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Hey Everyone,

I'm getting my 50 gallon this Christmas and I'm beyond excited!! Dimension 36x18x20

I've been trying to come up with a stock that has fish on each level and has a different range of color. The stock list I was interested in was something like...

6 Albino tiger barbs (guaranteed because I already have)
6 Green tiger barbs (guaranteed because I already have)
Rainbow shark (guaranteed because I already have)
6 yoyo loaches
3 blue or pearl gouramis
6 regular tigerbarbs
or
6-8 Harlequin Rasbora

I'm open to ALL suggestion or correction. The only things that it would have to be is Asian (because I'm trying to do a bio-tope ish tank It would also have be compatible with the guaranteed 12 tiger barbs and shark.
The tank will have and Aqua Clear 70 and 50. As well as moderately planted with about 3-5 pieces of driftwood and some rocks.

Thanks to all

Tigermom

That stocking looks good to me. The Tiger Barbs will love the big school. I think you should go with the Blue Gourami instead of the Pearl, I have 3 and they get along great with the Barbs and Shark, I'm not sure how the Pearls would do.

My experience is that the blue gouramis are a little more agressive than pearls and so would probably stand up to a school of barbs better

I have 2 blue gouramis ( well 1 gold 1 blue) and they are super passive, never cause trouble. Stock looks awesome to me! The tiger'll love the big school!

in my experiences barbs and gouramis dont mix well!

i would nt recommend puting them together as barbs are nippy and daring and i have had babies that are about an inch long chase and nip at a full sized aopaline gourami. and here is the deal i bout 12 baby tiger barbs and i already had 6 opaline gourami... they fought so much that i ended up with 3 babytiger barbs and no opaline gourami!!!

i would say add a tinfoil barb as a center peice... they do fine i solitary as long as their tank mates are larger than half their size...



\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

A Tinfoil Barb would get way too big for that tank. I believe they like to be kept in schools as well.

i have had a specimen that enjoyed being soitary with the tigerbarbs... but the size could be an issue... maybe try somemore loaches or something like that as the gourami wont work... stay away from anything that mght also have flowing fins... also the rasboras might be a bit small to be kept with the tiger barbs, but for their survival you might want to add some more of them so they schol better and also so they are less inept to atack by the tiger barbs...

so in all i would say drop gurami completely and just up the schools (mostly of the harlequins...)

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I have 3 Gouramis in with this exact same stock and they get along fine. There hasn't been one incident of fin nipping. I only have 6 Barbs, with 18 they likely wouldn't bother anyone, let alone cause big problems. It comes down to the personality of the fish, maybe you had aggressive Barbs and Gouramis, maybe mine are passive. However, I'm going to say that more often than not, this stock will work just fine.

Wow thanks everyone for the suggestions and information!!!

Yeah the reason I went for the Blue gourami is actually because of there aggression. Granted I don't want them to be overly aggressive but I do what them to hold there own in the tank. I picked the pearls because there extremely pretty fish but after doing some reading I think they may be to timid anyway.

So does the stock of...

6 Albino tiger barbs
6 Green tiger barbs
6 regular tiger barbs
1 Rainbow shark
6 yoyo loaches
3 Blue Gouramis

sound good then? I'm getting more and more excited with this tank the more I research and things I gather for it.
Thank you again for all the input!

Tigermom

Sounds good to me. I believe the Pearls would be too timid, so it was a good choice to substitute them with the blues. Hope everything goes well once you get it set up.

thank you very much truestar and everyone else.

Ill be sure to post pics once things get underway!

Tigermom

What about plants, tigermom? Strictly Asian as well, AZ Gardens has a nice selection...

HI Catdancer,

Yes the plants have been, probably the most interesting, difficult, and fun part of this tank. I did check out the habitat packages at AZgardens and liked them but was worried about some of the plants listed not doing well in low lights as well as wanting other plants. I finalized the list yesterday and will be ordering once the tank here.

From AZGardens
Balansae- 10 (minimum)
Wenditii green- 10 (minimum)
Wissli “Lucens”- 10 (minimum)
Giant Hygro - 4 reg.
Giant Hygro - 2 giant
Anacharis- 4
Rotala Rotundifolia- 2
Temple- 2
Pellia- 1
Apontongen crispus- 1
java fern windlov lace- 2


Aquasport on Aquabid
Java fern Windolv - 2
Riccia-2.49
Java Fern - 2
Java Moss - 2


There is another dealer on Aquabid I believed named Aqua/ticmagic. They sell mosses I've never heard of. I'm thinking of getting a few to see what there like. I goggled one and what little came up was in a different languagebut I'm still intrigued.

The price is some what up there all together (around 150+ with an added 30 for shipping) which has me a bit nervous because I don't want to spend all that money and receive poor plants. If they fail once they get here then that's more of something I have to kick myself over because I wasn't properly taking care of them or they weren't suited for my conditions.

