Advice on stocking

[Meeko]

I will have either a 140L tank cycled and ready to go in the next week or so but I can't decide what to stock.

Freshwater tank. I think I'd like one centerpiece fish accompanied by other smaller fish but not sure if this would work. From what I have looked at so far this is what I am thinking;

1 Diamond Angel Fish
10 Galaxy Rasbora
3 Honey Red Gourami
1 Bristlenose Pleco

Dimensions: 80cm x 40cm x 45cm

Not sure if this is too much, not enough or just right. Open to advice (and criticism )
Thanks in advance, look forward to joining in on all the discussions over my time here.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there, Meeko, welcome to the forum

Before we can properly recommend species, we need to know the pH and hardness of your water. That information can be found on your supplier's website, if you don't know already. Do take note of what scale they're using; there are many differing ones in use!

 

[Meeko]

Thanks for the welcome, I will post a little background and introduction later on today. pH is sitting at 6.5 currently. As for water hardness, I can make no sense of this but these are my figures; (edit: Apparently soft, is this right?)

 

[Colin_T]

yeah misread it. normally the results are on the left :0

 

[Essjay]

I think you have mis-read that table, Colin. The first column is the number of tests not the result of a test. The second column is the highest allowed level. All the table tells us is how many times the parameter was tested and how many times it was above the PCV - in this table, none of the tests were above the legal limit.


Meeko, that is the water quality report, hardness is given elsewhere. If you tell us the name of the water company we can see if we can find the page that gives the hardness.

 

[Byron]

Colin, I think the "No. of results" in the second column in the chart means the number of tests, not the levels. The "No. of results failing" are all zero which I take to mean no test detected any of these substances.

Moving on to the question...we do need the GH and pH as fluttermoth mentioned.

Moving beyond that, you do not want to combine some of the fish species mentioned anyway; angelfish will not appreciate Galaxzy Rasbora, and the rasbora might nip fins of angelfish (and gourami come to that). But we can sort this out when we have the hardness and pH numbers. If you cannot get these from your water authority's website, you can call them. Or you could take a tap water sample to your local fish store if reliable; make sure they give you the numbers for the tests, not some vague term, and the unit of measurement they use.

Lastly, but not least, Meeko welcome to TFF.

EDITY. essjay is obviously on the same threads as I am today, we are simultaneously posting.

 

[Meeko]

Yeah Colin I appreciate the post but you have read that one wrong bud.

Scottish Water, I am in the area Roseberry A and going by this document that would mean soft water.

http://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/me...Water-Quality/WaterHardnessData2017.pdf?la=en

 

[Byron]

Yeah Colin I appreciate the post but you have read that one wrong bud.

Scottish Water, I am in the area Roseberry A and going by this document that would mean soft water.

http://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/me...Water-Quality/WaterHardnessData2017.pdf?la=en

That answers that. You have very soft water (1.78 dGH). The pH is likely to be on thee acidic side (below pH 7.0). You are fine for soft water fish species, just avoid any fish requiring harder water (livebearers for example, and some others).

Angelfish get fairly large, six inches body length with an 8-inch vertical fin span. Tankmates have to be very carefully selected to not fin nip and not get eaten. I would not recommend an angelfish in this small a space. The trio of Honey Gourami are OK from that perspective. But Galaxy Rasbora are not good tankmates; read more on this species here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/celestichthys-margaritatus/

With the Honey Gourami, several other rasbora species would work very well, as they are generally sedate fish like the gourami. The Bristlenose pleco is fine with what we are discussing.

 

[Meeko]

Ah that's a shame, they are so pretty. So would Gourami be better as a 'centerpiece'? I'm looking at some just now.
The moonlight and blue particulary look good to me.

 

[Byron]

Ah that's a shame, they are so pretty. So would Gourami be better as a 'centerpiece'? I'm looking at some just now.
The moonlight and blue particulary look good to me.

I would not consider either of these gourami for this tank.

Moonlight -- peaceful and skittish, suitable for a community tank of similar-sized non-aggressive fishes including the quieter barbs, loaches, other gourami of the genus and Trichogaster in larger tanks as males are territorial. Smaller fish may be seen as food [this species reaches six inches], and boisterous tankmates will frighten this fish. If you had say a 4-foot (120 cm) long tank, could work.

