Stocking Ideas For A 60litre Tank

[meowcatroar]

thanks i checked the tank sizes on web sites and all these fish are suitable for my 60l
2 x platy (2in)
6 x cardinal (1in)
1 x balloon molly (3in)
and that would make 13in, maybe i could add in something else?

 

[Johng89]

not sure what you could add but something for the bottom of the tank would be nice to balance it out

cardinal are about 2 " not 1" based on ones we have

have you decided what type of platy you want

 

[meowcatroar]

sorry im not sure what type of platy as at the LFS it just says platy but they are completely orange..

 

[Johng89]

Its cool just wondered what you fancied as there are so many types
not sure if you can mix them up so you could have mix to give the tank variety

 

[Curiosity101]

I would allow 1.25" per cardinal.

Putting you at:
2 x Platy
6 x Cardinal
1 x Balloon Molly

So I have you at more like 15" But if you wanted to add another molly or another platy then that would be fine.
Don't get me wrong, if you look at John89, their tank probably wont encounter any filtering issues and may not have any aggression from the gouramis (though I'd be very wary of it).

But, being on the 'safe' side of stocking isn't a bad idea for your first tank.
So if the above is your potential beginning stock then what would you like too add after the tank has mature a bit?
If you add real plants and find that your tap water has a reasonable level of Nitrates then I'd advise you could go up to 28" of fish (after the first 6 months).

So if you had
2 x Platy
6 x Cardinal
1 x Balloon Molly

Then you'd have another 13" of fish to play with.
I would definitely suggest some bottom feeders. Ideas: Pygmy Corys, Normal Corys, Kuhli Loach.

 

[meguro]

3-5 corydoras catfish or 4 kuhli loaches (do you have sand substrate?). They work better in 6+ groups but even with these numbers you'd be over the recommendation of 1"/g.

I'd be inclined to add a honey gourami at some point just to help prevent being over run with platies. Either switch out a fish now or add it after 3 months or so provided there are no issues with water quality/disease.

 

[meowcatroar]

thanks for all the info. i think i might get the platys cardinals and molly and will look into getting bottom feeders later, i have gravel