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Ok, i'm recieving 3 new tanks. one 29 gallon, one 20 gallon and one 5 1/2 gallon.
i need ideas on how to decorate them and stock them.

for the 29 i was thinking i was gunna put a black backround, and black gravel with some red lava? rock and some fake plants. My stocking would be one of the "cookie cutter" setups from cichlidforum. its 2 angels, 6 marbled hatchets and 3 yoyo loaches.

for the 20, i am going with a natural looking setup with a piece of cypress driftwood and either fake or real plants and then putting either schools of tetras or a pair of firemouths.

the 5.5 gallon i would just put in some platies with some left-over black gravel and maybe 1 or 2 low light plants.

any thoughts or ideas, or perhaps something there would be wrong?

Well, those are all great tank ideas, but unfortunately, the tanks are too small for those stocking plans.

For the 29, the only way that would work would be if you had a mated pair of angels and intended to breed them, and even then, the tank would be a bit cramped for them, and they would have to be the only inhabitants. And then you'd need a place to put the angel fry, which the 20 would be perfect for.
However, that plan would work great with a pair of Pearl gouramis instead of angels, with the hatchets and loaches. The gouramis aren't quite as aggressive and are much much smaller. Also, I think that live plants would be better than fake for this tank, especially if you were going to breed angels.

The 20 sounds good, though bear in mind that the 20 gallon tank, unless it is a long style and not the tall, is very short, so schoolers won't have a lot of room. Perhaps one school of one type of fish would be best, and perhaps a pair of dwarf cichlids like bolivian rams.

I would not put any livebearer in a 5.5 gal. tank unless you were sure they were all male. However, Theresa_M has had good luck keeping a pair of brevis (african shelldwellers cichlids) in a tank that small and allowing them to breed, though I'm sure she must either sell all the fry or raise the fry in another tank. I have a 5 gallon tank with a pair of african dwarf frogs and a betta, and it's quite lovely if I say so myself.

One thing you have not mentioned at all is what kind of equipment you plan to use for these tanks. What kind of filters do you plan to use? My recomendation, especially for the 29 gal. tank, is to get a power filter, either an HOB or internal, rated for twice or at least half-again the gallons of your tank. Even the 5.5 gal. tank should have a filter. They make very small HOB filters for betta tanks, or there's a filter by Hagen called the Stingray that I've had very good results with.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

so then ur saying cichlidforum is wrong with the 29 gallon setup? stupid site....lol but if i did this the angel fry would either be fed to a friends oscar or donated to the LFS.

well all the tanks come with undergravel filters which i absolutely hate, so i'm going to buy some HOB filters for them, except the 5.5 i think i won't really worry about it i'll just use the undergravel filter. (all of these tanks were bought for $50 total)

I'll be selective breeding the platies in the 5.5 and if i don't want the ones i get they'll go to the lFS and if i like them theyll go in my 10 gallon tank.

I don't think platies in a 5 gallon is a good idea - ever.
I used to have a male platy in my 15, he got so big and active i had to get him rehomed (into a 5 foot tank ) I think the idea of Shellies is a good idea, or maybe a betta or something similar. I really think all live bearers 9except maybe Endlers) are too big and active for a 5.5.

Yes, I think cichlidforum is wrong about the 29... I think a 29 is cramped for one angel, much less two. I have a 65 gallon tank at home with just one angel in it, and he makes that tank look smaller than it is.
I also think that angel fry are not the best choice for live food for an oscar... *shudder*

I also agree with what BNF wrote, that no semi-active fish should be put in a 5.5 gal. tank. Very very few fish are suited to a tank that small. It has very little horizontal swimming space, so a fish will run into a wall by the time it gets its momentum up, and this can cause stress.
Any livebearer is going to produce lots of fry, and you'll have to raise those fry for several weeks before they are large enough to start culling, and most LFS will not accept fish until they are at least half grown, which even for platies takes at least 8-10 weeks if not longer. In that time, your platies could have produced two or three more batches of fry. And you'll have to feed them, of course, and fry food is notorious for polluting small tanks very quickly.

A 5.5 gallon tank is suitable for one single sedentary fish like a betta, a small shrimp colony, or with a tight lid, it would make a great home for a dwarf crayfish, or even a pair if they don't exceed 2 inches or so. I can recommend a few species and a particular dealer I like if you're interested.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

I agree with what the others have said. I don't think one angel should live in a 29g, much less two. If you don't get a breeding pair of angels, chances are they won't like each other and will fight. Fighting angels in that close of quarters is a recipe for disaster. You would be ok with one, if you really want angels. The tank is tall enough and if you just go with one type of schooling fish, I think you could get away with the angel. Keep in mind that they get big and will make the tank look small.

The yoyos are ok for the 29g, if you plan on having some driftwood and plants in the tank for them. I have 4 yoyos in my 55g and they hide alot. They like to hide under my driftwood and in the plants. They are very active and will constantly swim around at night. I really think a 40g tank or bigger is better for them, but it could work in a 29g. I'd get 4 though and no more. Cories really would be a better option for that size tank. My panda cories in the 29g are very cute and playful.

The hatchets are a great idea. Very cool fish. Make sure you have a tight fitting lid, they will jump!

I also think you should plant this tank. I have a Coralife Aqualight 65 watt compact fluorescent fixture over my 29g and it grows plants nicely. I have regular gravel, nothing special and I love the way my tank looks. It looks much better than my 55g or 10g. I think a 29g is very easy to plant.

If the 20g tank is a tall tank, I also suggest one type of schooling fish...maybe some black neons, rummynose tetras, lemon tetras, flame tetras, or even harlequin rasboras. You could also have a pair of rams, germans are very pretty.
If the tank is a 20g long, I think you could have 2 schools of small fish in there, along with the rams.

