new 55 gallon

[big b]

It's story time. My mom wanted a fish tank in the family room and some of my guppies to go in it. I convinced her to get a 29 gallon. Petco was having the dollar per gallon sale and it was just about to end so we went the next day and got it. The person who helped us get the tank inside the car(I could have done it myself) was happy and helpful. A day has passed by now. We went to a couple places to find some piece of furniture to hold the tank. We went to 2 glorified thrift stores (ran by the same people and both very over priced) and 2 goodwill(s). The first one we went to, we saw the guy from petco. (He was young, college age. probably had 2 jobs to help pay for college) He brought out a piece of furniture that was not wide enough to hold the tank. While I was looking for something to hold it, he told my mom about a sale at peco that was happening for the next 3 days. All live fish,shrimp,snails,and plants were 20% off. (I never buy fish from petco anymore, a couple bad cases of ich and a lot of dead fish because of petco) We got 6 amano shrimp(I wanted 10 but i settled for 6 cuz of mother) a bunch of plants, and just before he had bagged all of them up, I remembered about nerite snails. I "dragged" him over and pointed out 5 thumb sized zebra nerites and 2 thumb sized red spot nerites.
The snails and shrimp are currently in my 5 gallon until I get my 55 up and running. I also just switched one of my filter pads from my 38 gallon to my 55 gallon. I hope that the filter pad has enough bacteria to get my 55 cycled 

[Mugwump]

...a nice start to a journal.....I'd be interested in what happens next...    

[big b]

I'll be sure to keep yall updated 

[big b]

Well, it seems like the title no longer fits. I decided the fish I had in my 38 were slightly over crowded in there so I moved them to the 55 where they will have plenty of space. Instead of stocking a 55 gallon, I will be stocking a 38 gallon. The tank is a bit dirty since I went bare bottom because I had a bunch of bottom feeders in there. I'm gonna clean it, make sure all duckweed and snails are gone then start it up again. I am considering letting the tank run with just a few red eye tetras and a little bit of gravel with dwarf hair grass to see if it will grow for me.

[Mugwump]

..that'll work...have fun..

[big b]

Yep, I'm planning to buy a lot of 30 cherry shrimp so that I can get a good colony going quickly. Gonna cost $45. Or $30 if I can get the money at the same time they are doing their cherry shrimp for $1.
I am considering to get maybe 1 or 2 bamboo shrimp and 1 vampire shrimp later on. Also, I was tossing around the idea of thai micro crabs and a dwarf mexican crayfish. What ya think?

[BallAquatics]

A good many of the dwarf crayfish will eat ALL of your plants.

Dennis

[Mugwump]

A good many of the dwarf crayfish will eat ALL of your plants.

Dennis

..indeed, it'll be a smorgasbord.....

[big b]

If he ate my plants, I would give him to my brother........Who would end up deep frying him and putting butter and hot sauce on him probably 

[Mugwump]

If he ate my plants, I would give him to my brother........Who would end up deep frying him and putting butter and hot sauce on him probably 

'he' ?? not the loach..

read again..
'A good many of the dwarf crayfish will eat ALL of your plants.'

[big b]

I know, I was refering to the crayfish.

[big b]

So, I'm gonna change this thread a bit. I'm gonna make it about my 38 gallon and my 55 gallon. I just planted about half of my 55 gallon. 22 inches to be exact. I'm hoping my rainbow shark and male bristle nose pleco don't charge in and uproot all of the plants up.

For now, my 38 gallon is full of water with nothing in it. except fish poop, and snails and a bit of duck weed. I am completely starting over in my 38 gallon. I have 6 filter pads stuffed into 1 of my filters in my 55 gallon. I'm planning to instantly cycle this tank once i get a new filter. Then I'm gonna keep some red eye tetras in there to keep the cycle going. I think I have 7 left. Used to have 10, 1 died a month or two after I got them. The other ones just vanished during their stay in the 20 gallon red guppy tank.(Thanks mug, the red guppies are doing FANTASTIC. The blue guppies never bred very much and died out)

[big b]

There is currently 1 angelfish,1 blue gourami,1 rainbow shark,1 african leaf fish,2 albino bristle nose plecos,1 normal bristlenose pleco(baby),1 flag fish(temporarily),7 corys, 5 kuhli loaches, and soon to be, 1 leopard bush fish in the 55 gallon. I'm considering a banjo catfish, I have liked them for a while. I have read that they are very peaceful for most of the time, would he get along with my other fish? I'm not worries about most of them. Just my rainbow shark and gourami. The gourami is a bit of a pain in the ass, she is constantly going after my angel and I think the shark but I'm not too sure if she is going after the shark. She is only about 2-2.5 inches. I sometimes see the rainbow shark going after the angel as well. The shark is about 5-6 inches long. He is big enough to cause harm to a banjo catfish with ease. What do yall think?