Yet another stocking thread

[ellejay]

Hi all. After a few years out of the game I've got myself a new tank. Its only a 64 litre but space is a bit limited and it'll be easier to keep on top of the maintenance. This time round I'm trying to do things properly and have just started fishless cycling for the first time (after memorising the extremely helpful thread on here).

I'm thinking ahead a bit about stocking. I know its going to be weeks before the cycling is finished so don't worry about me chucking anything in until it's ready

Vague idea:
1 male betta
6 neons
6 pygmy corys and/or clown pleco
Cherry shrimp

Can I keep a clown pleco in there or is the tank too small? And if yes, can I keep corys too or is that pushing it?

Filter is a Fluval U2, temp is currently 25, pH about 7.4. I have some wood in there and black sand substrate, although its a bit more coarse than I was expecting (about 1-2mm), but since I'm limited to miniature corys I figured it didn't really matter. Will also be putting in live plants.

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Cichlid4life]

64 litres = 16 gallon tank. Just curious, is your tank a biocube 16 by chance?

The betta is one problem, because a females might sometimes work in a community tank, but i don't know about a male betta, i will leave that to the betta experts to figure out.

The pygmy cories will do well in a 16 gallon tank as long as they are in a group of 6 or more, the clown pleco, will need some driftwood in the tank, and they grow up to 3.5 inches max, making them one of the smallest (if not the smallest) dwarf pleco species to exist. The pleco will have a larger bioload from eating highly fibrous algae.

If you want the cherry shrimp to breed, and you want the young shrimp to grow up in your tank, the betta may not be an option as they often might eat the smaller shrimps.

the neons are fine, but if i am correct (correct me if i am wrong) sometime bettas are stressed out by schooling fish that are very active and that swim in the upper to middle region of the tank. The pygmy cories can be okay, but if you have more than 8 of them in your tank, with all of the other fish it may start to be pushing it a little.

 

[Colin_T]

what is the general hardness (GH) of your water?

 

[ellejay]

what is the general hardness (GH) of your water?

I don't have a testing kit for this, but according to my local water board it's "Slightly Hard, at 47mg/L as calcium". That any good?

64 litres = 16 gallon tank. Just curious, is your tank a biocube 16 by chance?

The betta is one problem, because a females might sometimes work in a community tank, but i don't know about a male betta, i will leave that to the betta experts to figure out.

The pygmy cories will do well in a 16 gallon tank as long as they are in a group of 6 or more, the clown pleco, will need some driftwood in the tank, and they grow up to 3.5 inches max, making them one of the smallest (if not the smallest) dwarf pleco species to exist. The pleco will have a larger bioload from eating highly fibrous algae.

Ha ha no its not a bio cube! Some sort of pets at home basic, think its LoveFish 64L Panoramic? Anyway its rectangular.

Very relieved to hear that the pleco is an option! Used to have a snowball and it was beautiful, was very sad to see it go when I broke down my tank.

I was under the impression that male bettas were good in a community aquarium as long as they weren't with any fin nippers? I could be mistaken, I will ask on the betta forum. I was after some sort of colourful stand-out fish since all the others will be small schooling fish (minus the pleco).

Thanks for the advice

 

[Roden]

What’s the dimensions?

I wouldn’t do a male or female(females can be just as aggressive as males) in this tank. For a betta community it really shouldn’t be attempted in anything less than a 20 long that is heavily planted. They are also temp incompatible with the neons and pygmies.

This also brings to another concern, the pygmies are more so mid-dwellers than bottom dwellers and two schools/shoals of mid-dwellers in this tank would be to much IMO.

The pleco is very iffy and the rest of the tank would need to be very lightly stock. One school at most, but a 20 long would be significantly better for the pleco.

 

[Essjay]

47mg/L as calcium

For those not familiar with this hardness unit (which is commonly used by UK water companies) it converts to 6.5 dH and 117 ppm. Personally I would not call that slightly hard, this is why we always for numbers rather than words.

