# My New Old Set Up!



## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

I have, on and off had plenty of fish tanks over the years. A little over a year ago we acquired a 155L tank full of Malawi Cichlids however after constant fights for territory and about £160 of fish being killed by one super aggressive male yellow lab we decided to stop with the tank and find homes for the remaining few fish.

The tank has sat on top of my stairs completely empty since, I was toying with the idea of setting it back up however a 155L tank is big commitment, especially when I already have 5 dogs , a husband and everything that comes with it to look after.

As a buffer I pulled out the 90L tank I have had for an extremely long time and I have set that back up and it is cycling.

I thought I would share some pictures and add to this thread as we start to stock the tank!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

What are you planning on stocking? 

I know the feeling - I have a 70L and a 135L (plus my 5-year-old son's ADF tank as well), and since the birth of my daughter 10 months ago I've been more or less neglecting both tanks apart from feeding and water changes. Both are planted, so are now overgrown with java moss while the other plants are suffering from lack of ferts as I've not been dosing them! The 135L in particular is looking quite empty stock-wise, too, as I think the odessa barbs have been bullying/outcompeting most of the other stock - I've lost about 15 minnows, 3 AFFs and a pleco!


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2017)

Lovely tank. That filter, it's a stingray filter isn't it. I used to have one but it gave up the ghost.


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

NaomiM said:


> What are you planning on stocking?
> 
> I know the feeling - I have a 70L and a 135L (plus my 5-year-old son's ADF tank as well), and since the birth of my daughter 10 months ago I've been more or less neglecting both tanks apart from feeding and water changes. Both are planted, so are now overgrown with java moss while the other plants are suffering from lack of ferts as I've not been dosing them! The 135L in particular is looking quite empty stock-wise, too, as I think the odessa barbs have been bullying/outcompeting most of the other stock - I've lost about 15 minnows, 3 AFFs and a pleco!


This is the first time I've used real plants! I am praying they take. The cichlids were such hard work and the tank expensive to run at higher Temps than most tropicals. Then the added cost of constantly having to restock because of that evil yellow lab!

I am thinking some cardinals , sunset platys , galaxy rasboras, a male betta ( I am keeping an eye out for a half moon as they aren't common here for some reason ) maybe some cherry barbs... not 100% sure I may cut out the barbs and get some different platys ... I quite like the red micky mouse platys .. I'm also a little tempted by Koi Angels. I REALLY want to set the 155L up for discus but husband isn't interested lol



danielled said:


> Lovely tank. That filter, it's a stingray filter isn't it. I used to have one but it gave up the ghost.


It is  I've had it ages never had a problem with it touch wood. It's even been chewed by Skyla slightly!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

What plants are they? 

I wouldn't recommend a male betta in a community tank - sometimes they can work out OK, but often they will either get bullied or be the bully. I'd also say that tank's a bit small for angels. Galaxy rasboras are nice - I'm thinking of getting a few for my 70L now that I have the space since my last elderly platy has gone to fishy heaven! You have a nice sand substrate - will you be getting any bottom dwellers to take advantage of it?


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

NaomiM said:


> What plants are they?
> 
> I wouldn't recommend a male betta in a community tank - sometimes they can work out OK, but often they will either get bullied or be the bully. I'd also say that tank's a bit small for angels. Galaxy rasboras are nice - I'm thinking of getting a few for my 70L now that I have the space since my last elderly platy has gone to fishy heaven! You have a nice sand substrate - will you be getting any bottom dwellers to take advantage of it?


I have been looking online at Sterba's Corydoras however I was a little concerned they might outgrow the tank.. however if I do set my 155L back up they could always be moved at a later date, I don't know much about about bottom dwellers to be honest other than Pleco's we used to have a bristlenosed called Rex and as much as he freaked me out he was awesome.. I've had a couple of male fighters in community tanks in the past there is a store local to me who keep the more placid ones in their community tanks however the more rambunctious ones are kept in little separate tanks. I may save the betta for later as I have seen a lovely smaller tank that would fit on my bedroom dresser and he could live in there we'll see!

