new tank

[piranha45]

Yo can try overstocking, but I think you'll be trying to cram too many fish in too small a tank in the long run, if it does work. Super reds sound like a better idea..

 

[BUBBA]

Sand can be hard to maintan.
I perfer small gravel..

 

[guppy]

Sand can be hard to maintan.
I perfer small gravel..

Agreed, but i also supplement the overside filter with under gravel, fine sand tends to compact unless you add trumpet snails. 3 is better than 2, 5 is better than 3 if they are small enough but expect to lose at least one as they grow, super reds might be better for a 55g

 

[Oddball]

In the wild, the more dense the P shoal becomes, the higher the incidence of cannibalism (From writings on "The Territorial Imperative" - forgot the author). This is a drought response to less available food as the number of prey animals are reduced in isolated or near isolated pools. You could probably overcome this instinct by providing more food but, I wouldn't envy you on the increased maintenance.

 

[aniki]

sand should be fine, but once you set it up it might remain cloudy for a couple of days up to 2 weeks depending how fine the sand is and how well you wash the sand beforehand. there should be something you can buy from your lfs to add to the water so that the small particles floating around settle much faster, forgot what its called.

as for canister filters, a nice and cheap one like a fluval 404 or xp3 would do the trick, but if you have extra money to throw around get a eheim, best filter you can get can enevr go wrong.

 

[RhomBeusBoi]

I would get an EMP 280 over an AC300.