[Daniel12490]

Hi All,

I am in need of some inspiration/advice. I have a tall 30 gallon aquarium that I am not sure what to do with. I am thinking maybe dwarf species with a heavy plant list but not sure what species or plants would do the best. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! I do have the option to run Co2 and the tank specs are 24.25x 12.5x 24.75

 

[bkensey]

That depends on what kind of fish care you enjoy doing. I'll throw out a few fish I have experience with and then describe what it's like to care for them. I started out with Neocaridina shrimp and Peppered Corydoras, which were both fun and easy to keep and breed. Over time I expanded the variety of fish I've kept to include Pygmy Cories (who are also proving easy to breed), Khuli Loaches (super fun to watch), purple and magenta mystery snails (slow but pretty), and eventually Bamboo shrimp, Amano shrimp, Pea Puffers, Scarlet Badis and Stiphodon Gobies.

The Scarlet Badis and Bamboo Shrimp have been the greatest source of work at times, but also definitely the most fun. Scarlet Badis are micro predators, so I have a couple of running experiments trying to cultivate micro worms, daphnia, and copepods. I just recently started hatching brine shrimp and I think I've finally hit the sweet spot. There's just something delightful about a peaceful community tank with a few micro-predators in the mix, but you have to enjoy the care demands.

 

[Daniel12490]

Thank you, bkensey! I used to have pygmy's in my heavily planted 220 but rarely saw them but when I did, they were a delight to watch. What is the secret to breeding them? I like the idea of having a shrimp colony with some loaches, gobies, and even a small predator fish to keep the colony population in check. Any insights on the best places to buy shrimp from?

 

[blue tom]

I have a 30 tall that I've had set up for a few years now. This is it recently, though it hasn't varied all that much in its variations (mostly in the amount of algae).

It's got about 12 ember tetras, some dwarf corydoras, otos, Amanos, and however many blue neo shrimp are left.

 

[Daniel12490]

I have a 30 tall that I've had set up for a few years now. This is it recently, though it hasn't varied all that much in its variations (mostly in the amount of algae).

It's got about 12 ember tetras, some dwarf corydoras, otos, Amanos, and however many blue neo shrimp are left.

That's a great looking tank. Gives me a good idea for inspiration!

 

[Thenoob]

I have a 30 tall that I've had set up for a few years now. This is it recently, though it hasn't varied all that much in its variations (mostly in the amount of algae).

It's got about 12 ember tetras, some dwarf corydoras, otos, Amanos, and however many blue neo shrimp are left.

Sorry to thread hijack but what is the plant on the rock with the red stem I'm the first picture?

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk

 

[blue tom]

Sorry to thread hijack but what is the plant on the rock with the red stem I'm the first picture?

It's Homalomena humilis, and it didn't look like that for long. I think it's been about three months, and I'm still waiting to see any sign of new leaf growth, after it shed everything. I don't think it's dead and rotten, but surely it's got to **** or get off the pot soon. Looked great when I got it, though.