I chucked the little cards away for the plants and I can't remember  They were all marked green for "easy to care for"


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2017)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> This is the first time I've used real plants! I am praying they take. The cichlids were such hard work and the tank expensive to run at higher Temps than most tropicals. Then the added cost of constantly having to restock because of that evil yellow lab!
> 
> I am thinking some cardinals , sunset platys , galaxy rasboras, a male betta ( I am keeping an eye out for a half moon as they aren't common here for some reason ) maybe some cherry barbs... not 100% sure I may cut out the barbs and get some different platys ... I quite like the red micky mouse platys .. I'm also a little tempted by Koi Angels. I REALLY want to set the 155L up for discus but husband isn't interested lol
> 
> It is  I've had it ages never had a problem with it touch wood. It's even been chewed by Skyla slightly!


Recognised it right away because the shape of it looks like a stingray. I can't have real plants because a certain pleco eats them. Speaking of tanks mine is due another water quality check.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Sterbai (sterba's) corys are lovely  Pretty much any cory species would be fine size wise, but make sure they're compatible with your water pH/hardness and temp. My water is hard which limits what I can keep, but I have bronze corys in my 70L tropical tank and peppered corys in my 135L temperate tank. They may not be the most colourful of fish, but they make up for it in personality - I find myself watching the corys more than any of my other fish 

Re plants, I'm rubbish at plant IDs, but if the one on the left is java fern, then it needs to be attached to wood etc because the rhizome will rot if it's buried in sand.


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

NaomiM said:


> Sterbai (sterba's) corys are lovely  Pretty much any cory species would be fine size wise, but make sure they're compatible with your water pH/hardness and temp. My water is hard which limits what I can keep, but I have bronze corys in my 70L tropical tank and peppered corys in my 135L temperate tank. They may not be the most colourful of fish, but they make up for it in personality - I find myself watching the corys more than any of my other fish
> 
> Re plants, I'm rubbish at plant IDs, but if the one on the left is java fern, then it needs to be attached to wood etc because the rhizome will rot if it's buried in sand.


Ahh I will pull that little straggler out of the front then, I only plopped it there because it was leftover and I'd ran of of patience attaching them to the wood :Hilarious The once further towards the back is in a little dent at the back of the wood.


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

A terrible picture but my first few fish! I have 5 marigold platys , 4 coral red platys ( was 5 but one died on the way home) and some baby neon tetras. My plants aren't dying but certainly don't seem to be flourishing I am half tempted to give up on them already! All water tests showing good parameters .... is it too early to start setting up the 155L ... hmm maybe!


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

barbs will eat the fins of both the betta and the angels
full grown angels will look on cardinals and neons as live food
the angels and betta are also better in slow moving water so their fins dont get damaged
more than one angel will eventually turn into a pack of bullies

just my experiences,
tank looks great xxx


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Looks very nice 

I find live plants to be such a headache sometimes, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them myself. Can't get anything to grow in my big tank despite trying for many years, the goldfish just rip everything to shreds, but my smaller tank is flourishing to the point where it's looking a bit crowded without me doing anything to encourage it


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

First time I've ever tried live plants! I keep looking at the liquid fertilisers but I'm so wary of putting anything into the tank to mess with my water parameters! 
We have decided the only other addition to this tank will be some galaxy rasboras in a few months time.... now I have my thinking hat on as what to do with the 155L ... I LOVE goldfish love the fancies like Orandas / Ranchus and Lionheads but it would be cool to have a larger community of tropical too... so undecided!


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

This is what I used to use in the goldfish tank, and it worked well until the little monsters ate everything in sight: http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fertilisers/dry-chemicals/starter-kits/ei-starter-kit.html

Because you get the dry salts and mix in the water yourself, they last for ages. I found it much cheaper than buying liquid fertilisers 

Goldfish are lovely, they are such characters, but they are sooo messy! I swore I wasn't going to get anymore, but then mine laid eggs and now I have a bunch of 3 day old babies that I have grown ridiculously attached to


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Your plants look fine to me - the ones you have are slow growers so don't expect any dramatic growth for a while!

I also use the dry salts from APF. My tap water is already over 40PPM for nitrate, so I don't dose anything with nitrate in - just potassium phosphate and trace elements on alternating days, plus a daily dose of liquid carbon.

What are the dimensions of the 155L, and what type of water do you have?


