Askoll xl.

[gacf]

Hi everyone,
I'm another newbie to the forum. First of all I'd like to say a massive thank you to TwoTankAmin for his superb post on tank cycling. I'm presently on day 17 and am hopefully nearly there.( My tank lay for two weeks whilst I was waiting on ammonia arriving from via internet). I've prepared a wishlist of the fish I hope to keep in my 94 litre tank and would welcome any feedback/advice.
6x Cardinal Tetras
4x Paanda Corys
6x platys
3x Zebra loaches
1x Oto
3x Lake Tebera Rainbowfish

 

[fluttermoth]

What are the dimensions of the tank, and is your water hard or soft?

 

[gacf]

Sorry should have posted that at the beginning!
Tank is 76x36x43.5cm.
Water is soft to medium with a ph of 6.8(using API master test kit)
Readings up to yesterday were
Amm 0
Nitrite 2.5- 5ppm
Nitrate 80ppm.

 

[Ch4rlie]

What are the dimensions of the tank, and is your water hard or soft?

Think as the title says, Askoll XL, which I have seen at M.Aquatics LFS a couple of times, a nice little tank.

It is, according to website, is 76cm (l) x 36cm (w) x 43.5cm (h)

That makes it a 119 litre or a 30 gal US tank using the forum calculator but though the website says its a 94 litre tank! maybe thats accounting for substrate and internal limit of water etc

But certainly a good 25 gals US for sure either way.

 

[fluttermoth]

Ah, thanks

We still need hardness from the OP though

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sorry should have posted that at the beginning!
Tank is 76x36x43.5cm.
Water is soft to medium with a ph of 6.8(using API master test kit)
Readings up to yesterday were
Amm 0
Nitrite 2.5- 5ppm
Nitrate 80ppm.

OP says ph at 6.8, so that suggests possible soft to med water to me.

Though would be good to get more accurate readings to be sure.

 

[gacf]

OP says ph at 6.8, so that suggests possible soft to med water to me.

Though would be good to get more accurate readings to be sure.

My readings from the water board are
2.03 Clark degrees
2.90 French degrees
1.62 German degrees
Soft.
But my local LFS who is in the same postcode area says it's soft to moderate

 

[Essjay]

The one used in fishkeeping is German degrees. At 1.62, your water is very soft rather than soft to medium!

Of the fish on your list:
Cardinal tetras - fine
Panda cories - fine, but get more than 4
Platies need hard water
Zebra loaches - fine water wise but need a longer tank (minimum 120 cm)
Otos - fine but you need at least 6 of them
Lake Tebera rainbows - need hard water and a longer tank


You have a mix of hard and soft water fish, and with your hardness the hard water fish (platies and rainbowfish) won't do well.
Most loaches need a longer tank than you have. You would get away with dwarf chain loaches, Ambastaia sidthimunki, but they are shoaling fish and you'd need at least six. And they are expensive.
Cories also all need to be in a group of at least 6. And they do much better on sand rather than gravel. You don't say what you have on the bottom of your tank.
Otos are also shoaling fish so you need at least 6 of them too. It is better not to add otos to a tank until it has grown a lot of algae for them to eat. Wait at least six months before getting any.

 

[gacf]

The one used in fishkeeping is German degrees. At 1.62, your water is very soft rather than soft to medium!

Of the fish on your list:
Cardinal tetras - fine
Panda cories - fine, but get more than 4
Platies need hard water
Zebra loaches - fine water wise but need a longer tank (minimum 120 cm)
Otos - fine but you need at least 6 of them
Lake Tebera rainbows - need hard water and a longer tank


You have a mix of hard and soft water fish, and with your hardness the hard water fish (platies and rainbowfish) won't do well.
Most loaches need a longer tank than you have. You would get away with dwarf chain loaches, Ambastaia sidthimunki, but they are shoaling fish and you'd need at least six. And they are expensive.
Cories also all need to be in a group of at least 6. And they do much better on sand rather than gravel. You don't say what you have on the bottom of your tank.
Otos are also shoaling fish so you need at least 6 of them too. It is better not to add otos to a tank until it has grown a lot of algae for them to eat. Wait at least six months before getting any.

Thanks very much essay. I do have sand for substrate as it was always my intention to get corys just wish now I'd got a bigger tank!
I will again rethink what top dwellers I can get to replace the platys and will drop the lake tenbera rainbowfish and the zebra poached as well. Back to the drawing board!

 

[fluttermoth]

You could look at some of the smaller pencilfish for top dwellers, or even marbled hatchets (the other species get a bit big for a tank your size).

Other than that, I would go for larger shoals of the cardinals and cories. Shoaling/social fish are better being in the largest groups you can manage. Don't forget, these fish have evolved to live in shoals of hundreds, or even thousands in the wild, so a few, larger shoals, are preferable to lots of smaller groups.The fish will be 'happier' (as far as it's possible for us to tell!) and will act more naturally.

 

[gacf]

Obviously my last posting should have read as thanks essjay and loaches not poached. Soddin spellchecker!!

 

[gacf]

Many Thanks fluttermouth. I never looked at the pencilfish before and have now radically changed my thinking. I'm now planning on
8 to 10 Golden pencilfish
6 x Panda Cory
6 x Cherry Barb (apparently they go well with the pencilfish)
And then when I think I have sufficient algae present I can add
6 x otocinclus.
Any and all comments gratefully received.