Want some opinions and need some info please...?

Question

I'll be buying fish for my tank today. I'm planning on getting some guppies, neons, cory cats, maybe some ghost shrimp and I might get a betta. Sound like a good combination? I won't be buying them all today - but that's the plan for the tank. I have a hex 30 gal tank. With the above listed fish - what amount of fish total am I looking at? Anything else I should add? I live in Florida and inside house temp is always around 75-78 degrees. Will I still need a heater? What plants should I get? Do I need real plants or will fake plants be just as good for the fish to hide in? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Prices are going to vary much more then state to state but more like town to town like gas prices do. That's a good sized tank you have and I think that grouping will do well. I think your main focus is going to get this tank cycled out first, so start out with just the Betta if you get one, if you opt no Betta, then get the guppies first, but not an excessive amount, just about four or five. Allow your tank to cycle out, and then slowly add in a small grouping at a time. Like add your cories next, about 3-4, then a week later add in the neons, then your ghost shrimp ect... It's very important to slowly ramp up the population and not just buy the whole batch you want and put them in at one time. Neons very rarely would survive under tank conditions that are cycling.

Plants are always good because they input oxygen into the tank and help process a small amount of the nitrates produced by the nitrogen cycle. Fake plants are nice to add for color, where as live plants, you have to deal with plant decay. You'll have a little more work to do with live plants, but you get the benefits mentioned above as well. Yes you still need the heater to maintain your tank constant at that temp. It takes a long time for room temp to heat up water in that much size, 30 gallons to be the same temp. So get the heater. It does not draw excessivly on your electricty.

Make sure you get a testing kit to monitor your water chemistry during the cycle, and stock up your aquarium salt and water conditioner. Yes fish like this are good to have a small dose of aquarium salt, not salt like ocean salt. You'll see that when you get your stock and most sales people would know what that is. Once you get the tank cycled out, then you address stocking the tank.

JV

Answer 2

Okay, for starters, the Betta may attack the Guppies if they have long fins, so watch out for that. A hex tank cannot support as many fish as a rectangular tank holding the same volume. Rectangular tanks have greater surface area, so they allow more oxygen into the water. So you are looking at:

1 Betta
3 Corrys
11+ Neon Tetras
5-7 Guppies (if you absolutely have to have them)
10 Ghost Shrimp (some may get eaten, only replace them if you think it is worth it)

Good luck with your new tank, and be careful with Guppies!

So, I just read the other posts, and I have determined that people are idiots. Don't generally follow exactly what the people at the store say, they usually are there just to make money, they will sell you all the crap they can. Suckermouth fish (Plecos and Algae Eaters) get very large, and they make a lot of crap, so stay away from them (the Common Plecostomus gets 2 feet long). Live plants are best because sharp plastic plants can shred Bettas' fins. For real plants, try some floating Wisteria, and tie Java Moss to any decorations you have, it will eventually attatch itself, but you need to use kite string to hold it in place for about 2 weeks. Don't get the plants at a pet store, they generally sell land plants that they put underwater. Those plants will die after less than a month. Go to a fish store and look at their plants and ask fish store employees for help choosing plants. You should get a heater, even if it just sits there. You wouldn't want some freak cold front to come out of nowhere and kill all your fish... Good luck!
Nosoop4u

Answer 3

Some good answers here. Keep in mind that a 30 hex is very tall and thin so you will probably "hold" less fish than a long tank. Most fish like to swim side to side not up and down. Limit the cory cats cause there is not a lot of ground in a tall tank. Don't forget guppies will BREED like rabbits. I'd stick with egg layers not live bearers(guppies, platys, mollies).

You may also need a higher wattage light and possibly a slighty overpowered filter (not a bad idea anyway, ever).
I would definitely recommend an air pump and stone because with very little surface area up top, oxygen exchange will be a problem.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

I'm going to guess that your tank is cycled already and you just want some opinions on stocking. What you have sounds good, but if you really want to put a betta in the tank with the other fish, then put the betta last. That way he can't claim the whole tank as his, and when the additions arrive, he will be less likely to attack. Like someone stated before, hex tanks don't have the surface area like a regular tank. You can easily fix that by getting more air into the tank. Easy and pretty fix is by getting those tubes with the holes in the them and hooking it up to an air pump. It will create lots of pretty bubbles, but also getting more oxygen into the water. Good luck!

Answer 5

Betta is not a good idea it is a fighting fish and will kill the other fish.

I suggest a sucker fish, they will keep the sides of the tank clean. Fake ones dont die and they do just as well.

Answer 6

Ask the person at the pet store. That is what they are there for.