Advice For A First Tropical Tank?

[bensfirstfish]

This is my first ever fish tank and am after some advice on stocking and lighting.
 
I have a 125l tank set up with U4 fluval underwater filter (for up to 240l), a 200 watt Delta therm heater and two T5 Arcadia Tropical Pro 39W 850mm tubes. The substrate is part sand, part small gravel and a few biggish stones. I have bog wood, a terracotta pot hiding place and live plants (java fern, vallis, microsorium, cryptocoryne, hydrocotyle and cabomba).
 
The tank is almost cycled (fishless) - I finally got a zero nitrite reading this morning (woo hoo!) and ammonia drops from 5ppm to 0 within 12 hours. So I'm planning to get my first fish at the weekend after a big water change and general clean up.
 
I'm after a peaceful community tank but would like to include fish that have a bit more personality than your average tetra (apologies to all tetra lovers!), and could make fun, interactive pets (who doesn't, I guess!).
 
I'm thinking aboout:
1 pair dwarf gouramis
4 or 5 bronze corys
1 bristle nose catfish
4 platies
some cherry shrimps (maybe)
 
I'd greatly appreciate anyone's opinion on this setup. Am I over stocking? Will these fish get on wiyh each other happily? Are there any better ones I could choose on the personailty and character stakes (e.g. would Mollies be better than Platies)? Are the numbers per species about right in terms of keeping the fish happy with/without compatriates? Should I go for bigger groups of fewer species?
 
My second question was aboout lighting. My T5 tubes seem very bright and I'm worried that the sudden change in light levels when switched on in the morning and off at night might be a bit of a shock to the fish and not give the catfish sufficient dawn/dusk time. I gather these tubes aren''t dimmable. Are there any (cheap) solutions to this without having to change the whole lighting system?
 
Looking forward to your thoughts... and my first ever fish!
 
p.s my tap water is pH 8.2 but this seems to come down with the bog wood and I have pH adjuster that I hope will bring levels down to neutral 7

 

[khial]

Hi, I should think they would be fine, I have a 86 litre and in there I have...
 
2 Tiger barbs (great together even though people suggest against it, theyre best mate and are always playing)...
6 Red Eye Tetras...
4 Platys (1 of which gave birth 2 days ago)...
4 Slender Harlequins/Rasbora...
1 Albino Cory...
1 Bronze Cory..
I did have 2 Dwarf guaramis until earlier today (the store sold me 2 males and one seemed to be a little aggressive) now have 1
and my favorites that have fantastic personalities are my Bettas..I have 1 Male Betta Splenden and 5 females
guaranteed to come to the surface for a stroke of their fins every time without fail.
 
I would imagine it depends on the length of your tank as the bristlenose could grow up to around 5 inches.
 
http/www.thinkfish.co.uk    has a stocking calculator and also a compatibilty tester that works quite well, i have used it alot.
 
I dont know much about lights unfortunately so cant help you on that one. sorry 
 
good luck. and congratulations on the tank cycling 

 

[Jenste]

I do not agree with above - schooling fish should be kept in schools. It is in their nature to become stressed if unable to locate members of their own species.


For your stocking, unless you can find a female dwarf gourami then you would be best with only 1 male. Females are very rarely in stores as they are brown and not as flashy/attractive as the males. Two males in that size tank would not work.

I also recommend you only getting male platies. A female would quickly overpopulate your tank.

 

[khial]

i had all intentions of buying 6 or more tiger barbs but the store only had 2 in, i watched them for a while and seen how happy they were so i took them, to be honest they are the happiest fish in my tank, theyre the most active and have shown no signs of fin nipping or any other aggressive behaviour, but i suppose eavh fish is to its own, just like people theyre not all the same

 

[the_lock_man]

 
I'm thinking aboout:
1 pair dwarf gouramis
4 or 5 bronze corys
1 bristle nose catfish
4 platies
some cherry shrimps (maybe)


 blah blah blah


p.s my tap water is pH 8.2 but this seems to come down with the bog wood and I have pH adjuster that I hope will bring levels down to neutral 7

Don't get 2 males, they'll fight. As said above, it's difficult to find females because of the colour thing.
If you're going to get cories, get 6 of them.
If you're going to get platies, get either all males (no fry) or get 1 male to 3 females. If you leave the tank fairly plant-free, the chances are that all the fry will be eaten by various members of the community, including the adult platies.
If you're going to get cherry shrimps, they may become lunch for the gouramis. But then again, they may not. It's a possibility.

If the bogwood is reducing the pH of the water, that's fine, let it do so. But I strongly recommend not using the chemical, they tend to be unreliable, and you may well find the pH bounces quite rapidly back to where it wants to be, which isn't a pleasant experience for the fish.