First Fish

[hoyfoys]

Hi

This is my first post here and my first attempt at am aquarium.

I bought a 110L tank a few weeks ago and I'm close to completing a full fishless cycles.... it's nearly fish time!

I have planted it, added bogwood etc as in the photo. pH was initially just under 8 but has since dropped to 6.5, possible due to continual CO being pumped in? I've not done a water change yet, though.

I've looked to see how many fish I should have and concluded that this combination would be good for the tank size.


5 Glass Catfish
4 Odessa Barbs
2 Butterfly/flounder Pleco
1 Blue Ram/Butterfly Cichlid

What do you think? I'm wondering if I should forget the Plecos, I thought of them to help reduce algae bloom, and maybe get something else prettier instead.

Thanks for the help and advice.

 

[luke4868]

Hey Hoyfoys

Nice tank by the way

In note of the pleco's, you could get some clown loach instead? They will eat most of the remains off the bottom of the tank, and a bit off the glass I presume if it gets any...

 

[Davo86]

tank is far too small for clown loach,

tbh you have quite opposing species listed, the glass cats are graceful and delicate, whilst the barbs can be quite boistrous,
The blue rams require warm temperatures of around 28C whilst the butterfly plecos (hillstream loach) need temperate temperatures of close to 22C

 

[STEWARDSONS]

tank is far too small for clown loach,

tbh you have quite opposing species listed, the glass cats are graceful and delicate, whilst the barbs can be quite boistrous,
The blue rams require warm temperatures of around 28C whilst the butterfly plecos (hillstream loach) need temperate temperatures of close to 22C

i have both blue rams, hillstream loaches and electric blue rams (supposed to be very delicate) in my tank and its set to 27c, the rams have grown very well and are very happy.

 

[StandbySetting]

Implying it's possible to determine whether a fish is happy or not based on observations-

27oC is way too high for a Hill Stream Loach.

I agree with everything Davo said.

I'd up your Glass cat numbers and also the Barb numbers.

 

[hoyfoys]

Thanks for the replies.

According to the info I've seen if I have more fish I'll be overstocked, is that right? 12 fish doesn't seem a lot to me but then I'm new to this! The other thing I find is that different websites give different info about temperatures etc, where is the best place to get this info?

Would it be worth losing the Plecos and upping the Glass cats and barbs to 6 each? It just doesn't seem to have as many different species as I'd like but those 2 are the main species I'd like.

Thanks again

 

[StandbySetting]

You'd be fine to have 10 or so Barbs more so later on, they stay small (about 6-7cm).

As for the Glass Catfish it depends on the species, there are 2, one which gets to about 4 inches and one that gets to about 6 inches, I'd up them to 6 as they're schooling fish.

 

[hoyfoys]

Great, I was worried that many Barbs would be too many and didn't want to overstock. So we're talking:

6 Glass Catfish
10 Odessa Barbs
1 Blue Ram/Butterfly Cichlid

I'm guessing that's my limit? I'd hoped to have a bigger fish too but I don't think I'll be able to. I love the idea of Discus but I think they are too big for the tank. I added the Ram to add something different, though I like the Cockatoo Cichlid too

 

[BluePhantom]

One fish I like u might think to add it the dwarf neon rainbow the color is awesome Andy could put a good six in cuz they stay about 2 inches!

 

[hoyfoys]

The other thing I'd love is 2 Discus. Would this be a bad idea? Would the following be to much fish?

6 Glass Catfish
6 Odessa Barbs
2 Discus

 

[StandbySetting]

The tank isn't big enough for Discus, and ideally Discus should be kept in groups to spread aggression.

 

[hanny93]

Discus would be a very bad idea, they are xtremely delicate and require VERY soft water, this isn't that much of a problem, but they are also very shy fish, and can get aggressive at times, rather a bipolar fish!

Stay away from discus until you have a much larger tank where you can keep them properly. They grow to 8-10 inches, both up and across.

They also need high temperatures which wouldnt suit other tank mates you have suggested