This http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/love-fish-panorama-tank-64-litre-(in-store) is the tank. Its dimensions are 61 x 44 x 33cm (24 x 17.3 x 13 inches).



Bettas are not community fish, they should be kept alone. I would remove a betta from your wish list.
Neon tetras - your tank is just big enough for them, and your hardness is fine. But I'd get 10 rather than 6.
Pygmy cories are also fine, as long as you have sand on the bottom not gravel. I would go with these rather than the plec as plecs tend to produce a lot of waste. And again, 10.
Cherry shrimps should be fine as well.

As for a replacement for the betta, you could look at honey gouramis (but not dwarf gouramis due to their health issues). Though if it was my tank I'd stay with just neons, cories and shrimps

 

[Roden]

For those not familiar with this hardness unit (which is commonly used by UK water companies) it converts to 6.5 dH and 117 ppm. Personally I would not call that slightly hard, this is why we always for numbers rather than words.

This http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/love-fish-panorama-tank-64-litre-(in-store) is the tank. Its dimensions are 61 x 44 x 33cm (24 x 17.3 x 13 inches).



Bettas are not community fish, they should be kept alone. I would remove a betta from your wish list.
Neon tetras - your tank is just big enough for them, and your hardness is fine. But I'd get 10 rather than 6.
Pygmy cories are also fine, as long as you have sand on the bottom not gravel. I would go with these rather than the plec as plecs tend to produce a lot of waste. And again, 10.
Cherry shrimps should be fine as well.

As for a replacement for the betta, you could look at honey gouramis (but not dwarf gouramis due to their health issues). Though if it was my tank I'd stay with just neons, cories and shrimps

If those are the dimensions, I agree the neon or pygmies would be fine(still wouldn’t do both in this size), but would still like a confirmation of the dimensions from the OP since they said they “thought” that was the tank. So they were not certain.

I disagree with the honey gouramis, they really should be in a 20 long since they do best and should(imo) be kept in a group of at least 3, preferably 5. If you were to go with a gourami, I’d suggest sparklers.

 

[ellejay]

This http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/love-fish-panorama-tank-64-litre-(in-store) is the tank. Its dimensions are 61 x 44 x 33cm (24 x 17.3 x 13 inches).

Yes thats the one. I believe mine is an older model judging by the picture of the cabinet (mine has 2 doors). However I've double checked the measurements for Roden's sake: 60x42x32cm. The variation could be because its an older model, or my dodgy measuring skills.

Ok so it appears to be a no for the betta, fair enough. I can live without a pleco if needs be. If two mid-level schoolers are an issue, what about Julii corys? I'm quite keen on the neons for adding colour to the tank but am open to other options

 

[ellejay]

If you were to go with a gourami, I’d suggest sparklers

These look lovely but I think my pH is too high? Also would I need a pair?

 

[Roden]

These look lovely but I think my pH is too high? Also would I need a pair?

The ph should be fine, you can always put in a few IAL to lower it a bit as well. And yes, you’d want to have a pair.

 

[ellejay]

The ph should be fine, you can always put in a few IAL to lower it a bit as well. And yes, you’d want to have a pair.

Thanks, I think a pair would look great. IAL - Indian almond leaves?

 

[Roden]

Thanks, I think a pair would look great. IAL - Indian almond leaves?

Yes, Indian almond leaves or catappa leaves(same thing).

 

[ellejay]

Ok so for a revised stock list:

2 sparkling gouramis - one male and one female?
10 pygmy corys
Cherry shrimp

How does that sound?

 

[Roden]

Ok so for a revised stock list:

2 sparkling gouramis - one male and one female?
10 pygmy corys
Cherry shrimp

How does that sound?

That should work quite well! Do keep in mind that sparklers sometimes may eat shrimp, I believe it’s really based on the individual fish though.

 

[ellejay]

Thanks! Given that I'm leaving out the neons, could I even push to 3 or 4 sparklers?