18 Gallon Community

[hcolyn]

here are a few pics of my first aquarium, been stocked for about 5 weeks now.
it's an 18 gallon, and atm i have:
- 2 dwarf gouramis
- 5 harlequins
- 3 corys

what will be the optimal stocking level of the tank? i dont want to have it stocked to its maximum, but i would like to know how much it can comfortably keep.

first off, a look at the inside:

2 corys (are they julii or 3lined?)

my gouramis (the male rules the tank and he knows it). luckily he is all bark!

harlequins!

please tell me what you think, any opinions and also help with the stocking question and cory ID are all welcome!

 

[Liam]

Very nice, the fish look pretty happy and healthy in there, a good layout and nice coloured rocks. The only suggestions I would make would be to bring the numbers of cories up to six and add one harlequin they would be both happier in a shoal of six. If you can get another female gourami that would be good as the male tends to get over amorous and stress out a lone female. They are great looking gouramis, nice pics. The only other thing I would say to watch for is that the gravel looks a bit sharp edged. The cories little feeler thingys (barbell) on their mouths are pretty fragile and can get damaged on gravel sand is better for them. They are cory trillineatus (sp) sometimes called three lined, I am pretty sure. The plant in the pic with the harlequins might not be a true aquatic plant, so if it starts to rot or just get covered in algae and not grow I would take it out. You might want some algae eaters like ottos or shrimps, the shrimp are great as a clean up crew.

Great tank.

 

[Silverlady]

Nice Tank and good looking fish , but the Cories might lose their Barbels, on that sharp Gravel.

 

[hcolyn]

thanks for the replies, compliments and advice!
that plant has been looking pretty suspicious to me, as the rest are all in pretty good shape, but that one seems to stand still (and generally looks a bit sick because of the yellow color and algae).

as for the gravel, i got it for free and wasnt planning on getting cories when i started the tank (bit of reversed planning ). luckily it doesnt seem as if it has affected their barbells yet, but i'll look into getting other gravel within the next month.

as for my stocking levels, will it be ok if it looks like this:
- 6 cories
- 6 harlequins
- 3 dwarf gouramis?

i'm just a bit paranoid when it comes to overstocking, i've read too many stories where people went overboard and cleared out their lfs to make the tank more lively.