I have about 1.92 watts per gallon which is still kind of on the low end. The plants listed were pretty much all low light easy cares. The iffys are the Hygro, temple, rotala, pellia, and riccia. All of these plants say conflicting information. I've read they need high light but also read they be fine in low. I do plan to add Co2 and higher light once the money is available though. Anyway's that's the list, any suggesting, corrects would be appreciated. Please excuse the wrong spelling on some of the plants names


Tigermom

Good for you on those plants! How exciting!

I don't forsee a problem with the lighting. Maybe the rotala or ricca...I haven't kept those. The hygros, IME, will live just fine in lower lights, their growth will simply be more compact and much slower. A more important issue is fertilization. I suppose I shouldn't say 'more' important, as they go hand in hand, but many plants can exist quite happily in lower light and look good(less growth of course) until they run low on nutrients, then you start getting holes in leaves, loosing lower leaves, etc... Your light really isn't that low. I've kept a variety of light needy plants in 1.8 wpg and they did fine. Of course, uping the light and adding good ferts makes all the difference when defining between 'living plants' and 'growing, thriving plants'.

I'm rambling... I think you should be fine. Have you got the ferts figured out yet?

Good luck with the plants!!

Hi tigermom:

I place an order with AZ gardens on Tuesday, this is what I will get:

C. balansae
HC
Limnophila aromatica
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Heteranthera dubia
Ludiwigia peruensis
Mexican Oak Leaf
Alternanthera reineckii
Dwarf Lily Plants
Crinum calamistratum
Red Foxtail

I ordered 5 C. balansae, this quantity appeared automatically in my shopping basket; I will let you know if they put in and charged for 10. I am extremely curious about the size of the individual plants ...

My credit card will be charged by Monday (beats me while it takes them this long to process my order, aquaticplants.com did it within 24 hours and delivered within 48). I am also nervous about the charge for shipment - I led them decide on the shipment method as it is quite cold here; on the other hand, after reading lioness' experience I am not overly optimistic anymore ...

The major reason that I decided to go with AZ gardens instead of aquaticplants.com was the availability of Heteranthera dubia and Limnophila aromatica. I could not find these plants offered by any other retailer.

I checked your plant list and there is just one plant from AZ gardens which I would not okay for your light conditions. The one in question (strictly based on my experience) is R. rotundifolia. Hygro and temple will be fine with your light. Before I upgraded to 3.7 WPG I grew these plants with less than what you have.

Now, aquaticmagic also sells on eBay and some people have ordered from him. Very nice guy, I bid on a set of aquatic gardening tools and they are well worth the money. However, the plants that I had ordered arrived all dead. I strongly suspect that he does not have an import permit (ask TW, he certainly does not for AUS, though he ships to this destination). My plants (a bulb and flame moss) arrived in a thin envelop labeled 'soft toy'. Yeah, all was soft when I opened the envelope. The bulb was entirely flat and so were the 10 strings of moss which sported some unbecoming brownish discoloration. He promptly refunded, though.

Just be careful when you order, the quantity of moss was ridiculously small. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask others about their experience with moss orders on FP? I am still tempted to give it another shot as he has some nice looking needle leaf java fern, which I can not find offered anywhere else. I am concerned about riccia in your tank, as this plant requires light for good growth, but you know this already. Pellia should be okay, though. Maybe even a good substitution.

Why don't you go with some needle leaf java fern instead of the windelow? It is really very nice looking (saw it in a dealer's tank; ridiculous that I can not get the plant in this shop) and stays small, about 6 inches in height which can make an awesome display in the midground.

Just my 2 cents, I will let you know about AZ plants as soon as I get them.

Claudia

Yes, that is the one thing about AZ Gardens that puts me off, is that they do not tell you what you will be charged once you order. I have never ordered from a site that doesn't. I do hope that there plants are healthy though...I hear positive things about there plants but the shrimp...not so much.

Them having rare or plants not commonly sold is something that does give them major kudos. There prices as far as some plants go is a lot better then other retailers as well. Maybe that's why shipping is so high...they sell things at low prices then make up for the difference in shipping or something?

Ah, I figured as much with the R. rotundifolia. On AZ they have this beautiful close up of the plant which made me want to get. Once I get higher light and Co2 I'm definitely going to have to put that plant back on my list. The riccia I really knew about but I wanted a floating plant for the gouramis. I also was considering water sprite but that is high light as well. I never got the impression from the things that I read that they have to have floating plants even though their suggested but I want them to feel as comfortable as possible with the barbs in the tank. I'm sure they will be fine? Thanks for the insider tips though.

Yeah Aquaticmagic also has me leery...he has good feedback, but I do remember reading that thread on here that had outlined unfortunate experiences. I may give them a go just to see, because they do have some very interesting plants. At least most of his items (at least the ones I'm interested in) are free shipping.

I really do like the needle leaf java fern as well as the Philippine. I thought there was only one type of java fern, I was pleasantly surprised after more research. The reason it wasn't much of a consideration is because Aqua_sport and AZ don't sell them. If I do order from aquaticmagic (which now the more I think I probably will) then Ill switch the windleov for the needle. The plant in the pictures I see look so delicate but they actually aren't which I find interesting.

