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new 90gal+ planted tank stocking suggestions

549 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  jellopuddinpop
Hi all,

I've had several years of experience keeping fish and I've finally convinced my dad to get a tank in his office. It is probably going to be a 6ft long, 15inch wide, with a flexible height (hence the 90gal+) - its a little narrow but it's going on a table that is already there so its not able to get wider unfortunately.

He's a complete beginner but would love a heavily planted tank and so that is priority number 1. Other than that, I have no idea what to suggest for him to put in this tank as my experience is only 20gal and less.

We are definitely going for colorful so have looked at bala sharks but they're a bit drab: we live in Poland, where 4 months out of the year are entirely grey so some color is a must.

I was thinking an easy and low energy (that is, the fish are not high energy) setup would be something like 6 discus with a school of rummy nose but I have read that they are incredibly delicate and my father would not necessarily be able to be doing 50% water changes in his office, we are talking a maximum of 30 at the VERY most, but aiming for 10-20 just because water changes would be hard. The only sink is down the hall so unless he would get an ungodly long siphon hose I have no idea how that could even work. Would discus be kept in conditions with smaller water changes? If so, this would be ideal.

Oscars could look awesome but also I have heard they're terrible with plants. Maybe gars? Could a few gars work in this setup for example?

Little fish might be an issue as they'll start dying off in a few year and no one's going to be noticing as the school dwindles (is that even an issue? dead fish are huge problem in small tanks but maybe not in 90gal). Also I am not sure how much I can depend on anyone to be on top of behavioral analysis of these fish. That, and my father does quite like the idea of fish that he can actually see from his desk haha.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any 6inch+ fish that can be kept with plants and that are less delicate than discus? Any and all tips would be hugely appreciated!
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I'd suggest rainbow fish, but I'm biased. One concern is you said this will be sitting on a table? You'd want to be sure it's incredibly sturdy as a full 90 gallon tank can weigh over 1000 lbs.

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I had a 90 cyrpt tank.
40 chili rasbora
12 kuhli

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In a heavily planted tank, I would stay away from Cichlids in general (especially Oscars). Most species of Cichlid will want to rearrange your tank to their liking, which includes uprooting plants and digging in the substrate. If you’re trying to avoid large weekly water changes, then Discus are probably out of the question too. While some very recent strains have been a little hardier, as a generality, Discus require very warm, very soft, very VERY clean water. This will leave you a very small selection of plants, and a lot of work trying to balance plant nutrients with a demanding fish.

For a colorful fish that is well suited to a planted tank, and is less demanding than discus, you can go for Angelfish and Rainbowfish. They can both tolerate slightly lower water temps, they won’t dig in or eat plants, they are colorful, and they can tolerate a wider range of water parameters. I would round the tank off with some Otocinclus, Cory cats, and Nerite Snails.

Edit: I also agree with what Riza said about the tank being on a table. At 8lb / Gallon, a 90 Gallon tank is at 720 lbs of water alone. Add the tank itself, substrate, and hardscape, and you will be exceeding 1000 lbs for sure. That better be one damned good table lol.
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