Help With Stocking My Tanks!

tibby25731 · Apr 14, 2008

OK so I now have 2 x 2ft tanks and a 4ft tank. In my old 2ft I currently have 3 neons and a krib, plus my frogs. I plan to keep the frogs there and add a few more frogs, and a betta. Are there any small fish that can live alongside a betta, or should I just leave it at this?
Then I plan to use my new 2ft for quarantine but will always move a few fish into it when it is not in use so that it stays cycled. In the 4ft, I have a female krib, a common pleco and 3 guppies. There are another 3 guppies in the new 2ft that will move up to the 4ft soon. And my other femal krib will move in too once she has stopped protecting her unfertilised eggs! I will also move my neons in.
I plan to buy some more neons as there are currently only 3

- am looking at about another 5 I think. I am also wanting my kribs to breed - can I have 2 mating pairs in the same tank? So i am hoping to buy 2 male kribs. Also I want another 4 guppies, and some khuli loaches - about 5 I think. Then I also want a pair of gouramis, probably dwarf ones because I don't want them to grow too huge! And lastly a couple of small cats, probably bristlenose. Will I have any prioblems with this stocking? Tank is 4ft and holds about 210 litres. Or does anyone have any ideas as to alternative fish?

jacko9901 · Apr 14, 2008

tibby25731 said:
OK so I now have 2 x 2ft tanks and a 4ft tank. In my old 2ft I currently have 3 neons and a krib, plus my frogs. I plan to keep the frogs there and add a few more frogs, and a betta. Are there any small fish that can live alongside a betta, or should I just leave it at this?
Then I plan to use my new 2ft for quarantine but will always move a few fish into it when it is not in use so that it stays cycled. In the 4ft, I have a female krib, a common pleco and 3 guppies. There are another 3 guppies in the new 2ft that will move up to the 4ft soon. And my other femal krib will move in too once she has stopped protecting her unfertilised eggs! I will also move my neons in.
I plan to buy some more neons as there are currently only 3 - am looking at about another 5 I think. I am also wanting my kribs to breed - can I have 2 mating pairs in the same tank? So i am hoping to buy 2 male kribs. Also I want another 4 guppies, and some khuli loaches - about 5 I think. Then I also want a pair of gouramis, probably dwarf ones because I don't want them to grow too huge! And lastly a couple of small cats, probably bristlenose. Will I have any prioblems with this stocking? Tank is 4ft and holds about 210 litres. Or does anyone have any ideas as to alternative fish?

you could add 5 mountain minnows to go with the betta.

the 4 ft tank sounds good. not sure about the kribs though, i have never kept them so i dont know. in my opinion i would get between 15-20 more neons to make a big shoal. you get get instead of dwarf gouramis you could get some honey gouramis instead. they are about the same size as the drawf's. you probably could get a pair of each.

tibby25731 · Apr 14, 2008

oh that sounds good, and I do like the idea of a shoal of tetras. Will look at the honey gouramis too

Hopefully I will be able to keep the female kribs in the same tank because otherwise I will have to abandon my plans for a betta and keep one breeding pair in the old 2ft, because I just can't lose either of my females, i am too attached!

pirate monkey · Apr 14, 2008

I wouldn't put 2 pairs of kribs in one tank, they get quite territorial especially when they breed, also the domiant pair may end up attacking maybe even killing the other pair!

You can keep two females together, shouldn't be a problem, or have a m/f pair in one tank and a single in another (or another pair - how many gallons is yr 2ft tank? They need about 20g for a pair)

I agree with jacko about the neons - the more the merrier - they look stunning in big shoals

HTH

tibby25731 · Apr 14, 2008

My 2ft is 60 litres, not sure what that is in gallons! Google tells me its about 13 gallons, dunno if that is UK or US but I guess that puts paid to my plans - if I want to breed kribs then I need one breeding pair in the 4ft and the other female will have to live in the 2ft with the frogs. Any ideas for what fish to keep her with?

pirate monkey · Apr 14, 2008

Hi tibby

thought I should reply to you on this thread now lol!

So are you going to go with a betta in the tank with the female krib and the frogs?

I just noticed you were thinking about khuli loaches. I would just say be careful with what you put with kribs, since they are bottom dwellers and fairly territorial they can get a bit aggressive (especially when breeding) towards other bottom feeders, although saying that I would imagine they will be fine in a 4ft. Just be sure to put in lots of caves, coconut shells etc so that the kribs have enough places to claim as their own!

tibby25731 · Apr 14, 2008

I think I will likely go with the betta, yes. I will put both female kribs back together this weekend and see what happens when the bully goes into the new tank that the bullied one has been in for a week.... they may start to get on. And if they do, I may forget about breeding and just leave them together. if there are still problems, i will get a male and move whichever one he doesn't pick in with the betta.
Hmmm I do really want khuli loaches so i guess I better start making some more hiding places! I have a large shipwreck and a large cracked vase in the 4ft, they kinda dominate, but I can certainly pop in a few more coconut caves in the back for the kribs to claim! In fact I better do that before I move the bully krib back in! Cos my pleco has kind of claimed both ornaments as his own

At the moment I am thinking, about 12 neon tetras, 12 guppies, the 2 kribs and common pleco, 6 or 7 khuli loaches - I guess it is best to get adults so they stand a better chance?? Maybe I will get them last and keep them in the quarantine until they are big enough! And a trio of dwarf gouramis, 1 male and 2 female. Oh and a couple of cats - I quite like talking catfish, will they go OK? Or will they grow huge? Failing that, a few bristlenose plecs I think. Will I be overstocked, or have I still got a bit of room to play with?

