Will My Planned Community Tank Work ?

[Robbo89]

Awesome, so 2 Apisto (providing I can find them somewhere) 8 phantom tetra, 8 pygmy corys. 
Would I be able to drop down to 4 corys and include maybe 1 male and 3 female Platys?
Also, would the corys be likely to eat the eggs of the apistos when they spawn? 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Its best to keep cories in larger numbers, not smaller.  And that ratio of livebearers is fine if you want breeding, but if you don't (that seems to be your goal in the question you asked regarding the cories and the apisto).  Its fine to have male only livebearers.
 
 
Personally, I'd keep the stocking as is and leave the platies out.  But, if you must have platies... drop the number of phantoms to 6 and the cories to 6, and add two males.  I wouldn't lower those numbers though.  More is generally better with these species.

 

[Robbo89]

Yeah my intentions initially for this community tank was to 1. have an attractive looking display but also 2. to be able to breed some of the species and raise them in my other tanks. So the 1:3 ratio of livebearers was intentional as the fine leaved plants I have should allow a few of the fry to survive
 
Ah alright, well my question about the corys eating the aspitos spawn was in relation to me hoping the apistos could successfully breed, so if the corys are likely to eat their eggs, I might drop them all together and go with a few bristlenose maybe? What would you suggest? Something that wouldn't eat the eggs please

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If you seriously want to breed, then you want a species only tank.  OR, add a LOT of cover.  I've had panda cories spawning and successfully having fry grow up in my tank for about a year now.  You're not going to get a lot of fry, but you could get some.
 
BNs aren't suitable for a 25 gallon tank, IMHO, as they are very messy fish, and their bioload would be too much.  
 
 
ANY of the fish could eat the eggs, but the apistos will try to protect them some - although they will probably eat the eggs themselves the first time or so.  For apistos, they like caves for spawning.   
 
Platies will breed like craziy, and overload your tank, potentially.  Honestly, you may have trouble rehoming all the fry from the platys.  
 
 
As this is your fist tank, I'd just go with the goal of keeping the fish healthy.  If they breed, they breed.  After you have some experience under your belt, you could look into breeding.  Honestly, you'd need another tank eventually for earnest breeding - at the very least a "grow-out" tank.

 

[Robbo89]

I've kept fish for over 10 years, this isn't my first tank I just restarted from scratch after moving houses and having to rehome my breeding Angelfish pair, along with many other fish.  
 
Yes, that was what I was aiming for primarily. To keep them all so happy that breeding would come as a bonus, not to intentionally grow out fry for sale or anything. I absolutely love Panda cories, very jealous! 
 
I see, would clay pots be sufficient to allow them to spawn on? I have one about 5 inches in diameter in my tank currently. 
 
As for the Platies, in my previous experience with them only the strongest 5% have ever survived in a tank with their parents / other fish, so once they do start to over populate I will be looking to move them into other tanks. In the long term future I was looking at attempting to selectively breed Platy to create an interesting colour form, but thats a long way off. 
 
Final check, sorry for the hassle! 
 
2 (1M 1F) Apistos (Any preferred / more hardy/suited species you had in mind? I like the Red Cockatoo's colours)
8 Black Phantom Tetra
8 Cories (Pygmy or Panda...?)
~Maybe~ 2 Female Paties

 

[Noahsfish]

Uhm, breeding apistos won't just happen overnight, you have to really try. My ph is 6.0 and have soft water with lots of cover and mine haven't bred. I also feed them bloodworms and brine shrimp and they don't breed....I keep a pair in a 30g community with lots of cover. I don't know, maybe they'll start breeding now that I finally got rid of my opaline gourami.

 

[Robbo89]

Yeah, thats not a problem for mine though as I'm not too worried about them breeding. Maybe post a topic about it as I'm sure there are some experienced people who could help you out GL

 

[Robbo89]

Just had an idea, how would Ghost Shrimp go in this community setup? If I dropped the Platies. 
So:
8 Black Phantom Tetra
6 Pygmy Corys
2 Aspistos 
And then maybe 4 Ghost Shrimp?
 
Would they conflict with the Corys?

 

[attibones]

Ghost shrimp will do fine, but the apistos may eat them. My rams from our all twenty of mine...

 

[Robbo89]

Might have to leave the shrimp for another tank then, thanks for the heads up haha. 
Just a quick question with Corys, I know they prefer groups of 6+, so could i keep say:
2 Panda
2 Albino
2 Julii
2 Bronze 
 
All together, so that they shoal together and live happily? Or is it beneficial to just stick with 8 Pandas? 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No.  They need to be from the same species to truly shoal together and be "happy".   8 Pandas should work fine, they are the smallest of the non-dwarf varieties.
 
 
Sorry to suggest you were a newbie.  Its hard to tell sometimes over the internet.    I like the stocking you suggested earlier, even with the platies.  But, with the platies, you'd be best with shoals of 6 rather than 8 - since the platies are hungry little fish that actually create a fair amount of poo... not the same level as a pleco, but as algae grazers as well, they will produce a bit more than some other fish.

 

[Robbo89]

No.  They need to be from the same species to truly shoal together and be "happy".   8 Pandas should work fine, they are the smallest of the non-dwarf varieties.
 
 
Sorry to suggest you were a newbie.  Its hard to tell sometimes over the internet.  

 I like the stocking you suggested earlier, even with the platies.  But, with the platies, you'd be best with shoals of 6 rather than 8 - since the platies are hungry little fish that actually create a fair amount of poo... not the same level as a pleco, but as algae grazers as well, they will produce a bit more than some other fish.

No worries, I think I'd prefer to have a large group of pandas than a dispersed group of corys in general haha. 
So how about this, 6 Platies (2M 4 F), 2 Aspistos (1M 1F), 8 Phantom Tetra, 8 Panda Corys. As for the bioload, I'm running a huge external filter that I will have to check the specifics of, but I'm sure is overfiltering my 25 gal tank, as well as the dense planting which will (could be wrong here) assist in breaking down waste. I have never used plant ferts before but think I will need to start soon, any suggestion on brands / how to apply? Cheers.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Not sure what's available in Aus... sorry.

 

[Robbo89]

No problems,  

 

[Robbo89]

Hey all, just back here again to quickly ask, in what order should I add the fish and what intervals? I presume a week between each addition but please correct me if I'm wrong. Just to recap I am stocking; 2 Aspistos, 8 Phantom Tetra, 4 Platys, 8 Panda Corys. Thanks