New aquarists seek advice on tank setup
Multiple users are starting new tanks and requesting feedback or guidance. They're looking for plant suggestions, stocking ideas, and general tips to improve their aquarium setups.
SOURCES (60)
“Today is three months of having my tank of neon tetras. Pretty cool to look back and see how the tank started out! Huge learning curve which I'm very much still on. submitted by /u/Tangata_Gamer [link] [comments]”
“Hello all, I recently set up my first big boy tank and it is a 36g bow front. I am going to for a natural look from a river. I made a beautiful piece of driftwood by gluing a bunch of small pieces and spiderwood. I am using some slate and dragonstone I made the little cave out of slate and glue. I am cycling currently and it has its first bacteria bloom 5 days in. I redid the substrate today for a sloped look for more depth in the tank and I would like y’all’s opinion please! Did it look better”
“Just did this today super proud of it but idk if I should plant more or change anything. It's about 60L and I plan to put a betta, snails and shrimp in there. Any tips or advice would be great! I have a few weeks for it to cycle so changes can be made! submitted by /u/Las_vegas00 [link] [comments]”
“Reporting here for extra help, I’m hoping to add shrimp to my new planted tank. Should I add my nano fish before or after the shrimp? submitted by /u/FirstPleiade [link] [comments]”
“Got my first tank a couple of months ago, only about 20L/±5gallons. Plenty of plants, growing faster than I know what to do with and a handful of shrimp. Criticism welcome submitted by /u/ThatGuy_Hi [link] [comments]”
“Am thinking about ideas for stocking this tank but I want to know if there is enough room for the beta to swim comfortably. (Yes I know I need to top off my water level haha) Any ideas are appreciated! submitted by /u/Top_Information_8978 [link] [comments]”
“What would you guys recommend for my first 45L/12G planted tank. 2 weeks ago i added 12 neocaridina shrimp. Was thinking about a group of chili rasboras??? submitted by /u/Ok-Money6844 [link] [comments]”
“Some rasboras and crazy water lettuce (? I forget) growth submitted by /u/suckmeister- [link] [comments]”
“Yeah my second tank is a clusterfuck. It's a 6 gallon with a sponge filter, not stocked at all. I want to know how I can make it look cleaner before adding fish. The only problem is that I love the plants that are in there, becuase I love biodiversity. The pothos are literally my favorite plants and they're massive at the top, as well as rooted into the substrate. I just love how bioactive it is and I want to make it look good by rearranging but not really taking anything out if possible”
“I just have 9 total leopard and zebra danio with shrimp and snails. Been letting it grow out. It’s four feet by one foot by ten inches. Braced with glass on top. No filter. No heater. Fish decor in progress on top. submitted by /u/suckmeister- [link] [comments]”
“Bought a new tank today to replace a NZMS infested, 25L one. My betta, Lucifer and his cleaning service (Amano shrimps) will be going in there but I'm wondering if there is enough for a small school of, obviously, small fish. Featuring : the security guard for incase any bladder snails hitchhike in from my other (180L) tank and Lucifer. ((Filter will obviously not be on all the time unless lucifer is out of the tank)). Edit 1 : this is a 52 litre. submitted by /u/Suzuya_Ju [link]”
“It's a 20L (~5,2gallon) with substrate and sand, some wook and two kind of plants. Elodea i think and a java fern, i also have moss balls ? Tank has been running like this for a month and a half with a water filter and a heater set at 24°C. Do i need more plants/hides ? Is the plane okay ? submitted by /u/Just-Replacement214 [link] [comments]”
“The plant won’t live there just wanted it to get sum water and saw that the plant it’s a good tank toping plant so I did put sum clippings on the back two corners to see if they could establish themselves. I do want to have shrimp in the tank but am kinda over welded with the next steps I don’t want to add Anything to soon ,I’ve had water in the tank for about 5-4 days and did two water tests and the only problems is it’s hard water and the nitrogen is high anything helps and I’ve love coming to”
“I started this project not knowing anything much about fish keeping or aquariums. This community has helped me at every turn and now I have a thriving community tank! My entire stocking list includes: •6 ember tetras •6 black phantom tetras •9 emperor tetras •3 otocinclus •13 red cherry shrimp •3 mystery snails •(??) hitchhiker snails I’ve had this setup maturing since the middle of July and have grown to love caring for my fish and friends! Thank you to all of you who helped me along the way! (”