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Thanks guys I will take a look into it! I am waiting for my API freshwater kit replacement to arrive but from what I can remember my water is moderately hard so between 150 - 200 for carbon hardness. Really low on nitrites / nitrates and around 9Ph. I have been taking my tank water to my local fish store to get tested while I wait for it to arrive, maybe I'll take a tap sample through tomorrow too


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Forgot to add, tank is a corner tank! It's around a meter in the front and about 60cm from the back corner to the front, and I will be using this filter:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/fish/filters_pumps/canister_filters/eheim/13352


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

you are a wicked wicked person @ellenlouisepascoe

you have forced me to realise how much i miss have a tank grrr
when my husband passed, I gave his 6ft tank contents, stand and all bits and bobs away, yep gave them away! it hurt far to much 
ive been determined not to have another and the dragons live in the space it used to take up

now youve started it


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> Thanks guys I will take a look into it! I am waiting for my API freshwater kit replacement to arrive but from what I can remember my water is moderately hard so between 150 - 200 for carbon hardness. Really low on nitrites / nitrates and around 9Ph. I have been taking my tank water to my local fish store to get tested while I wait for it to arrive, maybe I'll take a tap sample through tomorrow too


If it were me, I think I'd be considering a rainbowfish setup  Another option is a temperate tank - that's what I've done with my 135L


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Just as I complain about my plants and say to my husband I think they are a failure they start pearling!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> Just as I complain about my plants and say to my husband I think they are a failure they start pearling!
> 
> View attachment 297509


Are you using CO2 injection then?


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Nope I've just dumped them in there and hoped for the best :Hilarious


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Many aquarium plants are grown and stored as non submerged or part submerged. As aquatic plants often have different leaf types for their submerged and emerged forms if plants go from one environment to the other you can get leaf die back until the new leaf forms emerge.

The other thing is that when plants are first planted in the substrate they tend to establish root growth prior to investing in leaf growth or even rapid photosynthesis. Also it can take time for the plant to adjust to lighting and water parameter differences.

You may find that you get algae growth once you have more fish. It can be helpful to set two lighting periods of about 4 or 5 hours each with a gap of a few hours of dark in between. The plants cope with this well, the algae less so.

I hope your platies are all male as you soon won't have room for anymore fish if not. My 3 female platies became 80 over 4 months as a result of mating in the shop and their sperm storing abilities.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

kittih said:


> My 3 female platies became 80 over 4 months as a result of mating in the shop and their sperm storing abilities.


80 :Wideyed !!! My two females had about six surviving fry between them over three or four batches - the rest were presumably eaten (survival of the fittest!) Only one of the fry turned out to be male, and I rehomed him before he got big enough to increase the population any further!


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

NaomiM said:


> 80 :Wideyed !!! My two females had about six surviving fry between them over three or four batches - the rest were presumably eaten (survival of the fittest!) Only one of the fry turned out to be male, and I rehomed him before he got big enough to increase the population any further!


I have to confess not all made it to adulthood, only about 65. I adopted my neighbours angelfish which ate the smallest youngsters. Rest went to the local pet shop. Though for a while it was a right pain having multiple tanks with all the youngsters in and having to keep fishing out the boys as they developed gonopodia so they couldn't impregnate the females. Some of those boys we're quite late developers so it took a while. :-(


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

They were sold as all male however I will keep a close eye on their gonopodia as they grow. The lights are all on a timer I have them on from 7-12 and then off till 4 back on from 4-9:30 and the tank is a fair bit away from natural light in the back of the dining room. I am about to start giving the 155L a good clean out as after I shut the tank down I just left all the decoration in. I always hated the gravel so that is definitely going the journey.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> They were sold as all male however I will keep a close eye on their gonopodia as they grow. The lights are all on a timer I have them on from 7-12 and then off till 4 back on from 4-9:30 and the tank is a fair bit away from natural light in the back of the dining room. I am about to start giving the 155L a good clean out as after I shut the tank down I just left all the decoration in. I always hated the gravel so that is definitely going the journey.


ooh exciting. Setting up a new tank is great. I use Argos play sand in mine. The fish and plants love it and it's really easy to keep clean ( and cheap). When I had cories they really enjoyed digging around in it. The khuli loaches I have now also love digging in it and searching for live blood worm that they get as an occasional treat. If you have good plant growth the roots keep the sand healthy and stop it from going anaerobic.


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

So everything is going fabulous in my tropical tank! I have finally set the 160L away upstairs and decided that it's residents will be two goldfish! They have a temporary home at the moment which is a fluxal flex 57L.










