# Help me plan my first not tiny freshwater fish tank.



## zaukul (Jul 11, 2006)

Hi, I'm a newcomer with only one very small tank and not much experience, but I'm going to be getting a larger tank in the near future. 

I'm leaning toward a 40 gallon long tank or a 55 gallon. I was hoping for some general advice on the tank and its contents: 

1. Is there a significant difference between the 40 Long and the 55? Will it change my setup significantly? Which do you recommend?

2. I am interested in getting some Rainbowfish, and I liked the look of the Boeseman's Rainbowfish, but I heard they are a bit bossy and not that easy to keep happy. Dwarf Neon Rainbows were recommended to me, are they easy to take care of?

3. I also want to get a small schooling fish. I heard that Zebra danios are good for a beginner and fun to watch, how many would be good to have in that size of tank? Or is there a better schooling fish?

4. What would be a good distribution of fish and inverts to go with the above? I'd like some bottom feeding fish in addition to some interesting invertebrates, like snails or something. Stocking tips would be appreciated.

5. I also want to put live plants in the tank, including a carpet plant. What type of plants are good for this type of tank, and what type of substrate is good for plants? 

6. I was thinking of getting an Emperor 280 filter. Will that provide all the filtration I need? Also does anyone have experience with it, and how does it compare to an aquaclear filter?

7. I want to put in a few rocks or some driftwood; can I just use any rocks I find if I clean them, or are there problems with that? Also, where can I get driftwood? Is there any way besides buying it from my LFS? 

Let me know if you need more information; I want to plan this tank out well so I don't make any mistakes. I'm willing to take it slow. Any and all advice is appreciated. I have read up on fishless cycling already, so no need to school me on that. 

Thanks for your help!


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## Ajreoandoeka (Aug 11, 2005)

I can't give you much advice, but in regards to the rocks, I know you have to be careful with putting just "any old" rock in there because certain types (limestone etc) can stain your water and I believe hurt your fish.

Sorry I can't answer any of your other questions very well, but that one jumped right out at me.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2006)

Hello there, zaukul. Welcome to fishforums.com. Before I answer what questions I can, I have to ask...what does your screen name mean?

Okay, here's what I can answer:

1. I can't answer you as to the difference between a 40 long and a 55 other than to say 15 gallons. That being said, the more water, the better, in my opinion. Means more room for fish and more water stability.

3. Zebra Danios are a good beginner fish and are incredibly active. They're a bit small for my taste, but if that's not an issue, they'll make great, active additions to your aquarium. I'm not too great with numbers...I have to see it to tell if it's stocked correctly (one of my many weaknesses).

5. I'd try http://aquariaplants.com for a lot of good information. I'd also check out www.aquariumplants.com for more good information and a good list of beginner plants. If you're going to do a carpet plant, you'll need a lot of lighting (3 to 4 watts per gallon) and CO2 to have a really nice looking carpet. Seachem Flourite is a great plant substrate. I also hear good things about Eco Complete, though I've never used it myself.

6. From what I hear, AquaClear is a much better filter than the Emperor. If you're going to do live plants, a power filter will cause a lot of surface agitation that you don't necessarily want. I would recommend a canister. For a 55 gallon, my favorite is the Rena Filstar XP3, but you can ask around and get a lot of different opinions on that.

That's about all I can answer. I hope it helps. Good luck with your new setup.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2006)

Welcome to FF! I'll try to help you out as much as I can.

1) Well of course the 55g is longer. It is a 4 foot long tank and 21 inches high, while a 40g long is only 3 foot long and 18 inches high, i think. The 55g would give you more surface area, which means more fish.

2)I don't know which type is easier to care for. Both are very pretty though. Sorry.

3)Danios are very active fish, you could have a school of 8 in that tank. I'd personally go with some type of tetras. They are more colorful. A school of lemon tetras would compliment rainbows very nicely. They are also very active.

4)I'd go with either loaches (yoyo, zebra, kuhli or polka dot) or cories for the bottom. You can get some snails, but you have to be careful if you are planting the tank. Some snails will eat plants. I know that Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) won't bother plants and are good for keep the substrate from compacting (especially in sand and small substrate like Eco-Complete). I think the bury alot though, so you may not get to see them. Shrimp are hit or miss...some fish like to snack on shrimp, so I'd leave them for a small species tank. You could have 6-8 loaches, 8-10 cories, or a combination of both (4 loaches and 8 cories) in a 55g.