“I have a freshwater tank and so far the plants and moss that are in there are thriving (as are the shrimp and two danios) but it's...just green! The only plants that I have found at the stores near me are just green, and the moss is of course green. The shrimp are rainbow shrimp but over a few generations are mostly brown now. I really don't want to use fake plants, so what are some more colorful plants that do well with shrimp to bring some color to the tank? submitted by /u”
“I have a 15g tank with a fluval ac30(double biomax in place of carbon) it's heavily planted with a piece of driftwood and black sand. It's been running for 6 months so it's well cycled I currently have 15 lambchop rasboras which I love and am looking to add some more fish to make it feel more alive I'm hoping to add a small school of either chili rasboras or celestial pearl danios and was wondering which would be a better fit and how many of each I could have without overcrowding”
“SO I've been doing the aquarium thing for about a month now, and I'm obsessed. I started with a 2 gallon tank that I got from a coworker that had a betta and a mystery snail in it. Decided to upgrade and got a 10 gallon tank. After a lot of learning, I have the opportunity to pick up a fully cycled 40 gallon tank that has everything it needs and will allow me to expand into more fish later down the road. My question here is two fold. First, can I move all of my live plants and decoration”
“Hello, I've just recently gotten into the hobby of aquariums. I started in July with this 10 gallon tank. I started by using an aqueon 10 filter, heater, and sand as my substrate and plant safe gravel for my plants. I have hornwort, Java fern, Amazon sword, and guppy grass (I'm pretty sure that's the name). I let that run for about 5 weeks, testing it frequently with a water parameters kit. The ammonia and nirate has always been shown as 0 ppm, and its never been high Nitrate in the”
“Final scape of my tanganjika tank with 2 Julidochromis Transcriptus, 2 Neolamprologus Brevis and 4 Altolamprologus compressiceps - Stones are black Lava Stones with grey Sand and a Grey Juwel Stone Granite background - love how it turned out and im excited how the tank will develop - what do you think? submitted by /u/supcontus [link] [comments]”
“Hi there. We have this 15 gallon tank set up in my child’s room. It is rocked with 6 harlequin rasborias and 1 betta. For plants we have a few Anubias and some pearl weed. We’ve had it for about two months now and everything seemed fine and the fish seem happy. In the past 10 days or so, the tank has been getting what I think is algae along the glass, the room is starting to smell, pearl weed is dying and there are these little clumps growing on the anubias. Is this just regular maintenace thing”
“Hi r/aquarium crew. I started this tank a few weeks ago for my son since both we both wanted fish. My main question is: is this castle enough air for my little fish friends/aquatic plants? This is a 20L with a fluval ac20, as well as an a101 running into a castle with an air stone inside of it. My ph is currently 7 and I've ordered my nitrate testing kit. I have 2 little plants at the back right of the tank but the intent is to fill the back wall with real plants. submitted by /u”
“This the update of my first tank, itsa 16 gallons with 1 betta 10 harlequim hadboras, 10 ember tetras, 10 cherry shrimp and 1 nerite snail! What do yall think? submitted by /u/D10_01 [link] [comments]”
“Relatively new to the hobby - family has always had fish tanks, decided to finally take the plunge with a Fluval Roma 200L, including the U4 internal filter. Running a planted, tropical set up aprox. 24.5C, neutral PH and moderately soft water. Cycled for a month with Fluval biological enhancer to get the system going before stocking. After a heavy bacterial bloom following a recent water change which left the fish looking a little short of oxygen, I added the venturi to increase aeration. Subst”
“I’m trying to create my very first low-tech community tank in a visually appealing and comfortable way for the fish. There will be 5xcorydoras, 18xtetras, 1xancistrus gold,2xbolivian ram (male&female) and 1x coral red dwarf gourami (male). From this list I only have prior experience with tetras, it was my friend Claude suggesting the rest, so I need actual humans to verify if this makes sense and the tank does not get overstocked. I’d like to have a jungle of different plants eventually, so”
