What should I put in my new 30 gallon?

[safiredragon]

One of my grandma's friends has just given me a 30-gallon tank, with an eclipse hood on it! I'm so excited! All I need to do is buy a heater and I'll be set for tropical fish. Unfortunately, I have no idea what sort of fish, how many, etc. etc. I want to put. I know this is probably a hassle of a question, but can anyone suggest some good set-ups for me? I'm going to start cycling the tank tomorrow so I'll be ready for fish in a few weeks. I want a peaceful community, with colorful fish and maybe some bottom dwellers... I love cute, colorful fish, heh. My current fish, 4 long-finned zebra danios and an oto (soon to be 6 danios and 2 otos) will be staying in their 12-gallon in my room. So yeah. ideas for a good 30-gallon community?

[mr gerbil]

There's so much choice that it's hard to say. Why not take a look around your lfs?

[Nell]

There are a lot of possibilities...
Any of the livebearers (guppies, platies, mollies, swordtails) make good community fish. Most tetras will work as well. Corydoras are a favorite of many people. danios or rasboras or dwarf gouramis are also possibilities. I'm sure there are plenty of others that I'm forgetting as well.

What are some of your favorite fish? If you give us some ideas of what you like, we can help you choose what will work well together and in what numbers. :)

[safiredragon]

I was thinking of one or two small schools - maybe harlequin rasboras, neon tetras, or something similar? Showcases like maybe dwarf gourami or german ram? And I want a bottom feeder, maybe cory cats or if I don't have enough room ghost shrimp? Small, cute things like these...

[mr gerbil]

They all sound fine. The rams like an acidic pH though, which might not go down perfectly with the others.

[safiredragon]

Ugh, bad news. I filled up the tank to start cycling it and it has a leak in the lower corner. I don't think it's fixable. I'm really disappointed. At least the tank was free - I'm pretty sure the hood works, though, so at least I got that. But I don't have the money to buy an aquarium for it right now. Ugh. Guess I'll just have to continue being happy with my 12-gallon.

[mr gerbil]

Bad luck...
Happened to me not so long ago. I ended up using the tank for gerbils :D

[gothicangel69]

aquarium sealant would probably fix it, i had the same problem with one of mine. If you havn't already got rid of the tank, you should try it. Its cheap too.