For the 5.5g if you can't find shellies (or don't really want them), the next best thing is a betta setup. Tetras really need atleast a 10g and platies need atleast a 20g IMO. They reproduce like mad and grow to be a meaty 2 inches. A small shrimp setup would be great too. If you can find them, Cherry Shrimp and Crystal Red Shrimp are very colorful and nice. Give them some plants and they will have a nice little home.

Going with the HOB filters is a great idea. I suggest Aquaclear filters if you want easy to maintain and inexpensive filters. Get an AC50 for the 29g, a AC30 or 50 for the 20g, and the Hagen stingray or an Azoo palm filter for the 5.5g.

*Kristin*

Just wanted to add that mabye using 2 cherry barbs for the 5.5g might be good. They are pretty calm fish and do not need to be in a school. They also stay pretty small, alittle more then an inch. Also if you go with cherries make sure there is some good hiding like plants and a small cave as they will use them. I like my cherries and the color of them is very nice.

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Live life to it's fullest
Who knows what tomorrow holds

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Yes, cherries would be good for the 5.5g. I think you'd have room for a trio. Get 1 male and 2 females. And like Needeles said, plant the tank. I made the mistake before of getting cherries for a smaller unplanted tank and they didn't make it. Very pretty fish though./:'

*Kristin*

ok, so maybe these would be better stocking lists, which i have actually seen done pretty well:

29: either 3-4 silver dollars (i have some fully grown 4-5 in. silver dollars that i think would still do nice in that size of tank) with some corys or red eye tetras and then amano shrimp.
or: 4 green and 3 regular tiger barbs and and rainbow shark along with a rubbernose pleco.

20: 6 red eye tetras 8 neon tetras and a small gourami along with amano shrimp
or 4 red eye tetras, an opal gourami and a powder blue gourami

5.5: 2-3 cherries

the 29 and 20 will have HOB filters and the 5.5 has an undergravel filter that comes with it that i think i'll just keep.

For the 29, I like the idea of the barbs and the rainbow shark quite a lot. In fact, it's given me ideas for my own similar tank...

For the 5.5, if you plan to have a shrimp tank, you should know that small shrimp like red cherries add practically nothing to the bio-load of a tank, and you could have as many as a dozen even in a tank that small. What I did with my 7 gal. shrimp tank, was start with 5 red cherry shrimp, and lots of java moss and caves, and they started breeding like crazy. When I took the tank apart and started selling the shrimp, I had over 5 generations and around 40+ shrimp, and the tank itself still required very little cleaning and only minimal maitenance. I even got otocinclus to breed in the same tank, even though by the numbers it would sound crowded.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Hello, when I was referring to the Cherry Barbs I was talking about the fish not shrimp. I don't know much about shrimp or even that there was such thing as a cherry barb shrimp. Sorry for the confusion.

Also keep in mind that most Barbs like to be in a small school of at least 5 of there own. Cherry Barbs on the other hand don't mind not being in a school as they don't seem to school around like most. The tigers should have at least 5 to help keep aggrestion down or you may end up with some hurtin fish. Not sure about the green barbs though, someone else may be better for this. I know I have 4 Gold Barbs and they do fine and are not very aggressive, I think Gold Barbs are a more peaceful barb though. They are also very nice to look at IMO as they will glitter alittle if the light hits them a certain way. They also like to help keep the bottom of my tank clean as they eat some food off the bottom.

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Live life to it's fullest
Who knows what tomorrow holds

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i hope ur tank turns out well with the tigers and rainbow shark......

and maybe the shrimp breeding tank would be good i mean i like amano shrimp for their algea eating......maybe i could put some of those fire or cherry shrimp w/e they are called that are a little bit bigger and are red in there and breed them.

i think i'm gunna end up going with putting 3-4 of my smaller silver dollars in there then two 4" pictus catfish.

right now i have it all setlup and i'm trying to fish-cycle it with cherry barbs and a gourami and its actually working pretty well compared to what i was told it would be like.

Pictus Catfish can get very large and very agressive. I was considering a 40 long at some point (not yet, but soon hopefully!) And was asking about a pictus. Apparantly, they grow too large, and are too active. I don't know much about them, but from what i've heard, you couldn't even get one in a 29.

i think i'm gunna end up going with putting 3-4 of my smaller silver dollars in there then two 4" pictus catfish.

I'm afraid silver dollars and pictus cats will out grow a 29g tank.

The smaller fish known as a Silver dollar, Metynnis hypsauchen, gets about 6 inches. Thats too big for a 29g tank, much less to have more than one in there.

One pictus may be ok in a 29g, but not 2. They will only tolerate their own kind in large tanks...and a 29g is not large.

So, I'd rethink the stocking.

*Kristin*

between me and my friend we have 38, 55, 75 and 150 gallon tanks and they all have silver dollars in them. i have access to 6-7 4" silver dollars.
and i didn't know that about pictus cats. so i guess i'll rethink that part.

Then you'd have to move them out eventually. Why not just put fish in the 29g that can stay there for a while and be comfortable in that tank?

*Kristin*

no i don't think i have to move these, as they are 3 years old and i'm pretty well sure they are fully grown.

Do what you wish...its your tank. /:'

*Kristin*

ok, so now i have a 30 gallon tank with the following:

7 red eye tetras, 1 pictus cat, 1 weird catfish (not sure what it is), 1 firemouth (baby, <1 in long)

i think i might get rid of the pictus and the other catfish and get a small school of corries or 3 yoyo loaches. eventually i'm going to move the red eye tetras and end up with: 1 female firemouth, 3 yoyo's and maybe a Rubbernose pleco but that last one is a question mark.