Then my 2ft will have a betta, and if no krib, then a small shoal of mountain minnows - 6 maybe? Or do I need more?

And my other 2ft is quarantine - how do people usually keep their quarantine cycled? Or do you just take mature media from another tank whenever you need to use the quarantine?

pirate monkey · Apr 15, 2008

It might be an idea to rearrange your tank before you put the bully krib back in, this way she won't remember it and it will be like putting her in a new tank!

With regards to the loaches, they should be fine providing the kribs have enough 'things' to claim as theire territory. 2 female kribs should be less territorial than a breeding pair, but then they each have their own territory rather than sharing one as a pair would! I would see how it goes, then if there is any trouble you could always remove them to the quarantine.

In my experience with kribs, if you ever have trouble with them, take out the agressor, rearrange the tank, let things settle down (maybe a week or so) then put trouble maker back.

I'm not sure how big talking catfish get (I know there a are a couple of species) but I think that with everything else in your tank you could be pushing it (don't forget catfish are messy creatures!) so maybe BNs are the way to go. Of course it's up to you - if you have the room and adequate filtration then it could be ok ^_^

I think 6 mountain minnows will be fine, if you have room for more then have more (shoaling fish always happier in bigger numbers!)

As for the quarantine, I just run my filter in my community tank when quarantine tank is not in use, but the other ways of keeping it cycled are, like you said, just using some mature media. You could keep some fish in it, or you can just add pure ammonia to keep it cycled - it's up to you!

tibby25731 · Apr 15, 2008

Thanks! I think I will go with the bristlenose plecs then rather than talking cats... and both kribs lived in my old 2ft tank before Saturday when I got my new tank. So the bullied krib is in a brand new tank with new decoration etc, and I plan to move the bully in this weekend, and see how it goes. I caught her squaring up to her reflection earlier, seems like she misses her friend!
Am hoping to get a betta on Saturday if I can find a nice one, so will keep the betta with the frogs but no fish for a few weeks in the old tank, until i am sure that he is disease free. And I will get some neons probably for my shoal and pop them into my quarantine tank. Then when they enter the main tank I can get some more fish... how long do you usually quarantine for? And I never thought of running the filter in the main tank when I am not using the bottom tank... d'oh!

pirate monkey · Apr 15, 2008

Ok, hopefully your kribs will be ok - don't be afraid to persevere if it doesn't work out this time around! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I started off putting fish in quarantine for only a week, but then I had some neons that showed no signs of disease, but when I put them in my community they brought ich with them...! Some one on here suggested to quarantine for at least 3 weeks, that way you can be sure that any white spot etc will have shown itself, and you won't contaminate your community tank.

Just a note about the quarantine filter - if you have had diseased fish in the quarantine, don't forget to clean the filter (with hot water to kill any bacteria etc) before running it in your main tank to re-cycle it! :good:

Sounds like your community tank is gonna look lovely - post some pics! I've got 11 neons in quarantine at the mo waiting to join the 6 I've got in my community - I can't wait to see them all together... ^_^

tibby25731 · Apr 15, 2008

I will take some pics very soon of the 4ft tank so far, then everyone will be able to see it progressing! I can't wait until there are some more fish in it....

tibby25731 · Apr 19, 2008

Been away for a few days so no pics yet! But i have got some new fish

I bought 2 Aequidens awani (golden acara), 3 dwarf gourmais, think they are powder blue, 2 new guppies to go with my other 6, and 2 giant danios. The guppies and golden acara are living in one 2 ft tank as the acara are tiny so didn't want them to be bullied by bigger fish just yet! And the gouramis and giant danios are keeping my frogs company in the other 2ft, they aren't very big yet so shouldn't worry the frogs! Will move all fish to the 4ft tank in a few weeks, once I am sure they are disease free!
Krib update - the bully, Spot, has moved into the 4ft. Only to find Stripe is no longer so timid... the bully is now the bullied! Will have to keep a close eye on those two, I am hoping things will settle down. Gonna by a coconut tomorrow and make some more caves too - there is already one cave, plus a giant vase, a shipwreck and a tiki head! So i am sure between them they can share territories!

It's so exciting having new fish, and my 4ft looks much better with more fish in! Can't wait for the quarantine period to be over!

tibby25731 · Apr 20, 2008

If I have made any mistakes with my stocking, can somebody please tell me? I'm still hoping to get a betta for one of my 2ft and to use the other just for quarantine, but if I have bought any fish that will struggle to get along with the others, then I will change my plans to accommodate this!