[JaysTanks]

Hello, love this forum so I figured id give it a try advice is always appreciated.
-I have SolarMax High Output lighting 2x 24Watt bulbs on it.
-Temp is about 78 degrees
-My substrate is 40lbs of Eco Care Complete, with a tapered effect from 2inch in the front to 4 in the back.
-Right now the only occupants of the tank is a Betta
- My plan is to have 6+ Cherry Shrimp, a Chinese algae eater, maybe a few otocinclus algae eaters (wanted peoples opinions on them)
- At the moment all I have is some val.,dwarf sag,and a cryptocoryne wendtii(red version)
- I work at a pet store and ill be placing a pretty big order of plants soon, ill add those names when I get the chance.

 

[l8nite]

Looking great I have a solitary otocinclus in my 29G tank - he's a lot of fun and does a fantastic job cleaning up (he has a little help from a Nerite snail and a few hundred malaysian trumpet snails, though.). He loves resting on my amazon sword leaves.

 

[l8nite]

Forgot to say, but those swords will get HUGE if you give them a chance. I started with one about half the size of your val , and 8 weeks later it's reaching the top of my 29G and fanned out the entire side (I'm dosing ferts + CO2).

Dwarf sag is the best. Mine has slowly been creeping and spreading out over the tank. It probably has about 25% of the bottom surface covered now. I'm going to be transferring it into my new 110G tank soon, so hopefully it will spread even faster

 

[Knotyoureality]

Have to recommend against the chinese algae eater--they get big FAST and can become very aggressive toward other fish when older. Hellishly tough to catch as well without pulling the entire tank apart.

Otos will give you a good algae eating crew for less bioload and zero aggression. And since they stay small, most tanks can easily support a small school. While I've seen 'em kept as singletons, they really do best in groups of 3 or more.

 

[JaysTanks]

Thanks guys, yeah ill take out the val if I have to. I already have algae growth since my last post, I'm gonna have to get 4 or more of them octs.

 

[JaysTanks]

Just placed my plant order, ill post a pic of them when they come in.

wisteria
Heteranthera zosterifolia
pogostemon stellatus "broad leaf"
Alternanthera reineckii
Rotala rotundifolia
anubias nana

 

[JaysTanks]

Sorry guys never updated. My own store messed up my plant order and I received a bunch of plants that I didn't even want. Needless to say i will be getting rid of most of them so a photo isn't really necessary ,Getting a drop checker and a co2 soon as well as filling out another plant order.

 

[LB79]

Chinese algae eaters are good only for tanks with mid-sized cichlids that are more than able to throttle an overconfident suckerfish. A rubberlip pleco should work just fine. Never over 3 inches and they keep all to themselves, and they're pretty hardy.