newbie question

[jakemyster44]

I have had some experience with variouse fish speicies in the past, so I'm not a complete newb, but still...
Anyways, I am looking into setting up a 30g long with a few speicies of fish. First here is the setup I am thinking of:

-30g tank
-Sand bottom
-heavily planted (all live plants)
-Ocasional rock outcrops, and a few large driftwood peices.

The main things I want to add are cardinal tetras, and a small pleco. Now, the stores have said that this is ok in the past, but we know the story with alot of pet stores... Will the cardinals and a pleco be alright? I am concerned that the fish will devour my plants again (last time it was awful, lol) how is it that some people have beautiful tanks with live plants and the fish dont eat them? Should I worry about either speicies of fish eating all my plants?

I have not been able to find any info regarding whether or not cardinal tetras school, do they? Also, if anyone would like to reccomend another speicies or two that would be appreciated. I dont plan on maxing out, I figured I'd get
4-5 cardinals a small 3" pleco (I realize they grow) and maybe a few other fish? Just let me know if anything is wrong with my speicies and/or setup. Thank you.

BTW, I have a great filter and light canopy and such... I know the basics in setting up a fish tank, like I said I have had maybe three tanks on seperate occasions in the past.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

Any sucker fish you put in there are going to eat your plants if there's not enough algae. I would recomend Otis Cinclus instead, probably just two They do there job well and I don't think they'll bother your plants as much. Plus they don't get huge. I would also recomend some Cory Cats to clean the bottom. As for some company I'd go with some Dwarf Gourami's,Dwarf Rainbow's, Or some other types of Tetras. Hope that helps. :main_thumbsup:

 

[jakemyster44]

when I googled Otis Cinclus only birds came up, maybe you have it confused? I'd love a few cory cats though. Here are a few unanswered questions, if anyone could answer them that would be very helpful.

-do cardinal tetras school (I plan to get maybe 4, depending if they need odd numbers)
-are Gourami's and tetras "plant safe", meaning they wont completly destroy my tank.

Here are a few ideas of mine, what about getting some Rummy nose tetras (mainly are they "plant safe"?), getting some zebra danios ("plant safe"?). I realize I cant have all of these fish, or I'll overcrowd the tank, I will narrow it down to a suitable amount... just wanted to know if any of those are possible options. Thanks!

 

[jakemyster44]

I forgot to add... would adding a dozen gohst shrimp be okay? or will they get eaten, and/or picked on? I really enjoy watching them crawl around eating things off the bottom, I guess I really like cleaner fish. Weird huh? Thanks again.

 

[cwazy]

shrimp will likely get picked on and live a very short time in your tank... as far as i know almost all tetras school... schooling fish should be kept in ODD numbers and have at least 5 per species... i personally dont like sand... but it should be fine, make sure your filther is ok with sand... i know alot of filters dont recomend sand as this will lead to long term break down... plecos are harmless for the most part and will fit in about any tank... sure they grow, but not very fast at all... you could keep rummys, danios, any kind of tetras really... they all school, i highly recomend cory cats, they are the best... and they too will school at times... danios are pretty energetic though, wich could stress out some of your fish... i personally have never had a problem with this... also danios are one of the easiest egg laying fish to breed! again i assume cardnials will infact school... they are almost the same thing as any neons.. and they all school! a good mix of tetras would be a nice set up! IMO

about the plants... ehh... alot of fish love em... i have no idea who does and doesnt... i started to try plants a lil bit and found it just messed with the water chemistry more than i cared to deal with it, it just didnt seem worth it to me... but i have seen some great looking planted tanks... but they require alot of work... i would love to see some pics when you get things going

 

[Lecko my Gecko]

otto cats are fine, plecos do well in planted tanks you just have to provide food for them and they will leave plants alone, cardinals are great fish! I keep them with discus and apistos, they are more water specific than neons they do better in lower ph.

 

[elnott]

first off do not go with a common pleco. they get huge and they do it fast. otto cinclus is your best bet for an algea eater. you could also go with a pleco that stays small such as a clown pleco or a rubber pleco. you will deff want some cory cats they are like lil vaccum cleaners. do not go with danios as they will stress your cardinals. i would not even recommend gouramis as they can be a lil aggressive. i would suggest some bleeding heart tetras, guppies, hatchet fish, or some moons. also with a planted tank you are gonna have snails so get ready to combat those lil buggers. btw shrimp would prolly not get eaten by the cardinals but they don't tend to live very long