Tropical Fish tank setup help!!

Hey guys. I'm kind of new to this community and this whole tank setup and whatnot. I started to grow an interest for fishes when I saw my friend's fish tank, and i have been reading quite a few of websites which seems to contridict each other, so i am hoping that someone can help me:).

For starters, I have:
- a 35-ish gallon tank
- Rena xp3 filter
- a heater
- fishes that includes - 3 Lemon Cobra Guppy, 5 neon tetras, 2 Koi Swordtails, 3 Ghost Glass Catfishes and 1 Gold Algae Eater

As for real live aquatic plants, I don't have any at the moment. I don't know where or what kind of plants i should get. And the same goes for the soil, rocks, sand etc, whatever I need.
Any help and suggestions with the plants / soil and what else kind of fishes I should get is greatly appreciated. I just want to have a nice, Tropical fish tank setup :)

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Permalink Reply by Hmoobthor on October 9, 2011 at 6:34pm

this depend on how much u CAN AFFORD....

dirt is what most ppl on here use ..cheap, easy, and a bit messy... but good for growing plants.

here a very good online ordering website that i love reading and maybe sometimes order from:

http://www.shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/Beginner-Plants_c27.htm

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Permalink Reply by Adam Carbary on November 1, 2011 at 7:39pm

I am also new to the hobby gaining my interest the exact same way you did. I have done countless hours of research over the last few months to find the answer to the same questions you have. I ended up going with Eco Complete for my substrate which I purchased from my pet store for $35 per 10 lb bag. Yes, it looks good and yes my plants are digging it with all of the nutrients that are already in the substrate, but was it worth the cost? Probably not. What I have found with aquariums is to go with what you think looks good and makes you happy. Keep in mind that if you go with gravel or sand with no substrate underneath, then you will need to dose your tank with fertilizers frequently or go the CO2 route to get good growth from your plants.

Things to consider when looking at plants is their lighting requirements and if they require CO2 or excess iron. Typically most plants will get away with 1-3 watts of light per gallon. So you would need 70 watts of light for your tank to achieve 2 watts per gallon. I run 192 watts on my 45 gallon tank and my plants love it. I also dose my tank daily with flourish excel and flourish once a week. However, my tank is rather tall at 23"H so I need a little more light to satisfy my plants for good growth. Here is a link to the site where I bought most of my plants http://www.aquaticjungles.com/aquarium-plants. Great place to read about the plants and what type of conditions they will do best in.

Hope this info helps.

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Permalink Reply by 2apes2gp667wr on November 1, 2011 at 8:12pm

If you feel comfortable in dirting a tank from watching peoples videos & threads then go for it. If not, just start with gravel only. Start out with cheap easy to grow plants & see how you do. Then you can work your way up to better species. Same with fish. You don't want to start with a $90 Discus because it looks great and then lose it. Basically start small, start simple until you learn more ( and you will, trust me). I can't tell you how many plants I could not grow with my setup at the time & just wasted money.