I have an LFS!

[Helium_Junkie]

Woohoo!
Was taking a different route home when I passed it... "World of Fishes" in East Grinsted! Well chuffed Went in and had a look around, they have guppies, bettas (male only), Glass Cats, all I want Gonna go back later and get some more decor

Woohoo!!

So, suggestions/comments on this setup in a 120*40cm 35gal(UK) tank + what else to add:

12 Neon tetras, 12 glass catfish, many guppies, they had these red fish with black tails that were cute... maybe 6 of those. they were about 4cm long... any idea what they were?

What else would compliment this selection?
Any realllly colourful fish that could go in?

 

[Helium_Junkie]

No fish suggestions?

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

On my list of must get fishes, Bloodfin Tetras would be great to compliment your tank. They're quite colourful, small, and fed easily. Here's what they look like....

http/www.aquazoo.co.uk/Page.cfm/Type=Fish/ID=197

Others on my list are: Serpae Tetra,Checker Barb, Ornate Tetra, Cherry Barb and Golden Pencilfish. If only I have enough room for another tank at the moment.....!

 

[ajhainey]

they had these red fish with black tails that were cute

red wagtail platys? http/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/livebear...redwagplaty.htm

aj xx

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I think the glass cats would be cool... I dunno, I'd get something that eats something else (ignore that) Get the glass cats, they look awesome!

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Definitely going for glass cats, but as ClutteryDrawer told me they need to be added last they will be a late addition.

Thanks AJ, I reckon thats the one

So how about this mix so far:

Neon Tetras
Bloodfin tetras (if i can find em)
Glass Catfish
Guppies (lots if I cant resist )
Oto's (I heard these help keep Algae levels down somewhat?)
Red Wagtail Platys (If thats what they were, I think so )
Cory Catfish - good number for these?

How many should I keep to take me close to full stock on a 120*40cm 35(uk)gallon tank?
What suggestions would you make?
Do I have a good number of top/bottom/mid level feeders?

 

[The-Wolf]

6 Bloodfin tetras (if i can find em)

? Cory Catfish - good number for these?


brookside has the bloodfin tetras helium

3 or more on corys

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Argh, I have a problem. I have found sizes for each of these fish but I don't know if they include fin

Size CM

Neon Tetra 4
Bloodfin Tetra 5
Black Phantom Tetra 4
Red Wagtail Platy 6
Black Molly 10
Guppy 6
Cory Catfish 7
Oto 5
Glass Catfish 10

If thats the full size, I think I'm really limited on numbers in my tank

I do have looooads of air stones etc making turbulence so the surface area of my tank is quite a bit bigger than 120*40... maybe that'd help? I'm also gonna have plants...

Who wants to give me accurate sizes and a good length of stock for my tank

Its 38gal, not 35.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

From the practical fishkeeping calculator... sound right?


Results
Dimensions: 120cm L x 40cm W x 40cm H/47" L x 16" W x 16" H
Surface area: 0.48 sq m/5.17 sq ft/744 sq inches
Volume: 192 l./42 gal.
Volume after displacement: 173 l./38 gal.
System type: Tropical freshwater aquarium
Total stocking density: 76"/193cm of fish (built up gradually)

 

[clutterydrawer]

those sizes are in centimeters, right? here are the sizes I know for those fish, but I'm afraid I only work in inches. The sizes given for fish don't include their fins because the fins don't affect the stocking, as far as I know


Neon Tetra 1"
Bloodfin Tetra no idea, sorry
Black Phantom Tetra Between 1" and 1.5" (get some, they are neat fish!)
Red Wagtail Platy not sure, think it differs for males and females tho
Black Molly don't know
Guppy 1.5" for males 2" for females
Cory Catfish this depends on what typ of cory you are getting. Bronze or pepepred can get up to about 3", but panda are much smaller, reaching around 1.5-2". However thereare some "pygmy" varieties like C. Pygmaeus, C. Hastatus and C. Habrosus which only get to 1". They arent so often stocked by lfs though.
Oto 2"
Glass Catfish I have read differing accounts of these. Some people say only 3" but I've seen in quite a few reliable books that they can get to 6".

The formular I use to work out stocking is surface area in cm divided by 30 to give total possible length of fish. Then divde by 2.5 to get it in inches

So I make it 64" But that's not taking into account airstones.

Here is what I would do with that tank, remember this is jsut a suggestion and I am biased towards my own favourite fish. Also everyone has different opinions on safe stocking levels.

6 glass cats - 36
6 panda cory - 12 ish
3 oto - 6
6 black phantom tetra - 6 ish
4 male guppies (unless you wanna get females to and have infinite numbers of guppy babies....) 6

That makes 64". With the added aeration you could probably fit a few more in time, as long as your filter is up to coping with the waste they produce.

That tank would be really quite heavily stocked although tetras and cories are not big waste producers if you have good filtration I think you'd be ok. The trick would be to take it reeeeally slowly to make sure you've got everything under control. It's best to understock a tank when you're new to the hobby, "just in case".


Basically those glass cats are taking up a vast part of your stocking length...I think it's worth it....but it's your decision.

This is the worst bit of setting up a new tank, everyone always wants more fish than they can have....

 

[Helium_Junkie]

hehe, yep Thanks for that.

Best thing I can do is add small amounts at a time.

About Tetras, I know they like to shoal but does cross-breed count?
For example

6 neons
1 black phantom
1 bloodfin

Would the phantom/ bloodfin be happy shoaling with the neons?

If not, smallest safe number of each breed would be really nice

 

[SirMinion]

Would the phantom/ bloodfin be happy shoaling with the neons?

They will school with the other tetras, but I don't know if they'd be happy.

We had just one rummynose tetra left after a temperature crash and he schooled well with the 10 neons for two months.

But when we finally tracked down some more rummynoses and added them, he instantly abandoned the neons and schooled with the new additions, even though he was twice their size (being older)

I now have two distinct tetra schools.

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Well, I'll try to keep em with friends then, but whats the lowest safe number for a shoal?

 

[SirMinion]

whats the lowest safe number for a shoal?

Three minimum, but five for preference.

 

[clutterydrawer]

It's worth getting a good six black phantoms jsut to enjoy the way they chase eahc other round the tank, they're way more playful than neons.