“I have an interesting table I want to put some planted tanks on (see the picture for a very rough idea). The table has limited space between the taller cupboards but I’ve found a rimless 40cm cubed tank that fits (40x40x40 ~60L) I want to do a planted tank with freshwater tropical fish. I’m thinking the following: 8x Gertrude’s Rainbowfish ( Pseudomugil gertrudae ) — upper / mid-water active schooling fish 6x Red Neon Blue-eyes ( Pseudomugil luminatus ) — upper / upper-mid water, another small a”
“I struggled a lot to put the plants and I think I need to move some, but I'm worried about if there's something I should be worried about? I used the water from an pre-existing tank for cycling. I was also wondering about my LED light, there's two options : white, and a more red-ish color, is it just an esthetic choice or does it affect my plants in any way ? I finished it yesterday at 2am because I couldn't keep the plants in the soil.. there's a lot of roots coming out but”
“I’m setting up another betta tank is a 6.8 shallow I have my heater,water lettuce and more water wisteria going in today what do y’all think I’ll update with more pics later it will be heavilyyy planted submitted by /u/Miserable_Penalty993 [link] [comments]”
“I have a 10 gallon im in the process of setting up. I have 8 baby emerald dwarf rasboras and a few cherry shrimp in a temp 5 gallon that I plan on transferring to my 10 gal. Wondering what else I could add to the 10 gallon submitted by /u/Immediate-Carrot-686 [link] [comments]”
“Hello my friends! I am scheming, you see. Based on the space in my apartment, assuming everything stays Normal Forever, I'm planning on getting a 120 gallon (4'x2'x2') some time next year. I currently have a 40 gallon breeder with some guppies and corydoras, but my hunger and hubris for more water volume has grown uncontrollably (and will not be controlled, as I live in a basement apartment and so have very little if any limit on tank weight other than the practical lengths of th”
“10gallon and dosing co2 I’m thinking about adding emerald dwarf danios or celestial pearl danios. I’m also dealing with cyanobacteria in the tank, which is slowly improving. submitted by /u/Ok-Watercress465 [link] [comments]”
“I’m getting a 5 gallon tank this weekend to start cycling. I want to make sure I get the correct decor for a betta so we don’t hurt his fins. I’ll be doing lots of plants, a betta hammock, and sand substrate. Are there any pieces of wood that are safe for their tanks or other things I haven’t considered that I should get? The best plants to get? I was going to do some salvinia, Amazon swords, and I’m going to try to find a tiger lotus. We might add shrimp at some point once the plants have grown”
“I dont have another tank yet, and I dont want to put fish into something this small either, but I just like... really want to scape another aquarium 😭 thinking about critters similar to nano shrimp, itty bitty little things. I dont have enough space for another large tank so Id love to have some itty bitty projects, even if theyre just for microfauna. I actually have a culture of Brine Shrimp brewing right now, with the plan of being live food. Ive never done anything with salt water aquariums”
“My first 45L nano tank! With CO2 injection. I had 5 endler live bearers in here as I love how they look - but they just kept being a nuisance to eachother and fighting, ruining the calm vibe of my tank - so I took them back to the shop (apart from 1 calm one). Can’t decide which fish to put in here now… Looking for some fish: - under 4cm fully grown - colourful - curious (will explore plants + play) - calm - community fish - flexible with temp & water hardness - happy in a CO2 tank So far I”
“Hey guys any ideas what plants I could get to make the tank more crowded with plants? I have a dwarh hair grass carpet going where I want to avoid putting things so maybe like red root floaters or something that has long roots for floaters. I’m planning on putting micro Thai crabs in there and know they like a lot of hiding spaces. Suggestions? submitted by /u/Red-_Dit [link] [comments]”
“Hey r/Aquariums ! I’m currently cycling my first three tanks (my daughter got one a couple of months ago and the research around it led me to want one... then two... then three) and would love to get perspective eyes on both the aquascapes (hardscape layout, plant choices, flow) and the planned stocking lists (compatibility, bio-load, and schooling dynamics) before adding all the livestock. I'm in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, with what I think are decent local fish stores... but some of th”
