Advice on new setup

[Droc]

I havent been on here is years. 

I have a basic 40g tank I got from big als half a decade ago.  Simple light, biowheel filter, crappy click plastic plants that always end up floating on the surface, crappy light and tacky blue rock.

Simple tank by my front entry.  We run a daycare so the kids love it.  Very low maintenance.

All I have left is a very large Midas.  He is huge, and very mean.  He jumps, bites, makes you bleed...I love him.
I had oscars, those pelcos and a bunch of other stuff, but the midas killed most of them off 3-4 years ago.  Our last pelco was 14 inches and died 8 months ago.  We got another one but the midas killed him in a day. 
Currently our Miads is closing in on 8 years of age.  Hes getting slow and recently noticed he has HITH(doing water changes, diet etc).  But I figure he wont last much longer anyways. 

So Im planning ahead on what to do with my tank after my midas passes. 

What I know for sure is I want smaller fish.  I owned guppies before, and 2 turned into 200, and everything else I got turned into giant killers.  I want fish that are social and active....fun for the kids to look at.

I also want to get different sand/gravel.  Something finer.

Honestly, I dont know much about fish, but whats the deal with shrimp and crabs?  Can they exist in a freshwater tank or do I need to go for a high maintenance live plant tank?

I want better lighting....LED seems to be hot these days. 

Any suggestions/guides?
 

[Feivel]

Tetras gouramis swords..... Cichlids are pretty fun too. Semi aggresive with good filtration and lots of cichlids. They have a certain attitude thats cool. Nice colorations too. The nicer of the freshwater side. As for the leds im sure there are some basic set ups for cheaper but they can be expensive. I wouldnt go this route unless you are planning a planted tank. The plants like the extra light for growth but can have algae blemishes from havin g toooo much light.

Ever think of a simple saltwater set up with a few rocks an anemone and a pair of clowns? Some hermit crabs and snails. Its a bit more expensive on set up bit the beauty of it pays off in double.
Always depends on your budget and schedule.

[daworldisblack]

I'd say tetras - neons are my fav. Then you can add other kinds - rummynose seems to be a fav with the young un's. Ask the two other parents who set up freshwater tanks for their kids Peekay and briannesbitt. They have their kids' wishlist on thier threads somewhere. So perhaps that could give you and idea- or day trip for the daycare kids to Big Al's (the staff will be able to help with compatibility, ease of keeping, parameters etc.)! :p As for gravel, it all depends - I do recommend the planted route. If so, there are plenty of options( stratum, fluorite,ecocomplete,amazonia etc.) otherwise just regular gravel with root tabs works. All depends on what kind of planted tank you want. Low-maintenance (low light, lower CO2 )plants don't ask for much. At the end of the day plants are beneficial in a freshwater set up and to a certain extent, what lighting system (T8/T5HO/LED/MH) and whether to get a co2 system in place depends on what plants you intend to keep. Fishes dont care at all.

As for inverts, there are freshwater shrimps and crabs available in the hobby. Some are easier then others to keep. Others are not suitable just because of the size (they'll be snacks in no time). So you'd need to decide if fishes or inverts take precedence and then go from there. Wish smaller fishes, the regular cherry shrimps are fine.  

[Droc]

co2 system sounds expensive, and high maintenance.

I liked the idea of saltwater, but thats big cost right?  Dont you need special lights, filters, skimmers, etc?

These cherry shrimp, do they need real plants to survive? or can they just be added to any tank with appropriate sized fish?

[exv152]

Shrimp benefit from a live plant environment because the plants consume nitrates and in a plastic-only tank the nitrates have nowhere to go so they just keep building up and rely primarily on water changes. Shrimp are highly prone to nitrate poisining, as well as nitrite and ammonia poisining, all of which are better consumed/managed in a all live plant setup. My two cents.

[touchofsky]

I have a 38 gallon low maintenance tank with cool water fish, which include danios (several different varieties including longfinned), white cloud mountain minnows, cherry barbs, rosy barbs, corydoras (bronze, albino and peppered), a pair of bristlenose plecos.  I don't have a heater in this tank, and have low light plants in it, along with a nice piece of wood.  In winter, the temperature stays at about 68 f. and the fish and plants thrive.

The substrate is a mixture of fine gravel and pool filter sand.  I do fertilize the plants a couple of times per month, and put root tabs under some of the heavier feeders.

My granddaughter really likes the rosy barbs because they are bit bigger, and are a nice pinkish orange colour when they mature. 

[Droc]

cool, thanks.  I think Ill plan on sand/gravel with driftwood, LED lighting and a few plants.
Tetras, shrimp and a crab

[briannesbitt]

We (my 6 yr old and I) recently setup a 45g bow front.  We are in the 2nd half of the cycle using some plants, 6 zebra danios and seeded filter media all kindly provided by a few great users on this forum!

You can see my longer thread here http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=53812.0 with a picture of our tank setup and weight test... as we built a home made stand. (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12157)

Our initial stocking list was as follows:
Cory catfish
Glowlights
Platys
Zebra Danios
Rummy-nosed
Anglefish?
Red-tailed shark?

My son likes the zebra danios as they are really active.  After some debate and conversation / research our current stocking plan now consists of the following:
Zebra Danios
Black Phantom Tetra
Pearl Gourami
Corydoras (3 x 2 types)
Raphael Catfish

We like the active/fast danios and tetras for fun to watch.  The Gourami's will be larger and the focal fish.  The cory's are cool and will cover the bottom and the Raphael is just our favourite looking fish ever.  Not to mention my sons first fish he caught was a catfish so I think he really likes them :-)

This selection for us will hopefully have fish in all levels of the tank and of various size and activity levels.  I think this will make for an interesting tank.  The other we would look at for a little more splash of colour are platys.

The other thing to think about is more fish, more activity is probably good in general for kids.  So if you stick to the smaller fish your tank can handle more than if you got the larger raphael (6") or gourmai's (5") for instance.