# small planted tank



## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

After a while and a while of moving on from the fishy business, and shutting down our marine tank (it was sucking wayyy too much cash) i am considering starting a small (and i mean SMALL) peacful tropical planted tank, my smallest spare aquarium i have is 19 L and others are just 70 g + (which i don't want using) but depending on fish not sure what i'm gonna use still something small, although i would love a cichlid tank but really don't have the time for it.

I still haven't started anything but i have all the equipments(although need to replace a filter as my only filter pump is quite strong and will mess everything.

Can anyone give me a list of fish (nice, small, shoaling fish) i can have? i will need to get a new aquarium on a responsible size but would firstly like to start with my current, also do not want many fish in there just a few along with a snail but really not sure what sort of fish i can have in there, i can simply make a nice shrimp rainforest but i'm not into shrimps unless i'm eating them.

Some may say there is nothing i can have in there instead of a betta but again not into betta splendens, i say not anyway i can have maybe 4 male guppies but i have kept gups before and would like something differen't, maybe some neons or..., the main purpose of this is the view,, i want a nice small underwater world with everything natural.

What's the best substrate for plants? I'm not into the 'special' sold substrates used for shrimps and other planted tanks nor the fertilizers etc so it's either sand or fine gravel (sand would be awesome though)

Note: This is my first experience with planted tanks so no rush, i want to start step by step when i'm ready to ensure everything is perfect, could take a long time


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

what about glowlight danio's, galaxy rasboras, and ther's another rasbora, that stay very small but are pretty damn bright, cant remenber the bloody name off the top of my head, but google rasbora's and am sure it'll pop up 

also small rainbows, like the threadfin rainbows, but avoid fish that tend to nip long fins as these have nice trailing parts as they mature.....

also, bumblebee goby's, thnk thats what there called, very small, nicely coloured......

not saying all together, but its a start with ideas matey


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

aren't bumble bee gobies brackish?
19l tall or wide?
you could have a betta? or a few leopard and zebra danios (i know.. same species)


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

labmad said:


> what about glowlight danio's, galaxy rasboras, and ther's another rasbora, that stay very small but are pretty damn bright, cant remenber the bloody name off the top of my head, but google rasbora's and am sure it'll pop up
> 
> also small rainbows, like the threadfin rainbows, but avoid fish that tend to nip long fins as these have nice trailing parts as they mature.....
> 
> ...


Rasboras could be a good option but TBH i'm not a fan of rainbows, and gobies are as i think brackish?

Could do with Rassys tho, if not neons 



spinnin_tom said:


> aren't bumble bee gobies brackish?
> 19l tall or wide?
> you could have a betta? or a few leopard and zebra danios (i know.. same species)


Not tall, from the front a square shape, it's a corner acrylic tank with hood.
Not into bettas but zebra danios sounds great, maybe platies.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

spinnin_tom said:


> aren't bumble bee gobies brackish?


Hmmm, now then, not 100% to be fair, will check the species next time go to the shop saw them in, and check i got the name right there :blush:


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

abadi said:


> Not tall, from the front a square shape, it's a corner acrylic tank with hood.
> Not into bettas but zebra danios sounds great, maybe platies.



not platies.
i think they need a lot of surface area, even though they average at about 2-3 inches. i'd try and stick with fish geographically related.... like keep the danios with other asian fish.. such as butterfly loaches or whatever they are called.. if you have strong flow  that's just my opinion, some people like a mix of fish


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## sy-core (Apr 26, 2011)

Jut reading a few books about tropical tanks, & just form a few picked out, maybe 1 Flying Fox, 4-6 bloodfin, glowlight 4 minimum, cardinal tetra's 6 minimum (like planted tanks), guppies of course, swordtails 1 pair, Otocinclus 2 also likes planted, glass catfish 4 minimum, ****** loach singleis fine, cape lopez lyretail 1 pair M/F

As for plants, you can background & foreground to consider, middle as well but i thought i read you saying it was a small corner tank, so anyway. 

Background -Green Cambomba, Red Hygrophila, dwarf hygrophila, broadleaf amazon swordplant, water wisteria, elodea, water milfoil, dwarf / giant rotala, straight / corkscrew vallisneria

Foreground - Cryptocoryne beckettii / wendtii / willisii / undulata, Eleocharis acicularis, Lilaeopsis novae zelandiae, 

And once you finished looking those up have some floating plants to think about as well, Crystalwort, Water lettuce, Salvinia auriculata, 

I think there plenty there to give you a good think, look them up see what you like, it's what i'm halfway through doing.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

labmad said:


> Hmmm, now then, not 100% to be fair, will check the species next time go to the shop saw them in, and check i got the name right there :blush:


it would have been the right name
lots of shops sell them as fw, but adults need brackish i'm sure of it


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

@ sy-core - surely, not all of those in the same aquarium?
or is it just a list of suggestions?

really, a lot of elodea mixed with big vallisneria would suffice, but it's the looks which count


