70 Litre stocking (again)

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April_ht

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I currently have a 70 litre (around 18.5 gallon) tank with 6 golden white clouds and 4 platy (3 female, 1 male). The tank has live plants and one decoration, as well as a piece of driftwood. Currently not using plant substrate, just normal gravel from a pet store. Water hardness about 105 ppm (moderately soft) and cold water with no heater. 50% water changes done weekly. Photo of the tank is attached.

Would it be possible to add more fish or is it fully stocked? My ideas are:
- Honey Gourami (1?)
- Dwarf Gourami (though Iā€™ve heard males can be territorial and aggressive and unsure if cold or tropical)
- Shrimp (maybe 4-6? Can they survive in normal gravel?)
- Corydoras (instead of shrimp)
- Another school?
- Any other cold water fish (apart from goldfish obviously)

Would it be possible to have any of these if the platies were rehomed?

Also, my platy seem to be eating the live plants. Is this normal? They also have a huge appetite, swimming to the top every time I come near expecting food. Iā€™ve started feeding them twice daily because of this and they gulp down the food, though I have to turn the filter off when feeding as it pushes the food down to the bottom of the tank.
 

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Also I forgot to say, not all of these would be added. They are only ideas and Iā€™m assuming I can only fit very few fish in, I just realised I worded it as if I was going to have them all which would be a terrible idea.
 
If you wanted any of the anabantoids, you would have to add a heater, which will stress the white clouds. When I had an unheated tank, I had some pepper cories, Corydoras paleatus, with my white cloud mountain minnows. They prefer the temps between 72Ā°F and 75Ā°F, so work well in peaceful tanks with a stable lower temp. They do need sand, though.

As for the platy fish, they will always act hungry. They will often nibble on plants, which is normal since they do require a certain amount of veggies in their diet. Guppy/platy/mollie fish all do better with a veggie flake or tablet or blanched peas added to their regular food. I had dalmatian mollies that loved to eat hair algae and duckweed. If you want, they should be fine being fed once a day.
 
Thank you, Iā€™ll probably just stick with what Iā€™ve got for now unless I happen to come across some other cold water fish that I think would be suitable. As for the platy, theyā€™re fed flakes and occasionally an algae tablet. They love eating algae and whatever else they can find off plants and decorations though, but Iā€™ve seen them pull off 3 plant leafs that have only been in there for less than a week. Next time I go to the pet store Iā€™ll see if I can find some more suitable food for them. Do you think it would be possible to get shrimp though? Maybe 4-6 as Iā€™ve heard they need to be kept in groups?
 

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