new 1.2m tank coming soon

hey guys so its official im going to get the 1.2m :bigsmile:, its just too good a deal to pass up, im getting the gravel (best thing about it is its black haha score!),filter,air pipes and stone and wooden top piece with light fittings gratis, just have to buy the bulbs. so now my head is in a whirl about what to do with this loverly big tank hehe. ill probably flesh out my danio, platy and molly schools first and maybe the cories as well (i got 3 at the moment), the betta and the pleco ill leave as is and then maybe a pair of moonlight or red robin gouramis as well i was thinking maybe a school of 10 - 15 neon tetras though im still deciding on that as the last time i had them they all died and infected my other fish with ick and fin rot:evil:.

ill probably collect the tank at the end of the month when iv paid the first installment and then im gona have to cycle it, how long should i do this? im going to put some of my old filter wool into the new filter to kick start the bacteria, and itll be a fishless cycle to begin with maybe adding the danios as test dummies after a week or two.

secondly i have a large sword and i was wondering if it would be possible to split it like one does with agapanthus? it would help financially as i would then have to spend less. this tank will probably take awhile to become complete but im looking forward to the scaping challenges. we have some really nice pieces of grey granite lying in the veld that ill probably use and ill get the wood from out farm in the soutpansberg, two magor saves there so itll just be the fish and plants. now any planting ideas? id like more swords and anubias but the mollies like to pick at the watersprite, ill keep what iv got but i want more sort of middle ground plants, swords and sprites would make a nice back drop though with anubias and maybe some sort of low grass in the front, my 2 javas on wood or rock what else?

and finally would the plant gurus here say that there is a need for a serious grower with an eye for importing plants we dont have here but that are available in america? im a horticulture student and im thinking about starting an aquatic nursery, ill only do so if theres a market for the stuff though. any thoughts?

 

Brilliant! Welcome to the wonderful world of MTS!!!

The why on earth would you do it again?

I know neons are cheap, but they are probably the number 1 reason for disease transfer in all of fishkeeping! Avoid them like the plague!

Those are nice easy plants to grow, but you should still fertilize them fairly regularly to keep their growth nice and lush... But I guess being a horticulture student, you already knew that!!

Dude... There is a MASSIVE demand for aquatic plants. No matter what type.

 

Congrats on the purchase of the new tank! MTS has definitely hit Yip, there is always a demand for good aquatic plants.

 

Congrats on the tank dude and as all have said wee need more plant suppliers, Hell I am looking for some nice plants.

 

thanks guys id like to start bringing in some of the more exotic species like the lace leaf. i think the hobby is growing here and if we can get more awareness going about it it could become quite big. im still busy with my studies but once im done im going to look at this, to start off i dont think ill need a large area, maybe a rack with a few tanks you can pick up some less than perfect ones quite cheaply on the net.hmmm now im really thinking.

anyway il be putting my guppies in the 40litre and donatin the 16litre i have to a betta in need whose currently living in a jar at a bar i go too, i might even get him some fake plants to hide in. ignorance can be a real problem. as to why id get neons again slagter, well they pretty and give nice movement to a tank though i know they disease carriers, can yousuggest any alternative to them? they cant be fin nippers cos of Vulcan my betta. i was looking at adding some lyretail platies they pretty cool and some blue mickeys. then some of your normal mollies though looks like my single mollie has now turned into 3, does anyone know if mollies store sperm like guppies? or can the cross breed with platties like endlers and guppies do? the danios i want to add are the leopard danios and not the long tailed ones, they look kinda weird from all the interbreeding. cories id like to get a panda cory and maybe another pepper, bruce has almost doubled in size since i last bought him lol they great lil fish to watch.

 

id also like to add a pair of angels and and pair of red robin gouramis i like them they pretty and i love the lil feller fins they got, really cute. ill be picking the tank up probably at the end of the month and ill set it up to cycle. once thats done i can go from there, im so excited though my fish are going to love it! also i was thinking of 2 female bettas? is the 1.2 big enough for 3 bettas to be housed peacefully? i love the turqouise colour! ill have plenty of shrubery and hidey holes, walking the dog yestaday i saw a hell of a lot of grey granite and ill use aquarium silicon to stick them together to make caves and archways. my ma has agreed to get me some nice pieces of wood from the farm and ill ask for pieces that will also make lil cakes and tunnels, i said mopani if possible other wise anything really, we got some awsum wood down there.

 

Congrats on the new tank. Regular pics would be a good thing .