Community Tank Advice.

[Fishkeeper4]

Hi I recently bought a 90 litre aquarium and it currently contains 5 Neon Tetra's the amonium and nitrate levels are all 0 and the fish seem lively and happy. I am planning on gradually planning on building up my aquarium to contain 10 Neons, 3-5 Platy's, 3-5 Guppies and 2 Dwarf Loaches. I have several ornaments in my tank but not any plants yet. I have a few questions,
 
1. Does this sound like a good tank set up to you?
2. Will all of the fish be happy in this type of set up?
3. What plants should i get?
4. Will the tank be over crowded? I used lots of different methods to find out how many CM of fish i could have (e.g surface area rule) and found the average and am within that even when at maximum (i am using adult size.)
 
I'd really appreciate any help, thank you!

 

[sawickib]

You may of forgo the schooling rule with the loaches, so on that note i would take them off the list. 
 
Now i would drop all the guppies and platys too, unless you want a ton of fry over crowding your tank, or you get all males.
 
So this is the stock i would do 10 neon tetras, and a school of about 7 of any cory species you like, i personally like panda and sterbai corys the most, you will need al the same species for them to school.

 

[b3cca]

1. Not really, rather than getting small numbers of different species I would get larger numbers of the same species and get fish which occupy different levels of the tank rather than all top dwellers.
Me I would just up the Neons to around 8-12 and then get some lower/mid  dwellers like Cherry or Golden Barbs rather than those livebearers
 
2. Fish will be happy if they are kept in enough numbers together, have no aggressive tank mates and have perfect parameters
 
3. Get some easy low tech plants like java ferns, anubius, mosses which don't need planting and can simply be glued/tied onto your  wood/ornaments
 
4. It won't be overcrowded if you stock it with species which occupy all levels rather than getting all species which fight for the    
 same spaces
 
If you have 0 plants and your nitrates are still 0 then your cycle hasn't yet started SOO read about fish in cycle and do not add anything else until you have a stable established tank

 

[Fishkeeper4]

I was planning on getting all male guppies and platys to make sure i didn't have any fry so that's not a problem, And I know Neons are normally mid-top dwellers but after observing mine they seem to prefer the lower regions of the tank so I don't think that would be a major issue, also I have kept neons and platys together before and they have been extreemly successful. Concerning the schooling rule for loaches I have kept loaches before with other social fish (mainly neons and platys) and it seemed to thrive, will being with other social fish not be sufficent for them?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

What people often do not realize about schooling fish is this is a defensive behavior. It is used when the fish are out in the open. However, scare schoolers enough and they will scatter and run for cover and hide. If a tank only has decent cover in the bottom portion of a tank, then the schoolers will often stay lower down so the can bolt for cover if needed. I recently moved a school of rummy nose from a 40 breeder with plants and taller wood into a 45 long with much shallower decor and no plants. (This is actually a pleco breedeing tank.) They now school low down near the wood, rocks and caves a lot of the time. In the 40 B they would swim at all levels and do mid level and top level laps around the tank all day long.
 
Sidthimunki loaches are active at all levels of a tank but do need to be kept in good sized groups. They are also quite long lived. I have a group that have been in my tanks since about 2003.

 

[wrightt3]

Ideally, neons and livebearers shouldn't be kept together as they thrive in different pH and water hardness. Neons prefer soft acidic water whilst most livebearers prefer fairly hard and alkaline water. Whilst fish tend to be fairly adaptable, keeping them outside their preferred range can potentially shorten their lifespans.
 
Your best bet would be to test the pH and hardness of your tap water and then stock your tank with fish that favour those conditions.

 

[Fishkeeper4]

My PH is just below 7 and i'm not sure how to test for water hardness, if you wouldn't mind explaining i'd be really grateful. Would the loaches be comfortable in a group of 4 or is more needed?

 

[wrightt3]

Water hardness test kits can be bought at your LFS. If they don't sell them, then you could easily get them online. TBH though, you probably don't need one as water with a pH below 7 is usually quite soft. Neons would therefore be your best bet.
 
As for the loaches, the minimum group size for shoaling fish is 5-6 but more is always preferable so I would not recommend just getting 4.
 
I would personally go with a group of about 10 neons, 8 dwarf loaches and maybe some hatchet fish to occupy the upper levels depending on the actual dimensions of your tank. How big is your tank? 

 

[sawickib]

The op said its a 90 liter. The hatchets might over do it. Maybe get some shrimp or snails?

 

[Fishkeeper4]

It is 60cm by 35cm then around 40 high it's 90 liters and I don't like shrimp or snails how about 10 Neons, 3 Platys, 3 Guppies and 5 Loaches?

 

[wrightt3]

Sorry, I wasn't too sure how big 90 Litres actually was. Forget what I said about the hatchets. 
Like I said, your water might be a bit too soft for livebearers but if you're dead set on them then I would just go with guppies as they are smaller.
Something like this then?
10 neons
5 Guppies (to spread out nipping between males)
6 Loaches
It might not seem like very much but 90l doesn't really give you a lot of room to work with.

 

[Fishkeeper4]

Ok i'll consider that but I still like the idea of platys, thanks for all your help btw same to everyone else that has replied I really appreciate it!

 

[evan47]

bear in mind that platys and livebearers in general are poo machines, i had them in the past and can remember not feeding them for two days and they were still trailing it behind them. 

 

[Fishkeeper4]

Hey update i checked at my LFS and they don't have any dwarf loaches however they did have panda cory's and am now considering them instead of the loaches. I also got three Platy's today too.

 

[Byron]

We do not have the GH of your water yet, but as another member suggested it is likely on the soft side with the pH slightly acidic (in the 6's presumably).  Your platy are not going to do well long-term if this is the situation.  Livebearers (other than the guppy which is another story) need some calcium and magnesium in the water to be at their best physiologically.  You can ascertain the GH from your water supply people, likely on their website.  This is important.
 
Corys are fine, they are shoaling fish and no less than five is best.  With Corydoras panda, I would get 6-7.  This species tends to shoal together a lot more than some other corys.  This fish will be a better fit than a group of dwarf loaches considering your tank size too.
 
Byron.