My New Fluval Roma 200 Tank

[peter212693]

Hello all,

Im currently cycling my new Fluval Roma 200. I really cant wait to get some fish in it now Im going to go for a community tank I think as this is my first. I will probably go for some tetras, barbs, mollys, a plec or two and maybe some zebra louches but not 100% yet, what do you recommend?

I have a couple of other questions, is my tank got enough decor in and enough hiding? I do have a piece of bog wood that goes behind the bridge but thats soaking at the moment.

I have a Aquamanta EFX400 canister filter which is rated for up to 400l so that should be plenty. What sort of stocks should I aim for?

Any other recommendations would be great!

Many thanks

 

[cambojnr]

thats the tank I want to upgrade to later this year, but as for stocking I would go with 21 neon tetras as a big school looks awesome, 1 brissle nose plec, 1 male dwarf gourami and 4 female but I would also reccomend that you swap out the plastic plant for real plants as they would of been alot cheaper, although they may not be pretty colours they look just as good and real plants will actually benefit you're tank by drawing up nitrates as I only have 3 plants in my tank and my nitrates are always 0.

 

[peter212693]

Thanks for your advice! I was going to go planted but decided against it. I may get a couple for the sides for the time being as the Mrs likes the pretty colours!

 

[LoachLover!]

Nice tank

I have this tank - love it!

I have zebra loaches, and I have found you need to be careful with them. They are prone to nipping, so be careful with what you keep them with. Make sure there is nothing to timid or long finned.

I have Bleeding Heart Tetras which are a great addition. A big group of those looks great. You have many shoaling options. I recommend things like:

Rummynose Tetras - Sensitive to water quality - add to mature tanks only - Need low nitrates (although I think all fish should)
Cardinal Tetras
Bleeding Heart Tetras (As mentioned above
.....The list goes on - those are some of my favourites.

Gourami wise - You could get Pearl Gouramis (1m 2f) or just one, Dwarf Gouramis (Again 1m 2-3f) Honey Gouramis (Love these little guys! Super peaceful, gorgeous little fish - miss my little trio of 'em!)

Some shoaling fish like to have more dense planting, but that depends what you want to keep. I recommend something like this:

3 (Pearl, dwarf or honey) Gouramis - that is - if you want gouramis?
15 of one shoal - I suggest going for one IMPACT shoal
1 or 2 Bristlenose plecos - They stay small enough
8-10 Cory cats (Great little guys!)
I also love Bolivian Rams - great looking fish - Hardy enough, pretty, full of character. They are much easier to keep than the German Blue Ram!

Thats just my opinion based on what I keep in my Roma.

Good luck! Hope this helps

 

[sadguppy]

In my Roma 200 I have six platies, twelve cardinal tetras, a bristlenoe plec, seven five banded barbs, six cories, a krib, some danios and a female dwarf gourami. Apart from the krib who was an impulse purchase and although she now gets on fine, she's not really suitable for a community tank, I would recommend the lot, it's a colourful active tank and everyone gets on. It might get overstocked if all were to have the same lifespans but the platies will live out their natural lives before the plec for instance gets too big.

In my 125l I have yoyo loaches and rummy noses, they are also great community fish. The yoyos are so cute and active and leave the others alone.

There are plenty of pictures in my journal linked in my sig if you're interested.

 

[cambojnr]

In my Roma 200 I have six platies, twelve cardinal tetras, a bristlenoe plec, seven five banded barbs, six cories, a krib, some danios and a female dwarf gourami. Apart from the krib who was an impulse purchase and although she now gets on fine, she's not really suitable for a community tank, I would recommend the lot, it's a colourful active tank and everyone gets on. It might get overstocked if all were to have the same lifespans but the platies will live out their natural lives before the plec for instance gets too big.

In my 125l I have yoyo loaches and rummy noses, they are also great community fish. The yoyos are so cute and active and leave the others alone.

There are plenty of pictures in my journal linked in my sig if you're interested.

does your bristlenose plec poo everywhere? as I got 1 yesterday and was shocked at all the poo I cleaned out after 24 hours, but he has cleaned all 3 sides of my tank that I had been letting algea grow on for it, does it poo less once i start giving it 1 algea wafer a day?

 

[peter212693]

Thanks for your help guys. Would you recommend cardinals over neons? I was thinking maybe 15-20 cardinals/neons, 10 rummynoses, 5 zebra/yoyo loachs, 6 barbs, and a pleco of some sort.

