attacking the fish in her boyfriend's community tank, so I took the little guy home and put him in with my gouramis and he behaved pretty well after that. But I don't know how good of an idea that would be in a 12 gallon with smaller fish. In my experience (only with this one ram) he was a bit on the aggressive side to be keeping with tetras.

For smaller tanks I prefer smaller fish, like keiths tank! But then again to each their own.

On the planted issue, go for it! Not only is a 12 gallon easier to plant up it's cheaper too . You wouldn't have to buy as many plants or flourite to start up, won't need as much wattage over the tank, and you can easily do a DIY CO2 on that tank. I had a 20 gallon with a DIY unit on it (standard soda bottle but with a barb adapter from the hardware store to make the seal from the bottle cap to the airline hose tight) and so long as I kept up on refreshing my mix the plants did amazing! I just got lazy about refreshing the mix after awhile though .

For plants, I'd stick with the low light plants. Java fern comes in a few varieties. With small tanks, like small rooms you don't want to have too much going on, pick one or two plants to have, one tall one short, something along those lines.

Fish, I'd want rasboras, IMO they're pretty nicely colored and go great with the color of the plants.

oh, and wb!

^_^

Lol. I thought the balloon mollies looked cool. They had a kind of puffer look to them, and I just adore puffers (never had any, but I go gaga over them whenever I see them, lol). As for the rams, the guy I talked to today said that they need to be kept at least in pairs or they will go after other fish. Which is good to know. I myself have decided to do three German Blue Rams with Three Honey Sunset Gourami. I was going to do Bolivian Rams until I saw the German Blue Rams in the store and saw how cute they were together. If I had the room, I'd get the Balloon Mollies too, but I also want Kuhlii loaches and dwarf frogs, so I won't have room for the Balloon Mollies. If I ever get a bigger tank than the one I just got, I'll add the Balloon Mollies to the tank. The ones I saw today were white, and I think they'd make an excellent contrast to the Honey Sunset Gourami.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that the rams should be kept in groups of 2 or more to keep them from going after other fish.

Good luck with your tank!

Riri1, I still would not recommend a 2"-3" aggressive cichlid in a 12 gallon tank.

I have a 10g in my home office. When fully stocked I had 7 Harlequins, 2 panda corys and a male Betta for some flash. over the two yrs I have had this tank, I have had trouble keeping my Betta's alive and have had a couple bouts with some illness that hammered my harlequins. The Pandas have done really nicely.

I'd say the species were good, the number of fish was good for a 10g, I just let my chemistry get away from me a couple times, stressed my fish, they got sick and a few have died.

The thing I have learned is to keep the tank super duper spotless clean with frequent 25% water changes, monitor the parameters with a good liquid drops test kit and don't over feed or over stock. Keep the fish small and peaceful, you'll do fine.

I have had a bad time with snails as well, so I have moved all the fish to other tanks and am using it for a hospital tank while I nurse my Black Ruby Barb back to health. Once she is better, I am going to clean out the 10g and begin again. I cannot get rid of the snails.

Good luck!

There's a product you can get at your local fish store that I believe is called "Snail*Be*Gone" and is supposed to be a good product for getting rid of them. My problems have never been snail-related, so I can't for sure tell you if that name is 100% correct, but your local fish store should be able to tell you.

Worse comes to worst, have you tried salt to dry them out (like leeches)?

they arnt aggressive mine got picked on by a school of neon tetras in a 10 gal tank..... u just need a well planted tank to keep them alive......

ScottF. not to hijack the thread, but depending on the type of snail problem you have, yo-yo's love snails. I only have ONE pond snail in my 55 gal. That's only because: 1) it was there months before the yo-yo's. 2) It's just to DANG BIG for them to eat. I never see any snails in that tank other than Moley, except in the filter. When I squeeze my filter, I usually find eggs and a few babies. I either toss them out with the water or put them in the tank. I promptly see the yo-yo's zoom in and eat them.

I think the rams will do well in the tank. If the tank is heavily planted for cover of the other fish, I think A (meaning ONE) REDBREAST ACARA will do fine as a centerpiece.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

LOL Kelly, in response to your obvious attempt to hijack this thread lol

I did try kuhli's, yoyo and clown loaches at different times in the 10g to combat the snails. All ended up dying off. I think my pH is too high (8.2-8.4) for the Loaches. Bums me out too...

Thanks!

Couldn't you use a PH softener to lower the PH to like 7.0 or something? I know I've seen that stuff in the pet stores.

For the ph get a filter bag & use some pure peat, you won't need much for a small tank. You will get colored water for awhile but it's the tannins that will soften the water some.

For easy plants, I'm also a huge Crypt fan, so many types and colors like green, yellow, copper, reddish, brown... Some vals (fo for a small type), java ferns, anubias..

The Amazon Nut...

you should go with a tangiyika (spell it right) shell dweller aquarium