# My 55 Gal pics



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

Here is the start of it. I'll keep adding more pics when I get further in the progress.


----------



## Guest (Aug 24, 2007)

cool but i think it needs some plants once you set it up and what type of fish is it for


----------



## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

Yeah, i agree. Some plants would look nice in it, but even without any plants, it still looks great!


----------



## Danh (Feb 19, 2007)

It looks like it's going to be an African tank to me... Which I don't really like at all (no offense), but generally doesn't have any plants... just rocks. Doesn't look bad man.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

oh sorry. it is definitely having plants.. I have about 25 silk plants going in. I just setup the tank and wanted to start a picture thread from start to finish

I am adding a small piece of driftwood and another rock cave to the far right side. the tank will house my barbs, catfish, new rainbows 

the tank will have 2 bubble discs, magnum HOT canister(covers 55 gal), a penguin BIO filter (covers 60 gal) and a third smaller bubbler of some sort.The heater will also go in to maintain the temp around 73 degrees.

I wanted to start off the with cave structure to make sure the catfish have some hiding spots and for the cories to have places to hang out.

I am still deciding about adding my rainbow shark in. He was in with the barbs before and they picked on him. he is currently with my gourami which they both get along perfectly fine.

this tank will be pretty heavily planted. I am not too sure if 25 plants will be enough but its a start.


----------



## Kyoberr (Dec 6, 2006)

Thats really exciting to be getting a new tank! Good luck with it!


----------



## Guest (Aug 24, 2007)

why not live plants? java fern and java moss, crypts, and sags would do good even with gravel and low light


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i am not afraid to admit I have no knowledge of live plants.


----------



## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

google is an excellent resource!


----------



## Guest (Aug 25, 2007)

fishhead it is fun to aquascape with live plants the only real cost is getting lighting and you dont have to spend to much...if i were you i would do it now I love live plants


----------



## Guest (Aug 25, 2007)

i just barght my first live plants today. a crypt, java moss, and a banana plant. i am planning on getting a java fern/amazon sword, twisted val, more crypts, more banana plants, etc. so far, they are really fun. i highly suggest trying it.(Kristin [justonemore20] is really knowledgeable with live plants as is Damon.)


----------



## Guest (Aug 26, 2007)

yeah they know alot + it is easy unless you want it to be hard


----------



## Guest (Aug 26, 2007)

there are many different plants that don't need a plant substrate or CO2. the one's i'm getting don't need either.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

right now I just want to stick with the faker silk plants. They are good enough for me. Maybe I will start will something smaller like my 30 and try out the live plants..

I am trying to narrow the fish down.

I am getting more tiger barbs definitely and possibly more cories. I want to get another school of something and have narrowed it down to:

(6-8) German Blue Rams 3"
(6-8) Bolivian Ram 3"
(6-8) German Ram 3"
(7)Boesemani Rainbow 

Any ideas, are these above something you peeps would do with barbs? I don't want to take any chances with this tank. I don't like losing fish


----------



## Guest (Aug 26, 2007)

that's alot of rams. 18 of them at the least? not gonna happen. they all are bottom dwelers, therefor, you are going to be getting alot of fights. personally, i would only pick one of them and put 4 in the tank. 2 males, 2 females. i would pick the bolivians because they are larger than blues, hardier, and comeout of hiding more often. my bolivians are always in the front of the tank waiting to be fed....just like my old ascar...lol granted they are less colorful, i think you will enjoy them better. the rainbows sound good. but i would get 6 of them. just because that 7th isn't really going to do much and they are very active. you said you wanted cories...have you decided on a species yet? for a 55 gallon, i suggest greens. 6 would do well. and tigerbarbs....i would wait for someone with more experience with tiger's come and help you with those...lol


----------



## Guest (Aug 26, 2007)

just so you know, rams DONT school they fight.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i am not planning on getting all of those rams.LOL I would need a much larger tank for that. I want to get another school of the above choices..if rams aren't much schoolers, than maybe I will stick with the rainbows. 7 seem too many for a 55?


----------



## Clerk (Nov 22, 2006)

For a tank of that size, You could get a pair of Bolivians and a Pair of Germans, but no more then that. Make sure there is a lot of plants real or fake to break up territories, and places to hide.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i just added the plants and last cave in today. 

pics attached.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

last picture.


----------



## Guest (Aug 27, 2007)

Looking very good. 

Keep up the good work.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

thanks man. i'm still eyeing it out to see if i need more plants or not.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i added Amquel Plus to the tank. Would you guys put in anything else to help get it stabilized?