 

[peter212693]

Ran a quick test through ##151###.... what do you think

6 x Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya)
8 x Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
6 x Zebra Danio (Danio rerio)
10 x Bleeding Heart Tetra (Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)
6 x Panda Cory (Corydoras panda)
10 x Five Banded Barb (Puntius pentazona)
20 x Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
5 x Zebra Loach (Botia striata)


Recommendations/Warnings/Suggestions/Notes:


Recommended temperature range: 24 - 24 C. [Display in Farenheit]
Recommended pH range: 6 - 7.
Recommended hardness range: 5 - 13 dH.


Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 96%.
Recommended water change schedule: 3% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 28%.

 

[sadguppy]

If you added all these fish you would be extremely overstocked, it seems like a lot of fish. Are you sure the 28% stocked and 3% change per week aren't calculated on a 200 GALLONS rather than litres as these are definitely wrong.

Try adding no more than one species every few weeks starting with the must haves. You will soon be able to see when it gets stocked, and of course they will all grow so take account of that. I would probably recommend you stop at about half the fish you have named. That will be well stocked and will require weekly water changes of around 25%.

And perhaps go for yoyos over botia striata as I hear they can be bullies? I think?

 

[sadguppy]

In my Roma 200 I have six platies, twelve cardinal tetras, a bristlenoe plec, seven five banded barbs, six cories, a krib, some danios and a female dwarf gourami. Apart from the krib who was an impulse purchase and although she now gets on fine, she's not really suitable for a community tank, I would recommend the lot, it's a colourful active tank and everyone gets on. It might get overstocked if all were to have the same lifespans but the platies will live out their natural lives before the plec for instance gets too big.

In my 125l I have yoyo loaches and rummy noses, they are also great community fish. The yoyos are so cute and active and leave the others alone.

There are plenty of pictures in my journal linked in my sig if you're interested.

does your bristlenose plec poo everywhere? as I got 1 yesterday and was shocked at all the poo I cleaned out after 24 hours, but he has cleaned all 3 sides of my tank that I had been letting algea grow on for it, does it poo less once i start giving it 1 algea wafer a day?

Yep, all plecs are poo machines. They are great fish but anyone who buys them to clean up is in for a nasty surprise!

 

[cambojnr]

In my Roma 200 I have six platies, twelve cardinal tetras, a bristlenoe plec, seven five banded barbs, six cories, a krib, some danios and a female dwarf gourami. Apart from the krib who was an impulse purchase and although she now gets on fine, she's not really suitable for a community tank, I would recommend the lot, it's a colourful active tank and everyone gets on. It might get overstocked if all were to have the same lifespans but the platies will live out their natural lives before the plec for instance gets too big.

In my 125l I have yoyo loaches and rummy noses, they are also great community fish. The yoyos are so cute and active and leave the others alone.

There are plenty of pictures in my journal linked in my sig if you're interested.

does your bristlenose plec poo everywhere? as I got 1 yesterday and was shocked at all the poo I cleaned out after 24 hours, but he has cleaned all 3 sides of my tank that I had been letting algea grow on for it, does it poo less once i start giving it 1 algea wafer a day?

Yep, all plecs are poo machines. They are great fish but anyone who buys them to clean up is in for a nasty surprise!

yea its cleaned the entire tank of algea already even though its created more mess than its cleaned.

 

[peter212693]

No it was definatly 200L my tank was listed in the menu to choose. 100cm x 50cm x 40cm. It was on Aq Advisor.

 

[dbanner]

Aq advisor is terribly inaccurate. That does seem like a lot of fish for a 200 litre. If it was my tank regardless of stock I'd be doing around 30% water changes every week. I always have on all my tanks no matter what fish I have in them

 

[delta]

No it was definatly 200L my tank was listed in the menu to choose. 100cm x 50cm x 40cm. It was on Aq Advisor.

I think what's happened is that the site has defaulted to inches rather than cm so it's seeing your tank as 100inches x 50inches by 40inches which would be a very big tank indeed.

 

[sadguppy]

No it was definatly 200L my tank was listed in the menu to choose. 100cm x 50cm x 40cm. It was on Aq Advisor.

I think what's happened is that the site has defaulted to inches rather than cm so it's seeing your tank as 100inches x 50inches by 40inches which would be a very big tank indeed.

Yes this is what's happened, I recall it doing that for me too. Even when it's got the right measurements it's not the best site. Ok for a guide but always do your own research here!