u/Alienturtle9

As a small kid I had goldfish, and then a few neons, but that was about 25 years ago and I haven’t had a fish tank since. In the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted a “real” aquarium. So when a friend’s friend was throwing one that had been gathering dust for a while, I decided it was about time.

I stripped back and painted the cabinet, cleaned years of grime and salt from the tank, re-backed it, filtered the gravel, and washed everything down.

I watched a few videos, browsed a lot of threads in this subreddit, and fumbled my way through setting things up.

Tank Specs:

• Size: 300L volume, 180cm long
• Filter: Aqua One Ocellaris 1400 UV (new)
• Lighting: Fluorescent. Custom-fitted to the tank. Replaced with new, brighter tubes.
• Substrate: 8kg Fluval Stratum beneath 2-4mm pebble gravel and black decorative 8mm pebble

Initial Plants:

• Anubias, Amazon Sword, DHG, and Takashi Carpet (lightly planted to start, aiming for long-term spread). Open to more. Thinking about trying to get some Javas to attack to the rocks.

Initial Stock:

• 4 Corydoras
• 10 Cardinal Tetras
• 10 Glowlight Tetras
• 6 Harlequin Rasboras
• Snails which hitchhiked as eggs on the plants – lots of Ramshorns and a few Trumpets.

Set-up timeframe:

• 2-3 weeks of cycling water before adding any plants, with Seachem stability and Prime, plus a bacterial starter (dirty filter) from one of my local aquarium suppliers, plus another 3 weeks of slower cycling and testing (6 weeks total) before adding any plants.
• Another 4 weeks after planting before considering adding fish.
• Levels all cross-checked by local supplier, all good and fish went in a week ago.

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That’s the prelude, but I feel like I’m fumbling around with little idea what I’m doing.

Questions:

1. I like the idea of all nano fish, but am not sure how many types, how many total for a tank of this size, whether they are likely to breed, and what types play nice with each other. Tetras seem nice and versatile, I’m thinking about adding Serpaes, Rummynose, Penguins, Flames. Are these all reasonable options?
2. What other small species play well with Tetras?
3. How often do you feed nano fish? I’ve had conflicting information, one supplier saying twice a day and the other every second day.
4. How infrequently is it reasonable to change water, how often should I gravel siphon, and how do I avoid the fluval stratum being sucked up when siphoning?
5. How many Corys is a good number for a 300L tank, and should I also get some more dedicated algae-eaters like Longfin Bristlenose?
6. I’m also interested in adding some Kuhli Loaches or similar, but I don’t have a sand substrate. Will the rounded gravel be too harsh on them, or do I have enough hidey-holes among the plants and rocks?
7. I’d like to add Cherry Shrimp. How readily do these breed, and are there any conflicts with my existing or planned species?
8. I’m thinking about setting up a brine shrimp source to supplement the nutrient of the flake diet. Is this easy to do?

Tank. (before most of the current fish were added)