90 Planted- Suggestions/Tips?

Andyoybna · 06-20-2007, 04:57 PM

So, after a while of debating right now, having a 90 gallon SW reef tank, is just too expensive right now, so I set the tank back up for freshwater, and I'm going to make it a planted tank.

So as of now, I only have a few scattered plants from a 10G tank that I tore down for a temporary home for a couple of bearded dragons.

Fish so far are:
1 Green severum
4 Cory cats, 3 spotted, 1 panda
2 Ottocinclus
7 Black Skirt tetras
1 Female Convict
1 Tiger Barb
1 Goldenwonder Killie
2 Dojo Loaches
1 Pictus Cat
1 Redtail Botia
2 YoYo Loaches

Anyways... Suprisingly even with that list, the tank looks almost completely empty... I'm sure it'll get more full looking when plants start growing in better, and the fish get a bit larger.... but, does anyone have any suggestions as far as a small school of some colorful fish, most of the tank occupants are dark colored black/grey/silver a few of the fish are also almost never seen... Once in a long while I'll get a glimpse of a dojo, or the Redtail botia.

Basically the requirements for the fish I'm looking for would be that it can't fit in the mouth of my pictus/killie at night... (the sevurum is suprisingly peaceful, and rarely even eats feeders I put in there for the killie/pictus, she prefers prepared food) Also, I don't want large fish in there, since the Severum is really the "display" fish.

Ok, so setup/plans....

Well, its a 90G AGA tank w/ overflow, filtration goes through some filter floss, then bioballs ( I know... I know... I've had good luck with them though), then it goes through some course gravel, mostly for bio/ph, may also add some peat in there as well. I also have my 300W heater, and a UV in the sump. Lighting is a 260 watt PC system w/ moonlights, 2, 10K bulbs, and 2 12K bulbs, right around 3WPG. Substrate is about 100Lbs of sand, I used regular playground sand instead of paying almost a dollar per pound at petsmart...
It looks good, and sand is sand..... A good rinse and its good to go!

I Don't have a backround on it, I can't find one that'll fit (30" tall) so, my plan is to completely fill the back of the tank with some tall growing plants like anacharis, wisteria, swords, etc, and then in the front go with java ferns, micro swords, and various grass like species.

Anyways, any comments/suggestions? it seems like most of the fish I like are kind of plain looking, or similiar colors, my ideas for other fish for this tank would be stuff like Fan Dancer(Knight) Gobies, African Butterfly, Ghost Knife, Angels... Really all black/silver fish, or should I just go with that, and do you think it would look good against the plants in the backround?

Some quick pictures-

And look who found their way into all of these pictures... SOME ONE likes the camera.... (she also follows me accross the tank and will follow my finger, even "kiss" at the glass)

Duffee · 06-20-2007, 09:35 PM

You are right that severum is a ham. I have always been partial to serpe tetras. The red contrasts well with the plants. http://www.flickr.com/photos/meanandpinchy/165665886/
They do have a rep but that toughness may be what they need to survive in you tank. Orange von rio tetras are also nice but not as vibrant.

Andyoybna · 06-20-2007, 10:21 PM

I was thinking serpaes, the only thing is their so similar to the black skirts that I already have, I may just trade them in at some point.... That is IF I can catch them in that tank... which I'm sure would be a chore, von rios are probably too small, the black skirts/serpaes have they tall/slim body profile and make it about impossible to fit in the mouths of the pictus and killie, but I have tried neons, and I lost a few head and tail light tetras to the killie.

I've also been contemplating congo tetras, giant dannios, maaayyybbeee dwarf gouramis, or possibly tiger barbs.... decisions decisions... Oh, and some sort of rainbow. My biggest problem is the lack of quality livestock in my area, example- Serpaes that petco get in, are dull and almost black looking...

I've had luck with a few of my fish coloring up, but it is just as much stress as it is actual breeding, if they don't have the color in their genes... They'll just never get it, and with my options locally, its a gamble unless I can find more mature fish.

Ahhh, just hit me, bolivian rams... mayyybbeee. I have hard water though, and havn't had much luck with them in the past.

Tommy Gun · 06-21-2007, 10:27 PM

Andy! How ironic is it that I basically just did the exact same thing as you and turned my old 90 gallon SW tank into a FW planted tank...although I moved my SW contents into a larger tank, although that was probably a semi-poor economic decision on my part, but hey...what can I say, I am always looking for something bigger and better. In any case, I would really like to hear about your progress with this tank, especially the plants, because I have to admit that I am having only marginal success with my tank right now. It appears as though I am much more adept at growing algae than I am at growing plants, but I am working on that.

Anyways, I really like your thoughts on possibly adding a rainbow or two into the mix. I have a pair of male Boesemani Rainbow (s) in my tank right now and their colors really make them stand out IMO, especially against a darker background like the black one I have. I also have a couple other types of rainbows and feel that they are all great fish since they 'hang out' in the middle to upper areas of my tank, above the plants I have, which means they are almost always visible....or at least mine do anyways.

I have heard that the rams can be tricky for some reason or another, mostly from conversations with my brother who lost a few before giving up on them for the time being. I am not trying to say that they are not great fish, I agree that they are, but I thought I would bring it up because you said you lost some neons and I figured that might be due to acclimation or osmotic shock which again, I have heard can happen with rams as well. However, it wouldn't be the first time that I have been wrong about something like this.

