At The Point Of Buying New Fish

[moochy13]

my new 130L (4ft long) tank is coming along nicely now. i have the temp set at about 25C. not sure of the output of the juwel pump, i think its a bioflow 6.0 though. the current is very good. the water is good, real plants (for now), bogwood. i vacuum the sand every other day, removing about 30L of water, and do a 50% + change once a week. im not sure what sort of temp would be best for my fish. the tank was set up to rehome fish from a tank that was too small, so i have fish that probably arent best suited or in their optimum numbers/temp range, but theyre much better off than they were before. i have now re-located all the fish i wanted to from the smaller tank to the bigger one, aswell as brought a few to make groups up. now i am hoping ive still got some room for a few more.

re-located fish :

cuckoo syno, 3 inch
black angel 5-6 inches fintip to fintip (almost certainly stunted not getting bigger for a while now)
3 inch sailfin plec
2 red eye tetra
marbled headstander 3 inch

new fish

2 red eye tetra to make group of 4 (did have 5 but he hari kari'd)
2 schwartzi cory, 2 inch
2 sterbai cory, 2 inch
4-5 inch rusty plec

i intend on getting at least 2 more cories to make a group of six. i know some people dont think it works, but i'll be getting a pair of a different type of cory as from my experience of mine and other tanks they seem perfectly happy and friendly regardless of type. saying that if i cant find any that float my boat ill get another 2 sterbai. id like to bring my stock up to about where it should be, but possibly leave my self a bit extra for more cories. i dont want bronze, albino, panda, dwarf or peppered cories.

have been told the rusty wont exceed 8 inches, and i'd like another interesting looking plec of about the same size. nothing mega expensive, the rusty cost a tenner i'd be looking for a price like that, maybe 15 quid. i dont mind buying small fish that will grow if i'll get a nicer plec for my small amount of money. im not totally against rehoming the sailfin as i know they get big, but id rather not (at least not until hes huge) and theres a small chance mine could be stunted from the smaller tank, though he wasnt in there long, only about a month.

i would quite like another 4 or 5 schooling fish on par with the red eye's. i've been looking for cherry barbs but all the ones i find seem a bit washed out or orangey. there are a pair in the smaller tank that are vivid red, which is what im after. im after something colourful to offset the predominantly silver red eyes. i dont want neons or harlequins. rummy nose are nice but mostly silver. congo look like they may get too big and not very colourful. not interested in galaxy rasbora. my water too warm for danio's ? would dario dario be suitable ? if i could find some, they look amazing.

and maybe a centre piece fish or 2. at the moment the only fish which has any real presence is my midget angel. again something colourful. no gouramis, nothing expensive. i keep looking at rams but the ones i see in shops dont seem as colourful as i had hoped. i notice apisto's get mentioned a lot here as centrepiece fish, but i know nothing about them and which ones would give me the best colours.

oh and also maybe some sort of loach. i had a pakistani loach that was too beasty for my small community tank, so i gave him to a friend with a larger tank and hes happy as larry. and he looks amazing, i was properly gutted to get rid of him. is there anything similar i could have ? not interested in kuhli or clown (obviously). a loach is not as important as getting other fish in though.

as you can see i sort of know what i want but arent quite sure what i could have. i might be fully stocked, i dont know. i hope not. so in short i want another plec, at least 2 cories,4-5 small shoaling fish, 1 or 2 centrepiece fish. can i get them ?

cheers, and sorry for the long boring post.

 

[moochy13]

i see.

i know i waffled on quite a bit and seem undecisive about a few things, but thats why im asking. looking at my tank, i think i could get most of what i want. i think the stocking would be about as much as it could take, maybe a bit over. to make things a bit more easily readable :

current fish

3 inch sailfin plec
4-5 inch rusty plec
4 red eye tetra
4 cory
1 5 inch stunted black angel, not growing anymore but at least hes very friendly.
3 inch headstander
3 inch cuckoo syno.

id like to add

2 cory
4 or 5 colourful shoaling fish
a plec
1 or 2 centrepiece fish
possibly loach, not important though.

tank is 4 ft long 130L/33 gallon(ish), temp is 25C. real plants, mostly sand with a patch of gravel, bogwood. im now going round the local shops to see whats new since my last visit.

 

[Jamepsss]

I think you're getting pretty close to capacity there especially when the current stock reach their potential sizes.
Sounds like you're good with your maintenance though so I would look at upping the red eye tetras and cories to 6. Is your angel not a good centrepiece as it is? Maybe you could try adding a pair of Bolivian Rams or a Dwarf Gourami? Do you really need another plec because I think that would probably push you over the stocking limit?

The stocking experts may of course think differently.

Sounds great though, any pics?

 

[Timmy_Bee]

i will try to answer a few questions, but first - what are your tank dimensions? 4ft 130L sounds either very thin or very short, so that might chaneg things.

Yes the sailfin is too big - they grow to a good 12". i would look into Bristlenose (BN) plecs
Angels might be too big depending on the height of your tank
Cherry barbs - the males are the vivid red (but usually only when around females), the females are the washed out brown with a horizontal stripe

 

[moochy13]

thanks for the replies.