I am going to fully plant the 160L and do some awesome aqua-scaping, I have replaced the lighting with LEDS. Once the goldfish are out of the 57L I REALLY want a male Betta with some awesome plants but my husband finds betta's boring.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

How about a couple of dwarf gourami in with the Betta? They live in similar conditions, and maybe a dwarf corydoraso you have too middle bottom scenes


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

We used to have gourami when I was a kid and they were mega aggressive, those were kissing gourami however I am guessing dwarf's are a bit more peaceful ?


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## 3dogs2cats (Aug 15, 2012)

I thought Betta and Gourami did not make to best of tank mates? I know its all about individual personalities, especially when it comes to Bettas and of course environment, how densely planted etc. I just always go with best possibly outcome rather than what could possibly work if lucky, but then I am a rather cautious kind of person!
I adore my Betta, the family reckon I care more about him than I do them


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

I have had dwarfs and the males did spar with each other and one was quite harassed by the other even in a 4 foot tank. In future I would only keep a male female pair. I have also had honey gouramies and they were very peaceful.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

How about something like a small shoal of ember or Harlequin tetras ? I know people also recommend white cloud minnows but in my experience they like to zoom around slot and need quite a lot of space. Harlequins have always been more sedate and peaceful in my experience.


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Those are lovely looking goldfish  You'll have to keep an eye on them though, they look like single tails in the photo and they do get very big! I had one in my 500L tank a few years back, and she eventually had to be rehomed to a pond as she grew to about 9 inches long


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> We used to have gourami when I was a kid and they were mega aggressive, those were kissing gourami however I am guessing dwarf's are a bit more peaceful ?


I only ever kept dwarfs in a mix tank, and only ever male and female and one pair in a tank
kissing gourami are fighters, tis what the 'kissing' actually is
Ive nly ever found dwarfs to be peaceful and surprisingly eager to interact with those who feed them [as far as possible of course, for example, any of mine have always been happy to come to the top and take peas from my fingers


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

magpie said:


> Those are lovely looking goldfish  You'll have to keep an eye on them though, they look like single tails in the photo and they do get very big! I had one in my 500L tank a few years back, and she eventually had to be rehomed to a pond as she grew to about 9 inches long


Thank you , they already have a spot reserved in my aunts pond :Hilarious

We are going to keep them until just before they outgrow the tank and then they'll go to her. Lots to thing about I keep changing my mind about the 57L I quite like pea puffers but they can only be kept on their own


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## milliemouse (Feb 20, 2017)

Your tank is really lovely, I hope to be brave enough to use real plants one day but for now I'll stick to fake ones!


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## 3dogs2cats (Aug 15, 2012)

milliemouse said:


> Your tank is really lovely, I hope to be brave enough to use real plants one day but for now I'll stick to fake ones!


Ahhh don`t be nervous of plants, honestly I am the least green fingered type of person but I have thriving plants in my aquariums. Ok I stick to Anubias and mosses but Anubias come in many forms, tall, nano and everything in between! You don`t plant it, just tie it on rocks and wood and just leave some floating. I don`t feed them fertilizer neither do I keep my tanks well light, in fact apart from a bit of blue moonlight in the evenings I never switch the white day lights on. The plants are doing well, they are beautifully green and throw out new shoots. Seriously if I can achieve a jungle look with live plants anyone can!!


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Plants are a lot easier than people think! This is my fluval flex now , all I'm doing is dosing with fertiliser weekly and my plant growth is amazing.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

@ellenlouisepascoe I see you've added some neons in there, have you thought about some of the small corys for some bottom movement?

I haven't kept fish since my husband passed, it was his passion, but before that we had upto 7 tanks going, with a mix community 4 footer, an Oscar tank, a RB piranha tank, that also had kribs in it, and yes they lived happily ever after, a discus tank, but would never go there again, i swear marines must be easier to keep than discus and others that changed and morphed over the years
but you, posting with this wonderful Betta tank, has got my thinking minions working again

having done some research and looking at budget and placement, i think with some jiggory pokery, i might just start the beginnings of a Betta sorority tank. I know the females aren't as flashy as the males, but, on reading, they can be happily kept as a small shoal, if all introduced together into a well planted and landscaped tank
I shall be doing some in depth research into this over the next few months and look into setting the tank up around my birthday at the end of may

thank you for sharing this with us


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