My fish are going in tomorrow! Need some last min advice!

[icefreeze57]

Here is my tank!

As you can see there is very little green in the tank so I'm probably going to add some plants before I let the fish sit tomorrow! I'm really excited to put my fish in! I am putting in 3 tiger barbs (then I hope to add 2 more TBs and a Red-Tail Shark before the month ends!) So I have a few questions!

Live plants v. Fake Plants

So I guess my plan is to vacuum some water out and put it in a bucket so I can stick my hand in and bury a few plants! So should I wait for the fish to get use to the tank for a day or two and then add the plants (maybe on Christmas or XMas Eve) and when I do this should I go with live or fake?

I can see the benefit of the live plants (they look better and add oxygen into the water) but what is the actual work to plant them and take care of them.


My next question is: as I previously mentioned I want my school to be five TBs.

At first I wanted to add the RTS with 2 TBs 1st and then add the rest of the TBs later, but then I realized the TBs are much hardier than the RTS so even though I wanted to the RTS to get his territory first I think its better to get the hardy fish in 1st. Anyway, how many days should I wait to add the rest of the fish? I don't want to do it to quickly but I don't want to rush it tbh.

Also, when should I preform the WC for the fish? The next day or should I wait for the rest of the fish to get in before I start my schedule?



Sorry about the glare on the picture, I took it on my phone. Also its a 40 gallon tank

thanks
-ice

 

[icefreeze57]

any help?

 

[Raven20]

Is the tank cycled?

 

[probassfisher010]

A) make sure the tank is cycled...B) get 5 tiger barbs instaid of 3, they fight and more will spread out agression. C) What size tank is it? It looks like a 10 gallon...5 tiger barbs and 2 red tail sharks, at mature size will need a bigger tank. D) I gave up on gravel and switched most my tanks to sand, which is a lot easier to keep clean. goodluck and I hope for the fish's sake it is cycled.

 

[probassfisher010]

Just read the last bit of your post and saw that it is 40g, which is good. Sorry I didnt read the entire post before posting, oops. Anyways I think you should go with 7-10 tiger barbs, which will look nicer and spread out agression. Goodluck and please ask what cycling means if you don't know.

 

[icefreeze57]

yeah I'm more worried about my plant question and how long it could take to add more TBs, I wasn't planning to add five at once unless somewhere here thinks its a decent idea... also no way am I putting multiple RTS in the tank, they'll kill each other lol

 

[PIE.]

It depends if you want to care for the live plants and buy nutrients, and other stuff like that. I always find plastic plants are easier if your a fish person like me, but live plants make the display is stunning. I don't have much experience with maintaining for live plants as I have little experience with them. Best of luck.

 

[Greg31]

In regards to plants. Live plants are great, but sometimes the look like poop, and you end up having more mess from deteriorating plants then you may want.

I highly suggest getting silk plants. They are always green, and look great.

 

[pacu mom]

Here is my tank! View attachment 729122

Also, when should I preform the WC for the fish? The next day or should I wait for the rest of the fish to get in before I start my schedule?

Did you cycle your tank? If so, did you cycle it with fish, or did you fishless cycle it adding ammonia and then checking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? If your tank is cycled, then you just need to keep checking your water parameters and do a WC if you get ammonia and nitrite readings (mini-cycle), or if your tank remains cycled, do WCs to keep your nitrates below 20 ppm. In a cycled tank, the amount and frequency of your WCs should be determined by how quickly nitrates build up.

 

[icefreeze57]

thanks guys