We will forward one to Ananda.

Setting-up a Community Tank

by Ananda Menon
of India
Aquarticles

I have been keeping fish ever since I was six, and one of my favourite set-ups is a "typical beginner's" community. I live in Kolkata (Calcutta) in India, where the water stays at about 25°C for most of the winter (in summer it can go above 32°C), so heating isn't a problem for me.

A good tank to start off with is a 50 - 80 litre tank (1 gallon = 3.7 litres). Bigger tanks are fine, but big tanks tend to be expensive, and maintenance is harder. A weekly water change for a fifty litre tank is about 10 - 15 litres, while that for a 250 litre system is about 50 litres a week!

The tank should be placed near a plug point; you don't want wires trailing across the room. It should be near a water source, and away from a window, since the sunlight can contribute greatly to the growth of algae and heat the water to fatally high levels. Don't put one near a door either, since the constant banging of the door will unnecessarily stress the occupants. Water is very heavy, weighing 1 kilo per litre, so a strong stand is very important.

Gravel is my choice of substrate for most aquaria. It shouldn't be too fine or too coarse. I don't use white gravel; it makes the fish look less colourful. I find coloured gravel garish and neurotic, but if you like it, you can use it. Be careful because it is generally dyed, and though most batches don't leak the dye into water, some do. It is best to leave it in a bucket of water for a week and then check if it leaks colour. I like using natural looking brown gravel. Before you put the gravel into the tank you have to wash it. Newly bought gravel can be remarkably dirty. I wash gravel by dumping it into a bucket, filling it to about 2/3 with tepid water, then stirring it, throwing away the dirty water, then repeating till clear water runs from the bucket.

Rocks make fantastic decorations for the tank. Before you put any in though, make sure it doesn't contain metal ores, crystals or limestone. (Limestone is good for rift lake set-ups, but not for an average community). Bogwood is also very beautiful, but make sure it is properly cured, otherwise it might liberate tannins into the water, dangerously lowering the pH.

Now for the water. If your tap water has chlorine, then run it hard into a bucket and let it cure overnight. The chlorine will dissipate. Most people worry quite a bit about pH, but I would say that whatever your pH is, leave it alone if it's stable. There are several other things like GH and KH too, but leave all that alone for now. You should change 20-25% of the water every week, using a gravel strainer to remove accumulated dirt.

There are basically two types of plants available, real and artificial. Artificial plants generally look quite fake, but are useful when you have voracious plant eaters. Real plants look far more natural (duh!), produce oxygen and take in carbon dioxide. Before adding any plants remove dead/damaged leaves. In nature, water is softened by large amounts of rotting vegetation in it. This may be harmful for some species in your tank, however. Then you should dip them into a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 10 minutes to kill any snails/snail eggs on them. Wash them vigorously and then you can add them. Treat tropical plants with as much respect as you would fish. Just like a houseplant can die when chilled, so can tropical water plants. All plants need 10-12 hours of light a day. I make sure that there are two watts for every five litres. Some good species are: Java moss, Java fern, Anubias sp. Cryptocoryne sp., Echinodorus sp., Riccia, Indian fern, Aponogeton sp., and Hygrophila sp.   The Japanese rush needs colder water, Cabomba needs clear, slow moving water to keep its fronds in place, and lilies throw up pads and flowers which cover the surface, blocking light to other species.

Filtration is essential, and is of 3 types, biological, physical and chemical. Undergravel (UG) filtration is not worth the hassle. I use internal box filters, using filter floss as the filtration media, along with a thin layer of activated carbon. If using this type of filtration, make sure you change 50% of the filter floss every month, or whenever it looks REALLY dirty. The activated carbon is optional. It removes dissolved impurities, and should be changed every month along with the floss. Other good filter media are gravel, filter foam, peat (for acidic set-ups), limestone chips (for hard water set-ups.) In any case, the filter flow rate should be all the water in the tank per hour. Power filters are useful for larger tanks, while sponge filters are good for tanks with low filtration needs.

Finally, the fish !!! You want about five species of fish. While it is tempting to buy one of everything, remember that a tank with 20 fish of two species looks better than a tank with 20 fish of fifteen species. Keeping the fish in shoals also lets you see normal behaviours that you would otherwise miss. Be sure to add the fish gradually, so the filter can take the load.

A shoal of six danios is very good for movement in the tank. They are very hardy, and peaceful fish. Some good species are zebra danio (Brachydanio rerio), leopard danio (B. frankei), pearl danio (B. albolineatus), spotted danio (B. nigrofasciatus), and also white cloud mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes). They are all very tolerant of most water conditions, easy to breed, and are extremely active. They are shoaling fish and form tight shoals, and they should be kept in shoals of at least six, or they can become very aggressive. Several varieties of the above are available, and my favourites are the long finned ones. They are easily sexed, with the females having rounded bellies, and the males having almost concave ones. They breed in the morning, and the females are loyal to their partners. However, with the exception of Tanichthys albonubes, they are avid egg eaters and given half a chance will eat their own eggs and fry. I would suggest a mixed shoal of zebra and pearl danios.