Blue -- this gourami can be downright nasty. Males like all gourami males are territorial, and usually good at defending "their" tank. But even females have been known to kill other species they did not like for some reason.

If you really like gourami, and you have the water for these, species like the Pearl are worth considering. I'm thinking of somewhat larger "centerpiece" species. There are much smaller species that could work but they would not be "centerpiece" which you mentioned initially. Also the Honey Gourami in a small group. [But best not to mix two or more gourami in the same tank unless quite large a space.]

 

[Meeko]

Thank you

I must apologise for my newbie behaviour! I do like the gourami alot, beautiful fish. I would be more than happy to base my other choices on the gourami, pearl or honey.

 

[Byron]

Thank you

I must apologise for my newbie behaviour! I do like the gourami alot, beautiful fish. I would be more than happy to base my other choices on the gourami, pearl or honey.

No apologies necessary, every aquarist among us was once a newbie.

Given your tank space, a trio of Pearl Gourami (one male and two female) would work. You need floating plants for gourami, any of them, by the way. Gourami spend their time cruising among floating vegetation. And it will decrease the light which they will appreciate and show more colouration.

Rasboras are good tankmates. Species like thee common Harlequin (Trigonostigma heteromorpha), or either of the two very similar species, T. espei or T. hengeli. I personally like the latter with its brilliant copper blotch, but any one of these three would work, in a group of 8-9 minimum. Check these here:
http://seriouslyfish.com/species/Trigonostigma-heteromorpha
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-espei/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-hengeli/

You could also have a group of cories for the substrate level (sand is a better substrate for cories, not sure what you have). There are other upper level fish suitable, some of the peaceful tetras perhaps.

 

[Meeko]

Right, so based on the info you have given me here and what I have read on the web, this is what I have come up with. You guys will probably be banging your heads, but from all I've read this seems to be fine.

4 x Dwarf Gourami (1x male 3x female)
2 x Bristlenose Pleco
10 x Harlequin Rasbora (heteromorpha)
4 x Checkerboard Cichlid

I've checked this with 2 or 3 compatibility checkers and no issues.

Thanks again.

 

[seangee]

Just to throw this out here. Galaxy Rasbora (celestichthys margaritatus a.k.a celestial pearl danio) would not be suited to this tank. Their size alone means they would make a tasty morsel for many of your other choices. They are also incredibly timid and easily outcompeted for food, so they would spend all their time hiding and most likely starve. I'm also not sure how they would cope with soft water. I keep these because I have very hard water, so I never look at the lower limits for what hardness they prefer

 

[Byron]

Right, so based on the info you have given me here and what I have read on the web, this is what I have come up with. You guys will probably be banging your heads, but from all I've read this seems to be fine.

4 x Dwarf Gourami (1x male 3x female)
2 x Bristlenose Pleco
10 x Harlequin Rasbora (heteromorpha)
4 x Checkerboard Cichlid

I've checked this with 2 or 3 compatibility checkers and no issues.

Thanks again.

OK, some issues to note here. First, the Dwarf Gourami. This is a species that should not be purchased except from the breeder, or from a dealer who can guarantee the breeder. Most stores cannot do this, especially the chain stores. DG carry the iridovirus, which cannot be cured, and can be dormant in individual fish but infect others. The Honey Gourami, similar in size, is OK if you want this sized gourami.

Did you check out the Pearl Gourami? Probably the most beautiful gourami, and scarcely a fault.

Moving to the checkerboard cichlid...this is not an easy species. There are two genera with two (or maybe three) species in each, all seen under the common name "checkerboard" so you need to pin down just which one. But aside from that, cichlids like gourami have temperament issues; males are very territorial (this can vary among species and individuals within a species) and with cichlids when females are guarding eggs or fry, they can be remarkably aggressive to much larger fish. A pair (male/female) in this tank would be better than more.

Also, given their similarities, gourami and cichlids usually do not mix well. It depends somewhat upon species, and certainly tank size. But generally, either or is better.