Hey guys,
I'm more or less new to the hobby. Had fish as a kid, but as far as things go I'm pretty much a beginner. I've done a lot of research into different fish and their needs the past year or so but that doesn't compare to real experience so I thought I'd come ask you nice people for your advice.
So I finally took the leap and got myself a 240 L (64 gallon) aquarium, with the dimensions 120x40x50 cm. Or for you Americans, 47x16x20 inches. I'm just in the process of getting the last bits for the tank before beginning the build. I'll be doing a semi-aquascape with lots of plants, wood and rocks, with many hiding places and obstacles to break up line of sight. I've been playing around on AqAdvisor with different stocking combinations for the past month and come up with what I want which is a really low aggression tank with many small fish such as tetras and pygmy cories. Their will also be two Bolivian Rams who will be a paired male and female. Similar goes for the Honey Gourami's, where I'll be keeping a Harem of two males to six females. I have tried to separate the fish breeds evenly into the three different water columns the best I could. The aquarium will also be left to establish itself for awhile and to let the plants grow before adding any fish. At least a good month or so.
I'll be getting either a HOB or canister filter with preferably 5x turnover rate. I'll be taking all tank maintenance rather seriously and will be doing 35-40% changes per week, with them most likely being broken up into two separate 17.5-20% changes per week, in order to help prevent large water parameter swings.
Before I get ahead of myself though, I'd like to know what you think because I don't fully trust a random calculator. According to AqAdvisor, my stock is at 89%, with a 29% water change needed per week. Is my stocking below suitable for the tank I have and my fish keeping behaviour?
The stock I'm looking at is as follows:
2 x Bolivian Ram
8 x Honey Gourami
24 x Green Neon Tetra
18 x Ember Tetra
12 x Pygmy Cory
8 x Julii Cory
6-8 x Amano Shrimp
PS. don't worry. I won't be getting all these fish at once. I'll be adding probably 5-10 fish every fortnight to stop ammonia outbreaks and the like.
I appreciate any help and thanks in advance. Happy fish-keeping! ><>
I'm more or less new to the hobby. Had fish as a kid, but as far as things go I'm pretty much a beginner. I've done a lot of research into different fish and their needs the past year or so but that doesn't compare to real experience so I thought I'd come ask you nice people for your advice.
So I finally took the leap and got myself a 240 L (64 gallon) aquarium, with the dimensions 120x40x50 cm. Or for you Americans, 47x16x20 inches. I'm just in the process of getting the last bits for the tank before beginning the build. I'll be doing a semi-aquascape with lots of plants, wood and rocks, with many hiding places and obstacles to break up line of sight. I've been playing around on AqAdvisor with different stocking combinations for the past month and come up with what I want which is a really low aggression tank with many small fish such as tetras and pygmy cories. Their will also be two Bolivian Rams who will be a paired male and female. Similar goes for the Honey Gourami's, where I'll be keeping a Harem of two males to six females. I have tried to separate the fish breeds evenly into the three different water columns the best I could. The aquarium will also be left to establish itself for awhile and to let the plants grow before adding any fish. At least a good month or so.
I'll be getting either a HOB or canister filter with preferably 5x turnover rate. I'll be taking all tank maintenance rather seriously and will be doing 35-40% changes per week, with them most likely being broken up into two separate 17.5-20% changes per week, in order to help prevent large water parameter swings.
Before I get ahead of myself though, I'd like to know what you think because I don't fully trust a random calculator. According to AqAdvisor, my stock is at 89%, with a 29% water change needed per week. Is my stocking below suitable for the tank I have and my fish keeping behaviour?
The stock I'm looking at is as follows:
2 x Bolivian Ram
8 x Honey Gourami
24 x Green Neon Tetra
18 x Ember Tetra
12 x Pygmy Cory
8 x Julii Cory
6-8 x Amano Shrimp
PS. don't worry. I won't be getting all these fish at once. I'll be adding probably 5-10 fish every fortnight to stop ammonia outbreaks and the like.
I appreciate any help and thanks in advance. Happy fish-keeping! ><>