4 foot by 16 by 16 what to put in it?

[timleete]

im going to buy a fishtank about 4 foot by 16 by 16
i will have heater, filter and lights
anyone have any recomendations of fish top put in


id like a school of little fish(1' to 2') and a few bigger ones (about 4' or 5' ) ?

also whats the best with plants should i just go fake or real?

[Johny]

go for a planted communtiy tank....get real plants, few nice pieces of normal or planted driftwood and get tons of different types of tetras...max size only 1-2inch and for a few bigger fish get some dwarf gouramis...some have nice colours!

[timleete]

get tons of different types of tetras...max size only 1-2inch

will they school together?

[wombat1100]

First thing you need to do is some homework and make sure whatever type of fish you decide on all require the same water conditions, if you are going to keep live plants make sure you buy a T5 light or similar if you want them to thrive, there is a little more expense there but you will find you will recoup the cost by not losing plants due to bad lighting.
As for fish selection make sure that the smaller fish wont be bullied by the larger fish you select, small fish like neon tetras look great in planted tanks, also cardinals.
what i think you would be best doing is going to your LFS and having a look at what fish you like, take notes of their name and where in the tank they swim(lower middle or upper water column) and then go home and google them, once you have worked out if they have the same water condition requirements and that they aren't aggressive at all. then you can set out your tank . you don't want to pick all your fish that just swim at the top then you will have a empty looking tank. try to select fish from all the sections of the water column.
Then the most important thing, make sure you CYCLE the tank for 2 to 3 weeks B4 adding your fish or all that work will be lost because your fish will surely die.

[Woodsy]

Dazz is right, planning ahead always results in less headaches (and homeless fish :p) later on. The awesome thing about live plants is that they will act as a biological mop (depending on species, to which degree), soaking up the things that are detrimental to your fish's water chemistry.

[GoGuppy]

You could think about a theme tank, such as SE Asian, south american, or even aussie rainbows. All of these can be set up as tropical planted plants and all would look great. No need to be fanatical about it though, but some reading up on the types of fish in each group and then tracking down the fish you like, is a major part of the fun...:).
Cheers

[timleete]

yea i was looking at heaps of fish today on the internet and i thoght a SE asia and indonesia theam would be good there are a fair few fish i like from there

anyone got any sugestionss on plant types

[Woodsy]

That all depends on your lights my friend :)

[GoGuppy]

I would go for java fern, ambulia, anubias and hygrpphilia. These plants grow easily and do no put too many demands on the lighting requirements, and more to the point they look great. :D
The ambulia requires the most light of the above and should be planted in the brightest part of the tank.

Cheers