----------



## PSmithAZ (Aug 12, 2007)

Nice setup. Those rocks look great. Where did you find them? Are you going to add some kind of cycle additive? I used a product which is actually called Cycle, tossed in some Danios and they took care of the rest. I use the stuff for weekly maintenance as the bottle suggests and I have haven't had any spikes at all yet.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i have bacteria i can add, but only added the amquel plus for now. I got the rocks at my local fish store. cost only 15 bucks..woohoo!.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

I grabbed 6 bronze cories and a snail. I have them quarantined right now and will be adding the bronze cories to the 55. i have 2 peppered cories that are also going in there, so hopefully they will school together.the snail is going in my gourami tank with my panda cories.

i have decided with getting the boesamani rainbows with my tiger barbs. i should be ordering them in probably two weeks. i want the 55 to cycle and will order them when the levels are ok.

i'm grabbing some hatchetfish for my 10 gal too


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2007)

Where did you get your substrate? I have been looking at the Tahitian Moon Sand, but I don't want filter problems. But the tank is looking awesome. Can't wait to see pics of the fish in the tank!


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i grabbed the gravel from petsmart, but it was on clearance at the time. they were 1.00 a bag, so i bought all of the bags. I have not been able to find this gravel anywhere. i checked roughly 8 or 9 various fish stores and had no luck. you can get sand from home depot and use that, but beware of having large fish that will kick it up and get sucked in your filter. my GF's 55 had that issue. I gave her a few bags of my leftover gravel and she added it. she hasnt had a problem with filters shutting down or anything since. 

if i find a site that carries this gravel i will let you know. it was made by Top Fin, so I would assume it is still available somewhere.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

added bubbles..woohoo


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

last few pics


----------



## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

That setup makes me extremely jealous, man. Nice job


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

thanks man..from one fellow barb nut to another I can't wait to add them in here and watch them go crazy with all that room. I definitely need to buy more though. I have 5 right now (3 greens, two tigers). I am grabbing more of the greens and tigers and probably some albinos. hopefully they will enjoy the tank


----------



## Steve155 (Aug 28, 2007)

That looks great, i hope everything works out for you.
Good luck!


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

thanks Steve.


----------



## mesapod (Aug 18, 2007)

Wow that is looking awsome ya this summer i have been working and hopefully have enough to purchase a 60g tank. Ill try to make it look half as good as yours.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

check your local craigslist. i have seen a TON of large tanks for pretty cheap. it would save you some $$$ ya know


----------



## PSmithAZ (Aug 12, 2007)

Very cool man... the barbs are going to look great in that tank. I want to get some barbs for my next tank.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

thanks man..yeah im really excited. i cant wait to grab a few more...than the rainbows...it will be a cool tank when done..


----------



## Guest (Sep 4, 2007)

Looking good! 

If that gravel was on clearance for that price, I would guess its discontinued....probably wont be able to find it again. So nice pickup! It looks really nice in there.


----------



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Looks very nice. May I suggest a few taller plants along the back?


----------



## Kyoberr (Dec 6, 2006)

Even though they are fake, they definately look sharp!


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

i added in the 5 barbs and 2 catfish. so far so good. not im moving my 30, adding my gouramis, tetras and cories into the 30 with my other cories and snail, and walla..i'll snap pics when it's all done.


----------



## mesapod (Aug 18, 2007)

wow be sure to post some pics with the fish in it.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

sure will. i went to petsmart and walked away with more fishies.

1 more green tiger barb (going in the 55)
3 rosy barbs (going in the 55)
5 australian rainbows (going in the 55)
2 red minor serpae tetras (going in the 30)

theyre in my quarantine tank right now...i'll snap all new pics when they get in the 55 in a few weeks...i want to make sure they are healthy.


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

little update:
added in the fish to the 55. currently there are
3 tiger barbs
3 green tigers
3 female odessa
5 australian rainbows

i bought 3 male odessas today and are being quarantined. they are gorgeous fish. very dark grayish, almost black mixed with red.. very cool fish. hopefully i'll get some babies down the road, as long as the catfish don't eat all of them.LOL


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

here is the final update with fishies. I'll take pics soon, as the new fish are quarantined. This 55 will have the following and be complete

3 female odessa barbs
3 male odessa barbs
3 green tiger barbs
3 tiger barbs
5 australian rainbowfish
1 angelic pim catfish
1 pictus catfish
5 buenos aires tetras

I am upgrading my 30 to a 40L next. the fish in this will be:
6 minor serpae tetras
2 blue gouramis
2 opaline gouramis
4 panda cories
1 mystery snail
1 red tail shark
2 peppered cories
2 bronze longfin cories


----------



## FinnFan (Aug 28, 2007)

Awesome - looking good. I like the bubbles. I definitely want a bubbler in my next tank


----------



## FishHead (Nov 16, 2006)

FinnFan said:


> Awesome - looking good. I like the bubbles. I definitely want a bubbler in my next tank


thanks! i am a bubble fan too. I think theyre neat and also help with fishies out. plus they love to play in them which is cute to watch..my otos in my other tank sit in the bubble and hang out. its funny....


----------

