Does This Stocking Sound Right

[superman1]

Hello

ive set up my 180 lt tank with a sand subrate, lots of slate rock n fake plants and currently have a silver shark which is fairly small at the mo, 6 neon tainbows all pretty small at the mo, 1 black molly which i want to get a female for as he just shoals with the rainbows everynow and agin (looks so cute as hes the odd one out)
also have a mix of 4 corys, 2 red rams (apparently thats the name the lfs gave them) which i am finding very hard to sex,

so to summarise i have

1 silver shark
6 rainbows
1 molly
2 rams
4 corys

what else would be good to add to that. im thinking of adding another 6 rainbows as the shoal looks amazing.

also was thinking of neon tetras but not entirely sure on them. was thinking maybe a pair of angels as the tank is very tall.
what do u guys think.
any ideas would be greatly appreaciated good or bad.

thanks

 

[Davo86]

Hi superman.
are the rainbows praecox? if so then you would be fine to add more, however most other species get much larger.
I would get 2-3 female mollys, 2 more corys, 6 more praecox (if they are these) and then 2 Angels to finish.

Red Ram is a name given to Bolivian Rams,

 

[stang1]

I'd pretty much go with the stocking Davo suggested.
I'd rehome the shark as soon as possible as they prefer to be in a group.
If you do decide to get Angels, then it may be a bit risky adding Neons as they may be eaten when the Angels get bigger.

 

[superman1]

Hi superman.
are the rainbows praecox? if so then you would be fine to add more, however most other species get much larger.
I would get 2-3 female mollys, 2 more corys, 6 more praecox (if they are these) and then 2 Angels to finish.

Red Ram is a name given to Bolivian Rams,

hello and thanks for your replies

to be honest that stocking sounds just right

the rainbows are the praecox ones so they will not be getting that big. so i think 6 more of them will be added in. and yes i was thinking the silver shark will be lonely as it doesnt seem happy so that will be going.
i was thinking of 1 female molly as mine is male so wouldnt want too many babies popping out. 2 more corys will also be on my list. and 2 angels. i will not bother with the neons even though there colours do look nice. 2 angels will finish the tank of beautifully.

any ideas on how to sex them as when i was at the lfs the lady said that the males top dorsal fin go straight up as and the female is more rounded or the other way around. but to me they look the same and they dont really hang about with eachother ... is this normal

thanks

 

[Bigbadbaz]

Be careful with angels, I had 3, ended up rehoming one due to bullying, when there was only 2 the bigger of the 2 killed the other one. How about a pair of keyholes once your shark has been rehomed?

 

[Davo86]

any ideas on how to sex them as when i was at the lfs the lady said that the males top dorsal fin go straight up as and the female is more rounded or the other way around. but to me they look the same and they dont really hang about with eachother ... is this normal

Although there a lot of theories of how to sex them, the only real way is to look at the breeding tubes which are obviously only present when they are spawning,

tbh you just want two young Angels, by purchasing adults or even an approved pair you will most probably find they will act aggressive towards your other fish.

Also with regards to the molly, if you get 1M1F then it is most likely that the Male will bully the Female so it is best to either have a larger number of females to equal out the aggression or stick to a Male only group

 

[superman1]

cool that sounds good about the molly. when i used to have 2 white mollies (1m1f) the male was always trying it on with the female, kinda felt sorry for her as she didnt seem all that happy with the male always poking her.

by the way i have 2 red rams so would having the keyholes be ok as ive heard they can become aggressive with other cichlids. although i have plenty of hiding places for them
so would it be possible adding them in. im running a tetratec ex700 which i think is more then enough filtration on the tank.

 

[Davo86]

cool that sounds good about the molly. when i used to have 2 white mollies (1m1f) the male was always trying it on with the female, kinda felt sorry for her as she didnt seem all that happy with the male always poking her.

by the way i have 2 red rams so would having the keyholes be ok as ive heard they can become aggressive with other cichlids. although i have plenty of hiding places for them
so would it be possible adding them in. im running a tetratec ex700 which i think is more then enough filtration on the tank.

Swapping the Angels for Keyholes should be fine,

Tbh a single tetratec 700 isn't really enough filtration, You really need to be looking at 5x flow as standard which in a 180L would be 900lph
and whilst the tetratec 700 does 700lph when empty, when it is full with media this can be reduced to as low as 350lph