If you have soft, matured water, then for your second shoal you can keep six glowlight tetras, (Hemigrammus erythrozonus). In my opinion they are the most beautiful of the tetras. To keep them, the rest of the tank mates should be small, >4 inches, and peaceful. They are sexed much the same way as danios, but breeding them is much harder.

Otherwise you can keep six rainbowfishes. For tanks >80 litres, Melanotaenia praecox, the dwarf neon rainbowfish, is fantastic. It is a very interesting fish, being an iridescent blue, and the males have the most beautiful crimson red fins. The females have clear or orange-ish fins . They are easy to breed, but the fry are very tiny. For tanks 80< litres, other rainbows (Melanotaenia sp.), red rainbows (Glossolepis sp.) and Pseudomugil sp. work very well.  Madagascar rainbow (Bedotia geayi) and Celebes rainbow (Telmatherina ladigesi) are shoaling fish that shouldn't be kept in acidic conditions.

If you're going to keep livebearers, then guppies (Poecilia reticulata), swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) and platies (Xiphophorus variatus/ maculatus) are my livebearers of choice. Mollies need at least an 80-litre system to grow properly, and are more prone to diseases like dropsy. They are tolerant of all water conditions, provided that the water isn't too acidic. Many people put salt in the water, but I find it unnecessary, except that mollies seem to do better with salt. They should be kept in the ratio of 1:2, in favour of females. Otherwise, the females might just be harassed to death! They are easily sexable, with males having a gonopodium, or a modified anal fin. The females have normal anal fins. Female guppies have fawn coloured bodies, and in some species a gravid spot can be seen on the females. This is a black spot near the urinogenital opening. It means that the female is pregnant. If you have a well-planted tank, then some of the babies will survive. Ensure that the tank doesn't get overpopulated. While guppies make nice fillers, I like swords a lot too. I would keep some guppies (>15) and a trio of swords.

Anabantids include the gouramis, bettas, paradise fish and combtails. They have a labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. I like using Colisa lalia, the dwarf gourami. Keep two females per male, to avoid too much bullying. They come in several colour morphs. I've seen a blue, red and green version. Personally, I like the normal fish the best. The males are very brightly coloured, while the females are a drab silvery fish. The male has extensions to his dorsal fin. Another good fish is the three-spot gourami, (Trichogaster trichopterus). This also comes in several colour morphs. One is the blue gourami, (Trichogaster trichopterus sumatranus). It is light blue, with dark blue patches on the flanks. The spots aren't clearly visible. There is another blue colouration, with the 2 spots (spot 3 is the eye) clearly visible. A brown morph is also present, but to me the most beautiful version is the gold morph. It is a beautiful fish that is a yellow ochre in colour, and has a black nettled pattern on the dorsal body. The males have pointed dorsal fins; the females have rounded ones. Again, 2 females to1 male is the rule. They are bubble nest builders, and if fed well and kept in clean water with minimal disturbance to the surface, they can be spawned. Some floating plants will help too. Their spawning is truly wonderful, with the males "embracing" the females. The male takes very good care of the spawn, so remove the female after spawning, or she may be killed. The male should be removed when the fry are free-swimming. They can grow quite big, but are very peaceful. I would suggest a trio of gold gouramis.

For your catfish, four Corydoras sp. would be nice. They are peaceful substrate-dwelling fish, which also come up to the surface and take a "breath" of air. There are several species like C. aenus, julii, davidsandsi, loxozonus, sterbai, barbatus, paleatus, baderi ……… You could also keep six Otocinclus instead. Two kulhi loaches would make a great addition as well, and maybe a flying fox, (Epalzeorynchus kallopterus).

Ram cichlids (Microgeophagus ramirezi) (only for large tanks without small fish in them), festivums (Menosauta festivus) and angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) are cichlids that are suited to this community.

Fishes you don't want to touch with a 10 foot stick are: most cichlids (they are great fish in the right set-up, but would totally wreck this kind of tank. Even fish like kribs (Pelvicachromis pulcher), who are suited to this type of tank, would probably spawn and while guarding the brood might hurt or kill other fish.). Epalzeorynchus sp. (with the exception of  the flying fox E. kallopterus) and the Chinese algae eater (Gyrinocheilus sp) will grow too big, and bully all their tankmates. Some barbs are not suitable (Barbus tetrazona, the tiger barb, being a leading example) because they will nip the other fish's fins. Otherwise, most barbs will do very well.

If given proper care, this kind of tank can become a beautiful ornament to any room. Do not forget to do more research!