Jamepsss - the angel is nice, but hes not going to get any bigger as he was unfortunately stunted in the smaller tank. ive had him for 2-3 years, im assuming he should be a lot bigger than he is. he is also black, so doesnt stand out particuarly well especially as i have a black background and one end of the tank is quite dark aswell. i know plecs are messy but they are my fave type of fish, maybe i should look at the smaller types of plec. in my elongated post above i mentioned i wasnt interested in gouramis, and rams never seem to live up to my expectations colour wise. i always thought they would be an explosion of colour, but they never are. i'll try get some pics, my camera is with friends in antigua at the moment, and phones are rubbish.

timmy - the tank is 4ft long, but only 12" deep and 15" high. it is long and thin. i always intended on rehoming the sailfin when he got too massive, unless i had a bigger tank by then. i took him in as a refugee though, couldnt say no. i have a BN in the smaller tank, its nice but a bit brown and dull for me, so im not looking for anymore of those. and albino fish make me ill as mentioned above, im pretty sure the angel is beyond anymore growth now unfortunately, he would look truely stunning full size. the 2 cherry barbs in the other tank must both be male then, but they always look amazing. odd.

cheers for the help. couldnt find any fish i liked today, although i did manage to find a proper hood for my tank instead of the grotty mdf bodgejob i currently have. and despite going to 4 pet shops, i forgot food for my dog

 

[Timmy_Bee]

what is your size limit for the shoalers? i have got some rosy barbs and i love them for the colour they add to the tank. or my gold barbs. but these guys are a bit bigger and can be more aggresive.
Maybe you could get some sword-tails? they come in nice bright colours. i would like soem myself but they would get tourmented by my barbs too much

Also, instead of a loach, i went for a red tailed shark, and he's a nice addition. but you can only have one as they get nasty to anything that looks similar to them.

also, as for pleco's - i think your other options mean lots of money. There are some lovely pleco's out there (i think my fav is the snowball) but they can cost upwards of £50 a pop! (too much for me!)
And i couldn't agree more about albinos! cannot see the appeal at all!

 

[Jamepsss]

Jamepsss - the angel is nice, but hes not going to get any bigger as he was unfortunately stunted in the smaller tank. ive had him for 2-3 years, im assuming he should be a lot bigger than he is. he is also black, so doesnt stand out particuarly well especially as i have a black background and one end of the tank is quite dark aswell. i know plecs are messy but they are my fave type of fish, maybe i should look at the smaller types of plec. in my elongated post above i mentioned i wasnt interested in gouramis, and rams never seem to live up to my expectations colour wise. i always thought they would be an explosion of colour, but they never are. i'll try get some pics, my camera is with friends in antigua at the moment, and phones are rubbish.

Oops, sorry missed that bit on the opening post. I can kind of understand you not liking Gouramis but Rams are amazing. Don't forget that in the shop they are not in optimum conditions so not looking their best. My Bolivian Ram has amazing colour and is such a character, marvellous fish.

Sounds like you won't be persuaded though so maybe take a look at the Apistos or some of the other dwarf cichlids.

 

[moochy13]

no, if somebody could convince me that they look much better once settled i might be interested, they just never look particuarly special in the shop. i have looked at apistos, as to my untrained eye they seem very similar to rams looks wise, but there seems to be a trillion different types of apisto.

timmy, not really thought about size of shoaling fish, though if im closing in on my max stocking small would be good, hence why i liked the cherry barbs. i avoided other barbs because of the stories of them being not great community fish. i also like odessas but didnt want to risk it. as for plecos, im in the same boat as you. not only do i not have the cash to splash on one amazing fish like that, if it died i'd be pretty pissed off aswell. 10-15 quid is what im happy spending on a single fish.

just trying to sort some photos out now.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

odessa are great barbs. Have a look at my tank set-up in the 'members tanks' forum if you want to see some of mine.
Barbs are not as bad as people say, so long as you dont have any long-finned fish. They are also much better in groups of 6 plus - that way they take out the agression on their own kind (who can take it)

I would be a bit worried about your angel with barbs, so your right - it might not be a great idea

 

[moochy13]

heres a few photos of my tank and fish. the rusty was in a dark corner and i just didnt get a good pic of the angel. god knows where the syno was though the waters a bit cloudy as i hoovered it just before the photos.

i think i'll steer of larger barbs just incase. what about dario dario ? they look mega.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Dario dario with Sailfins and Angels? Err, no...

If a fish will fits in anothers mouth, it almost certainly will at some point and a 2cm adult Scarlet Badis will be a light snack to either of the above fish!

 

[moochy13]

im pretty sure my angel couldnt eat one that size as hes stopped growing so small, but i did think the dario's were a bit bigger than that. shame, they are good looking fish.

 

[Jamepsss]

Nice photos, lovely tank and fishes . I think those grassy looking plants on the left are non aquatic though.

 

[moochy13]

cheers, i was told when i got the plants they were probably non aquatic. that was about 3 weeks ago though, and they seem to be growing. i dont use plant food or anything. if they die i'll get something grassy again, i love the look.

 

[Jamepsss]

cheers, i was told when i got the plants they were probably non aquatic. that was about 3 weeks ago though, and they seem to be growing. i dont use plant food or anything. if they die i'll get something grassy again, i love the look.

Fair enough, as long as you're aware. Saggitaria Subulata would be a good alternative, I bought this thinking it was dwarf sag but it's much taller and looks pretty good. Thanks for sharing the pics.