IMHO, one great aspect of a planted tank is that you can really choose from a pretty large array of colorful fish which will stand out even more against the plants. I admit that I went sort of hog-wild at first with my stocking just because I wasn't sure what I wanted exactly, so I just got a little bit of everything that caught my eye. Even now I think my stocking doesn't make all that much sense as far as trying to create a natural looking tank with fish from one or two areas of the world, but I still love the fish I have nonetheless.

Keep us updated if you can...I hope I can learn a lot from yours and mine combined experience with new planted tanks.

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By the way, if quality of livestock is an issue for you, maybe you can find what you are looking for at an online LFS like Dr's. F&S. I was hesitant to go that route myself for a long time, but I can honestly say that everything I ordered online was shipped to my house in great condition...including some plants and even a couple of corals. So far I have only had one fish die on my within the 'warranty' period and they were very quick to send me a new fish or give me a credit so I didn't lose money on the deal.

penna32 · 06-22-2007, 12:23 AM

rams are indeed very trickey .. ive bought maybe 4 or 5 .. currently have 1 .. they all died of hole-in-the-head disease .. dont know how it happend, i think its cuz my tempature fluctuates frequently but only 1 made it rhough (bought them at different times, the 1 i have now i bought with another one, and it was the only one that survived) but IMO one of the most beautiful small FW fish you can keep .. i now have a pair of kribs 1 is pregnant nd they are pretty beautiful too, but i like the ram better

Andyoybna · 06-22-2007, 01:11 PM

Thanks for the info tommy, we can definately put our heads and experiences together and help eachother out. The neons that I got though, actually did pretty good, for the time that they lived, but I believe I only lost one due to "natural causes" the rest were picked off slowly by my pictus catfish, and goldenwonder killie during the night.

I may give rams a shot, or possibly even keyholes, although a bit larger(ahhh... more black and white fish!!) The only reason I havn't ordered FW fish online is because I can't yet justify spending $30 to ship 3$ fish. The times that I've ordered online (petco.com, reefermadness.us, thatpetplace) I mostly got corals and made sure to get enough for free shipping. I think I actually may have a lead to a couple good LFS an hour and a half or so away from me, but it isn't bad since I've been working in that area a lot lately, and can stop by after work.

Well, I added a few more plants last night, I got a very nice large amazon sword at petco, about 14+" and maybe 7-8 branches/leaves, I also got some cabomba that I have attatched to where my light mounts and currently I have it on the surface for my killie to hide under, and in hopes to get an african butterfly, since they like surface plants, I just hope if I can get one that will eat, it won't jump out of my topless tank (can't put a glass top on because of how my light mounts) I also got 2 plants with dark green and red leaves, not sure of the name, but they look good, starting to really come together IMO. I'll make sure to get some pictures up tonight or tomorrow, and I'll see what I come up with going to my other LFS today.

Andyoybna · 06-24-2007, 01:42 PM

Well, I have a couple of new additions, and one loss

I got 2 bosemoni rainbows, and a honey gourami, as well as several plants, hair grass, java moss, a large amazon sword, other stuff that I have no idea what it is, but looks pretty....

And as for my loss... I found my goldenwonder kille dried up on the floor last night while I was painting the kitchen, a definate downside to having a topless tank, thats for sure.

As for the new additions, they seem to be doing well, I got the honey gourami two days ago, and it really seems to love the floating mess of cabomba. I just got bosemanis today, they look much better than they did in the store, colorful, bright orange, and active. Pictures don't do them justice.

The sword is a little torn up from transport, and the very poor conditions in petcos plant tanks, as well as having no light most of the time there (I usually end up turning on the lights for the plants, parakeets, and corals when I go in)

Andyoybna · 06-24-2007, 01:45 PM

So, what is this?

heres the beauty queen again...

Tank just a few minutes ago

penna32 · 06-25-2007, 10:22 AM

ahh Andyoybna you are my hero
i have that same plant, i bought it at pleco, its larger, but not as many leaves coming off the side .. its the same but i have a hard time keeping it purple as i do not offer as much light as i should.. but i would like to know what kind of plant it is too its really beautiful

Andyoybna · 07-01-2007, 09:49 AM

Ok, well things have been going pretty good over the past week or so, one of my bosemanis didn't make it through the night though, other than that it seems that maybe one of my ottos may have disappeared, that would be 2 of 3 that my pictus has snacked on, but then again looking for an otto in a 90, is pretty tough, I'll most likely get a few more though. Tommy, I'm pretty good at growing algae as well I suppose (hence the need for more ottos)

But other than the slight algae build up, and tannins from the new driftwood everything seems to be going really well, and the tank is sheduled for a water change either later today or tomorrow, so it'll definately help in the tannin department.

Plants are looking decent, but you can see algae all over the driftwood, and large rock, as well as the not-so-clear water. I actually like the look of tannins, but I'd have to go forever without a water change to make 100+ gallons of water get the tea look instead of just dirty looking, also I apologize for the fish food add on top of the tank, good stuff actually, everyone seems to love it.

New Friends??? Seems like the red tail botia is hanging out with the YoYos and starting to be out in the open more.