142l tank - what do I put in it?

[cobraman]

Right folks. I need some help.

Firstly, I've had a cold water aquarium on the go for just over 3 years and it is stocked nicely with various danios, white cloud mountain minnows, barbs and hillstream loaches and they all live in unity in their lovely glass box.

Now as I am approaching my 40th birthday my lovely wife has brought me a shiny new aquarium for me to venture into tropical fish keeping. Its something I've always wanted to do and now is the time for me to do so. 4 weeks ago I had delivery of a Ciano Emotions Pro 80 tank (142 litres or 32 gallons) - http://ciano.pt/en/produto/emotions-pro-80/.

I have already began the cycle (4 weeks in) and it consists of 2 inches of Unipac Silver Sand, a bunch of high quality plastic pants (I cannot do live plants) and a few rocks and driftwood. I intend to continue to cycle the tank for a few more weeks until I am 110% happy with the water.

So onto the good bit - fish. The plan is to slowly fill the tank with a variety of tropical fish. These will be done in quarterly spurts until I am happy that the little fellas are happy. So, here is my plan of action...

First quarter
4 guppies
4 swordtails

Second quarter
4 harlequin rasboras
4 glowlight danios

Third quarter
4 panda corys
2 kuhli loaches

Fourth quarter
1 rainbow shark

Now the question is, is that too many fish for a 142l tank? And secondly, will all those fish live in harmony (especially with the plan to add a rainbow shark)?

I welcome any help and be as brutal as you like as this is all new to me and I need to learn very quickly what I can and cannot do.

Many t(h)anks.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Ok, my opinion taking them by quarter,

First quarter: I don't think 4 of each is enough to keep them happy. I would keep livebearers in a ratio of 1 male to 2-3 females. I would decide if you want guppies of swordtails and get 2 males and 4-6 females.

Second quarter: again, 4 of 2 different types isn't enough. Harlequins and Glowlights should be kept in a minimum of 5 per species so I'd chose one type and get 6-8.

Third quarter: same again, I would keep both types in groups of 5+ so pick one and get 5-6.

Fourth quarter: Rainbow sharks like to swim and can get upwards of 6 inches so I don't think it would be happy in the tank you have and it can also be a bit aggressive and maybe too much for the Harlequin/Glowlights. I'd consider something else. Maybe it would give you a chance to have 5 corys and 5 kuhlis.

 

[NickAu]

Before we talk about fish lets talk water, what is the PH is it hard or soft?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Guppies and Swordtails do best in water that has a medium hardness (200ppm) and slightly alkaline pH (7.0-8.0).

Glolight Tetras and Harlequin Rasboras do best in soft (less than 150ppm) acid water (pH below 7.0).

Rainbow Sharks, Khuli Loaches, and Corydoras are fine in water with a hardness up to 300ppm and a pH between 6.6 & 8.0.

If you can find out what the general hardness (GH) and pH of your water is that will help us give you more information on what to keep.

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Rasboras, Tetras, Loaches & Corydoras do best in groups of 10 or more.

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If you have a power filter on your other tank, you can take half the filter material from that and put it in the new tank and that will give you an instant biological filter.

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Why can't you keep live plants?
Choose the right plants, give them light and le them grow.