Fish To Add To Tank....help!

[andyjc01]

I have a 180l Juwel tank with newly added Zebra Danios.
Ideas for community tank mates are as follows, choose from list below

15-20 Cardinal tetras
6 Sterbi Corys
1 Birstlnose
1 Male Krib
1 Dwarf Gourami
6 Cherry Barbs (3pairs)
1 Bristlenose Pleco
Lyretail Swordtails x 2
Dwarf Honey Gourami
Bleeding heart tetra
Black widow tetra
Kribensis
Banded Rainbow
Lake Kutubu Rainbow
Siamese Fighter/Betta

Any other suggestions VERY welcome please...!
Obviously I'm not going to put EVERY fish on list in (I don't have a 1000L tank... )
Please help me choose...!

 

[Flute]

Do you know what your pH and water hardness is? As I think some of the species you've listed there require different water conditions?

How about something like:

10 cardinals/ other tetra
A pair of pearl gourami as centre piece fish (or you could go with the dwarfs or the honeys, but I think they might be more delicate than pearls?)
1 BN Pleco
8 corydora of some sort
A pair of dwarf cichlid of some sort? Rams, apistos, laetacara, etc. I imagine as long as you have enough plants to break the line of sight they'd be ok with the gourami.

And you'd probably still have some room left over depending on fish temperaments, etc.

 

[andyjc01]

Thanks for quick reply m8...!
My ph level on Monday was 7.8.
Any advice...?

 

[Flute]

No problem! And welcome to the forums by the way

7.8 is not too bad, it might present a problem for the fish like tetras, corys, cichlids, etc. Unless you can find some bogwood to stick in there to help lower the pH? Although saying that, you might get lucky with tank bred fish- they can usually handle a slightly higher pH.
If you do want to try and lower it there's a few ways you can go about it- almond leaves, alder cones, R.O water, etc. If not, might be best sticking to fish with a higher pH range. I can't really give advice there I'm afraid as I've only ever kept fish that prefer lower pH conditions.

 

[andyjc01]

I was going to get some Bogwood for a Bristtle Nose Pleco to suck on...!
Is it best to soak it first or just place in tank..?

 

[Flute]

I'd soak it for a few days and then add it to the tank. It'll make the water go a tea colour at first, I like it but I know a lot of people prefer crystal clear water. Activated carbon should remove the tannins if you don't like it

As a quick side thought, have you cycled your tank?

 

[Murrayjane]

From that Selection: I fancy the following.
Bleeding Heart Tetras
Kribensis
Bristlenose
Cherry Barbs

I think the color of these 4 would come out very nicely.

(I would definitely leave out the Siamese Fighter/Betta)

I am not sure of the compatibility of the Krib, but adding a Dwarf Gourami would add elegance and banded rainbows are also nice.

 

[andyjc01]

Had tank setup for a week before adding Zebra Danios to start cycling with fish.
Was thinking about leaving as is for 3/4 weeks, checking levels and water changes every week.
Fish seem OK and very active, think Zeb's are anyway...!
7x live plants in as we'll.
What are your thoughts m8.
Experienced advice greatly received...!

 

[Murrayjane]

That seems fine to me, another few weeks should be enough time provided that your properly cycling the tank (decent filter etc...) and your checking the water conditions.

Should be a sweet setup!

 

[Flute]

Filling a tank and leaving it for a week unfortunately wont make it ready for fish. Was it a completely new set up from scratch, with no mature filter media? If so, then you are currently in a fish in cycle and need to be doing large daily water changes until beneficial bacteria builds up in your filter. If you leave the water changes to just weekly whilst the filters are cycling then the ammonia and nitrites will very rapidly build up to toxic levels and your fish will die. Liquid test kits are a must for doing fish in cycles, and you need to be checking daily that the ammonia levels aren't sky high- sometimes the levels will be so high you will need to do more than one large water change a day to get them back down to safe levels.

Fish in cycles can take months of daily water changes, and it wont be safe to add any more fish until your tank is cycled, so this is why a fishless cycle is recommended. If you want an easier (and much more relaxing ) few months then I'd advise taking the danios back to the shop and doing a fishless cycle.

Or, do you know anyone with a mature tank? If so, you could ask if you could pinch some of their mature media, which will kick start your tank and make the whole process much quicker and easier. If you don't know anyone, then you can always ask your LFS- they might be generous enough to give you some mature media, or sell you some.

Here are some links to some really useful and essential information that should help you along:

A guide to Fish In Cycle

A guide to Fishless cycle

What is cycling

The beginners resource centre

If you know all this already, then my apologies! Just want to make sure everything goes as smoothly for you as possible

 

[andyjc01]

Cheers Flute.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Will start daily water changes from tomorrow. How much to change?
Have got an API Master test kit so will check levels.
Thanks for advice on choosing fish to go with me Zebs...!
Also thanks to Murryjane, liking your ideas on fish. Colour is an important thing to me so cheers for advice m8.
Many people on here seem to know their stuff when it comes to fishes.
Mucho gracias.
Just a quick question (sorry chaps..!)
Ghost shrimps....good idea or bad..?

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to be guided by your test results as to how much water to change.

You need to make sure that neither ammonia or nitrite ever get above 0.25ppm; anything above that and it'll make your fish sick.

 

[Flute]

No problem Andy We all love the hobby here, and are more than happy to natter on and help out in anyway that we can I think ghost shrimp require cooler temperatures, ammano/yamato shrimp would probably be a more suitable addition. Although I can't stress enough how important it is that you don't add anything else to the tank until it's cycled!

As Fluttermoth said, go by your results. If they're very high, you'll need to do something like a 70-90% water change. I think the best way to go about it would be to change 70%, wait an hour two, test the water and then do another big change until the levels drop back down to 0.25ppm or lower.

One last thing that I've just realised, and should have mentioned earlier is the fact that you've gone with danios. These guys like cooler temperatures, and this will mean it will effect what other fish you can keep with them, as most tropicals like warmer water than what danios can comfortably handle.