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

I love nano tanks! Please put us up a piccy when you're all done! 
What about the mini killies? Banded Panchax I think, but that might be spelt wrong. They look a little bit like bumblebee gobies and top out at something like 3cms. Soft water fish too, and they're not annuals so you can expect a good 3yrs or so out of them. Couple of other suggestions; dwarf corydoras, who are adorable! Endler's livebearers (all male though, or expect a popultion explosion!) For a heavily planted tank thats a bit bigger, you could go for a little trio of dwarf puffers, but they would probably need a bigger filter. Messy little sods so they need tons of good filtration and regular maintainence.
As for substrate, I know someone who swears by rabbit poo as a fertiliser :gasp:
Although I've never tried it, I've had john innes no2 (which can be got from garden centres) topped off with fine gravel or sand recommended to me, and I'm planning on trying that soon. CO2 is probably a good plan. On my planted tank I use the squirty stuff you can get from MA, and it works wonders. Saves mucking about with proper co2. Can dig out the bottle and find the name of it if you like?


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Just to add:

Nano Tank Fish - Fish suitable for nano aquarium tanks

Found that site the other day whilst procrastinating at work :whistling2: Looks really good :smile:


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Noooooooooooooooooo *wails* dont you dare do guppies or neons. what the heck is it with guppies and neons????? sheessshhhhh tehre is so much choice if you do research!

19L is adequate to play with, it is a Pico tank though, not even nano, but you can still have so much fun with it! Ignore the people who think of it as aworryingly small fish tank and think of it as a fair sized epic Pico tank, its a different class!

How about doing something with some twisty mangrove root, java/flame moss, maybe some kinda cryptocoryne plants, a few oak leaves to soften the water and make it a black water tank and a pair of rare/unusual betta species? Its not all betta splendens (which im not a fan of either ).


---

Microrasboras... huge family!!!! Here is a few f my species that i love...

-Microrasbora erythromicron 
-Boraras brigittae
-Boraras merah
-Boraras maculatus
-Sundadanio axelrodi

erm...

-Celestichthys margaritatus (celestial pearl danios aka galaxy rasbora)

There are a LOT of species of Licorice Gouramis and Chocolate gouramis!! Easy to look after in a small tank because a few oak leaves soften the water enough  So long as you dont mind tannins 

Or Sparkling Gouramis are cute as buttons!

Lots...

How about Rocket Panchax? (also known as Clown Killifish sometimes)... amazing fish!!!! Do better in biotope/on their own tho.

Shrimp are boring on their own (in my opinion!) but when you have a few fish too... you can get a nice colony of shrimp going, maybe wait around and search, dont go for the common old cherry shrimps or crystal shrimps and if you as the right people, you will find there is lots out there!!

Personally... I'd have 3 x Assassin Snails and 1 x Oto as clean up crew (otos dont need to be shoaling, kept shoaling i always find they argue a lot).

A colony of shrimp (dont know what type, there are sooooo many out there!!)

3 x Sparkling Gourami

4-6 x Rocket Panchax

Lots of plants, id go mad with moss and hemianthus, liquid co2 and ferts. Get the cutest little planted pico tank


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> it would have been the right name
> lots of shops sell them as fw, but adults need brackish i'm sure of it


As far as I know, bumbleebee gobies are low end brackish. They're often recommended as a good tankmate for figure 8s. Something like 1.005 I think, but don't quote me on that.


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

BBGs are low end brackish *backs up christie* and would male a cute pet!! bit more work.. a biotope maybe??!!

I hate shops that sell them as freshwater, same with the Fig 8s and Red crabs etc...


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

So I'll be the first to actually ask what lighting you have?


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Whoops LOL yeah Morgan  good point, i got so carried away wit people thinking "omg its 19L...just bin it..." that i went for fish stocking 

Tho tbh most lighting is good to grow Anubias Barteri Var. Nana. and I have grown crypts in low light tanks (bog standard lighing) and Java Fern, (the Windelov variation is fun!). Lilaeopsis Novozealandae (sp) is pretty easy going too


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

Moogloo said:


> Noooooooooooooooooo *wails* dont you dare do guppies or neons. what the heck is it with guppies and neons????? sheessshhhhh tehre is so much choice if you do research!
> 
> 19L is adequate to play with, it is a Pico tank though, not even nano, but you can still have so much fun with it! Ignore the people who think of it as aworryingly small fish tank and think of it as a fair sized epic Pico tank, its a different class!
> 
> ...


Neons are very very common (and boring for some) i find them really attracting with black fine gravel and alot of greenery, although i could do with sparkling gouramis, zebra danios (along with other danios), microrasboras there are tons of great choices to choose from.


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> So I'll be the first to actually ask what lighting you have?


Not sure yet but depending on what plants i'm getting, i probably will dump the hood and get proper lighting in there.


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Personally, id not say zebra danios, some danios are more active than others and tbh zebra and leopard danios and variations of get big enough and active enough that i wouldnt advise keeping them in less than 60 liters and wouldner personally keep them in less than 125 liters.