“Yesterday my 4 Altolamprologus Compressiceps arrived so I rescaped the tank for them. Also I gave Away 2 of 4 Julidochromis Transcriptus, because 2 formed a pair and also have Away my 10 Cyprichromis Leptosoma bc my 240l was getting too small for them. The altos are still tiny and shy but they Look beautiful and im sure they will do good in my tank. What do you think about it? submitted by /u/supcontus [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone, just planted this new hex tank. Seeking advice on how to add height to the back and what type of fish to stock. I was thinking of some nanos and maybe a showcase. Let me know what you think - no shrimp, thanks! Currently drawn to doing some hatchets, a honey gourami, and flashy corys, but would love input from folks who have kept healthy, peaceful hex tanks - it's my first one. The tank is in the corner of my dining room. submitted by /u/Sure-Cable7121 [link]”
“Ideas for stocking this tank that isn't a betta? Looking for a fish that can comfortably live in a 10 gallon tall with some smaller tank mates. I know tall tanks aren't ideal but was hoping for some ideas. Testing if it holds water and so far so good but going to let it sit for a couple more days before I put gravel/plants/cycling. I have two bettas already (in separate tanks with heater/filter/bubbler/live plants) and was told that as long as there's enough resting spots it should b”
“Realized I didn't show my first tank - and my favourite resident who comes when I wave submitted by /u/melibii [link] [comments]”
“I just started my first aquarium, i got 4 mollies in a 30 gallon aquarium, i put a 450L/H filter but i need tips on stuff to put to improve the landscape of my aquarium, like some plants ( preferably low maintenance ) and i need advice on what things i need to buy to clean/improve the aquarium submitted by /u/icmhjj [link] [comments]”
“How’d I do for my first tank setup? Is there anything else I need to add and do? submitted by /u/Legitimate-Clothes-4 [link] [comments]”
“Added some depth, switched uncapped biostratum for inert sand (all the plants get nutrients from water column) and added some seiryu stone. I no longer hate looking at it submitted by /u/oberon_603 [link] [comments]”
“Also fish recommendations are welcome submitted by /u/GnomeWizrd [link] [comments]”
“Hello, I was wondering if I could just use a dresser like the ones pictured for a 125 gallon fish tank? I currently have a 40 gallon fishtank on a big dresser and it hasn’t given me any problems but I recently got a 125 gallon off of a coworker and it is currently on a homemade stand but it’s all 2x4s and kind of ugly. I’d like to also have the drawer spaces but I’m worried that a dresser might not hold up well to 125 gallon. Thank you! submitted by /u/ReserveImportant7814 [link] ”
“In the last few months I acquired a 30 gallon tank for a great price, and have since cycled, decorated, and populated it with 10 Blue Dream neos, 5 neon tetras, 2 otocynclis and a handful of Ramshorn snails. the tank is kept at about 77 F, with all the parameters looking stable (PH sits around 7, Alkalinity at 60, and moderately soft water. Everything is moderate and average.) and the tetras and snails are both comfy enough that they had babies! I've been very careful as well to fish out any”
“5 rasboras, 3 red eyes, 2 rummynose, 3 white skirts, 3 black khuli loaches and 1 clown pleco. I want to add 3 more rummynose but not sure if it’s already overstocked. It looks like room but the bio load may be an issue submitted by /u/Standard-Maybe-4710 [link] [comments]”
“Looking good but somehow feels a bit messy and I’m not quite sure where to go with it. Also a lot of the plants have algae on their leaves which I can’t really srape off. How can I get rid of it? submitted by /u/Nearby-Loan-9737 [link] [comments]”
“About 2 months ago I was gifted my sisters unused aquarium. Up until now my only experience was my garden pond with gold fish. But since it hibernates during wintertime I’ve got nothing to do for several months when winter comes. So I was thrilled to start up an aquarium and get it ready for the dark months. I wanted to share with you my progress. submitted by /u/Pristine-Pop6712 [link] [comments]”
“As you can see, I need help setting up my new tank. This a 20 gallons tank. I wanted to put a betta in it. I just wanted a proper fish tank. I have this top filter containing two layers of filters. I'm have uhh biofilm Marble to put at the first layer and a one layer of sponge at the second layer. The pump filter would be the white thing at the edge of the aquarium. I'm thinking on only putting a Driftwood and Driftwood plants or some plants in a pot directly into the water since I feel”
10 gallon with a betta! submitted by /u/Direct_Bend_7962 [link] [comments]
“what are some cool freshwater plants you could get outside of the regular pet store verities? floating, flowering, background or short foreground plants. submitted by /u/Actual-Kitchen-1557 [link] [comments]”