Please do let me know how the order goes.

Thanks again for the suggestions and whatnot it is really appreciated

Tigermom

Tigermom:

scratch the concerns regarding the riccia! I am snooping around too much in aquascaping. This plant is used to create English garden-like molds to cover the substrate (think of a golf course under water ...) for which it requires high light. If you keep it floating it will be close to the light and do fine, even under your conditions. I remember that I used to keep this plant for surface coverage when I was a kid and the light qualified probably for 'nightlight' and nothing else. Nevertheless, the riccia was growing very well.

What about hygro difformis? I did not see it on your list? It is such a nice Asian plant and would grow easily with your light. BTW, I found another retailer that sells some unusual plants: aquabotanic.com, linked to APC, the site for the aquatic gardeners and 'serious' aquascapers. Now, this retailer is expensive!

ohhh that make me really happy about the riccia. I really wanted a floating plant for the Gouramis. All the better for my fish Yippie

It funny you mentioned this plant because its been off then on then off my list time and time again. I actually have hygro difformis in my current tank now. The plant was surprisingly not doing to well at first. I kept reading this plant is like a weed so I was very optimistic. When I initially got it, it was gorgeous but as time went on it the lower leaves slowly began to die off. I then dumped a lot of it and left two stems in the direct light in the tank, they have grown well now and are look fuller and are spreading. The other day I looked really close wondering why it was dying again and it turns out I have algae on it. I need to get some type of algae control but I have no idea where I am going with that.

I've searched for an Asian algae eater and the only things I got was the hill stream loach and SAE. The hill stream is not suited for my conditions, needing a high flow and lower temperatures. I did actually write someone who was keeping one in higher temperature and without the flow and he said the fish was fine, but I don't want to make the fish uncomfortable just because I want a Asian algae eater. Shrimp and snails are out because they'll get eaten. The SAE are great but they body to me seem to similar to the Rainbow shark and I don't want any problems plus SAE get to big. Have any suggestions?

I may just give the difformis the go a head to see if I can have better success. It is doing better in my tank now so it may be worth it.

I have been to aquabotanic.com and put every plant that I wanted(that they had) in there shopping cart to see how they compared and there was actually close to a 60 dollars difference for them to AZ. AB didn't even have every plant I wanted but they were more expensive. AZ keeps looking better and better.


Thanks,

Tigermom

Hi tigermom:

SAE are actually very nice fish and they do not get this big either (5 to 6 inches) and they are nice! It would easily fit into your tank. I would not worry about the rainbow as it is a VERY different looking fish with a less heavy body. I have one in my discus tank and he is a cute fella. With respect to algae: I don't know what type of algae is afflicting your tank but if it is green, may I suggest 'siesta' lighting? The concept is based on physiology: algae are less efficent with photosynthesis than higher developed plants: they require more than 5 hours of continuous light while higher developd plants get by otherwise: you turn on the light in the morning for 5 hours, than you turn it off for 2 hours, followed by another 4 to 5 hours of light. It will take a couple of weeks but the algae will ultimately die (provided something else is not essentially wrong with your water conditions). Quite a few European aquarists swear by it including some famous aquascapers as well as Dennerle, a German-based distributor of aquatic plants. It was also featured in TFH. I use it successfully in my discus tank (the otos are a bit too slim, I have to admit ).


Hygro difformis: funny, I had a rough start with this plant just like yourself, even with a lot of light but now it is a jungle and I have to trim it weekly. It develops a lot of water roots which creates a very interesting look. I grow a mat of this plant in my "manzanita' which houses dwarf puffers and it is doing well (1.8 WPG).

An absolutely gorgeous Asian plant to look for if you upgrade to more lighting is Limnophila aromatica IMHO (Rice paddy herb). The picture on the AAG website does not do this plant justice. Under high light the leaves of the plamt will turn a deep purplish red! It is from Vietnam and the emersed grown plant is a widely used herb in the local kitchen (if you ever go Vietnamese, that's what you will taste). Even the submersed plant smells wonderful...

Oops, Happy holidays, you will get your tank as a present, correct?

Hey Claudia,

That's great news on the SAE. I'll have to look for some and look up some more information on them to get more in site. So these ones wont suck of the slim coat on the fish like the CAE? hope not

Yes that is the type of algae that I have. I will have to try the siesta lighting because that stuff can really bug. Do you know if when I turn my lights off if I have to just simply turn them off or do I need to blackout the tank? (I recall reading something about blacking out with some type of algae)

Ohh yes, I saw this plant when looking up other plants. It very, very beautiful , especially if it in the right spot in an aquarium. My eye is always drawn to it.

You mention a manzanita...I recently came across a web site that was selling this wood. But I still don't know much about it, there actually a way to set up this kind of tank? If you can please elaborate I am very interested

Oh and yes it is a gift, I'm supposes to go and pick the tank up in a day or two.

Happy Holidays to you as well

Tigermom