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## sy-core (Apr 26, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> @ sy-core - surely, not all of those in the same aquarium?
> or is it just a list of suggestions?
> 
> really, a lot of elodea mixed with big vallisneria would suffice, but it's the looks which count


 
2 really good cheap books i got from amazon.com, An Essential Guide to Choosing Your Tropical Freshwater Fish Tankmaster: Amazon.co.uk: Gina Sandford: Books -- all the fish you need

An Essential Guide to Choosing Plants for Your Aquarium Tankmaster: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Hiscock: Books & one for plants


Ha Ha All at once is a bit overkill .. dwarf gouriami's i would of recomended but wasn't too sure on how larger they actually got. 

As for substrate, i'm going for a eco-complete substrate, then i'm going for a sand on top of it to see how it works, hopefully if all goes well. 

There's also some others on amazon but those are the only 2 you would really need. There's an small encyclopedia of tropical fish which is a nice read through. Untill you get to the fish cassification bit & you realize you already have that, then there's the Tropical aquariums for dummies, i also bought the marine for dummies book, nice read bu it literally has everythig you know just in a little more detail. There all worth having & i'll get on to mine soon. There worth having once you progress up to larger tanks & you just want to be sure on things. I'm glad i gave them a read through

Enjoys


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

Moogloo said:


> Personally, id not say zebra danios, some danios are more active than others and tbh zebra and leopard danios and variations of get big enough and active enough that i wouldnt advise keeping them in less than 60 liters and wouldner personally keep them in less than 125 liters.


I'll look them up anyway i'm more into rasboras/neons (sorry for disappointing you :lol2


sy-core said:


> 2 really good cheap books i got from amazon.com, An Essential Guide to Choosing Your Tropical Freshwater Fish Tankmaster: Amazon.co.uk: Gina Sandford: Books -- all the fish you need
> 
> An Essential Guide to Choosing Plants for Your Aquarium Tankmaster: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Hiscock: Books & one for plants
> 
> ...


TBH I'm not into that sort of thing (complete eco sub) it's a very small tank and doesn't need any 'special' substrate (as i said it's small and the tank floor is not much space) would love nice fine black gravel for now as i don't want to go messy with sand (although i love the view of sand), hopefully the plants can use fish organic matter for food.

I have some step by step and species books but i can use another one, for choices i've got enough choices already and anyway i would only have a maximum of 4 fish in there (probably all same species) i think i will just end up with some neons but on second thoughts i also want microrasboras :/ swordtails look attractive but i'm not sure if they are ideal for a 19L probably not, i badly want to use my old 150 gallon marine tank as a cichlid tank or maybe an angelfish tank but don't have the capability (and space) for a large tank right now , maybe sometime in the future..

Haven't started anything yet, i'm looking up plants i would like and the best lighting recommended for them, i'm not sure what plants yet but i guess they should be soft and require good but not too much lighting (i'm not sure how to fix the new light i will probably get but maybe it's okay for the hood fixture as the tank looks quite neat with it's hood, maybe i stick a new fixture in the hood? i hope i don't get messed up with the lighting bit or carried away with what fish to choose, don't want anything to go wrong this time.


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

What do you mean by proper lighting? If you're going to increase your lighting you may need to have a planted substrate or a ferts regime.


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## sy-core (Apr 26, 2011)

Could you do away with the hood completly & see what they do as a LED set-up or just tube lighting with a refelector to stop the glare getting too much, plus it would give more intense light in the tank. 

I've been doing it receantly in the hot weather leaving the hood open, it hasn't done no harm yet as i have no jumping fish, it's something else you could consider.


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

sy-core said:


> Could you do away with the hood completly & see what they do as a LED set-up or just tube lighting with a refelector to stop the glare getting too much, plus it would give more intense light in the tank.
> 
> I've been doing it receantly in the hot weather leaving the hood open, it hasn't done no harm yet as i have no jumping fish, it's something else you could consider.


I've said it because the tank is small and looks better with it's own hood, anyway i was thinking of a nice LED setup but couldn't find any in a small size? unfortunately LFS has none so i'll probably be buying online if i find a decent one.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

small, planted tank... no fuss?

my specialty...


tetras... 


plants?... swords... bacopa... vals... easy things...

and river gravel... mixed...

i have a secret to keeping a nice, small planted tank...


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## sy-core (Apr 26, 2011)

Would i be right in thinking that if it is a small Nano/Pico tank with a very small depth, would you be able to use a standard lamp with a halogen bulb. i know the hapgen bulbs are very good for effect, couldn't give a real colour scale (K) reading, but i do know that can give between 10-30 lumines per watt. It does however produce a lot of blue light as well as all the others, but blue will give you clear light in water.

Tutti Spotlight Clip White, 0000005225859 --- clip on lamp

B&Q Halogen Lightbulb 515893 2 Pack 40w, 515893 - halogen bulbs 40 watt, but you might want less / or more ???? 

Just make sure you have the right fitting for the lamp & bulb


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

HABU said:


> i have a secret to keeping a nice, small planted tank...


Please tell me your secret's not rabbit poo too! :gasp:


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