5)The type of plants depends on the lighting you will have. The less light you have over the tank, the less choices you have for plants. If you go with medium light (about 110 watts of light or 2 watts per gallon), you could have Echinodorous tennelles (pygmy chain sword) as a foreground, but not necessarily a carpet plant. Most carpet plants like Glossostigma, HC, and Dwarf Hairgrass require high lighting and CO2 injection.
Regular 2-3mm gravel will be fine for plants, but Eco-Complete and Flourite are 2 plant specific substrates.

6) I also suggest an XP3. I just added one to my 55g and I love it. It does a great job of keeping the water clean and is super quiet. 

7)I'd look on Ebay and Aquabid.com for driftwood, if your LFS doesn't have a good selection. I'd boil it (if you can) before putting it in the tank.

Hope that helps...I'm sure the other two guys beat me to it...


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Hello, and welcome to Fish Forums! Ill answer as many q's as I can. But first my own- how big was your first tank and what was in it?


1. If you have the money and wont have to skimp on equiptment, id go with the 55, because thats 15 extra swimming gallons, and if you make a water chemistry mistake on the 55 it wont have as much affect on the fish.

2. sorry, i dont know much of rainbows.

3.this question kind of depends on what you stock the tank with. around me, neon tetras are cheaper and prettier, so im partial to them, but zebra danios are nice too and ive heard they are pretty low maintnance.

4. well how I stocked my community tank was one "centerpeice" fish, and a school of tetras, then some other interesting fish. For your 55 id recommend maybe 8-10 zebra danios, an opaline gourami OR a betta and maybe a pair of blue rams, a flying fox to eat algea, and maybe a few freshwater dwarf shrimp. to find shrimp info go to www.petshrimp.com . they're my favorite inverts.

5. All i know about plants is that anacharis will grow anywhere. 

6. Ive never had an emperor or an aquaclear, the only "big" filter I have is an eheim and it works good.

7. You can get driftwood from the ocean, but there is a long process of soaking and boiling for you to get out all the salt and tannins and make sure nothing leaks into your water. with rocks, it can be tricky. youve got to know what type of rock your looking for. Many rocks that contain some sort of metal will leak poisinous stuff into your water. Id recommend just buying a chunk of ohio ice for 1.39

okay, and also i know your not doing chiclids, but here is a 40-gallon cookie cutter, and some of the south americans are very peaceful (i.e. Blue rams) and can be kept in a community. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_40g.php

have fun with your new aquarium!


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2006)

Rams eat shrimp...so remember that!

I really think you'd be much happier with rainbows instead of tetras and danios. They are so pretty...much better looking than tetras. They are a little more expensive (atleast in my area), but worth the money IMO. I hope to set up my 55g rainbow tank in the next few months.


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## book_em_danio (Jun 12, 2006)

zaukul said:


> Hi, I'm a newcomer with only one very small tank and not much experience, but I'm going to be getting a larger tank in the near future.
> 
> I'm leaning toward a 40 gallon long tank or a 55 gallon. I was hoping for some general advice on the tank and its contents:
> 
> ...



There's little difference between a 40 and a 55 besides the obvious. Both take the same floorspace, the 55 gallon is merely 4" deeper. The surface area to gallons of water is obviously better in the 40, but it isn't an issue with a 55 gallon in most cases. 
It's more an issue in very deep tanks such as 30 gallon "extra high", Perfecto's 37 gallon column (20x12x24) and other deep tanks. These just make no sense to me. This sort of tank can't support as many fish of a similar volume due to lack of oxygen exchange.
You'll be using the same hood, filter, stand, etc. 55 over a 40? I just say "go for it". At my local fish store, a 55 costs about $110. The 40 costs about $100, so price isn't much of an issue either.

Danios are my favorite fish... You can school 6 Giant Danios, Devario aequipinnatus 
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=10829
or the nearly identical Malabar Danio, Devario malabaricus.


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