Need Advice On Stock.

[lifeofbrian]

Hi all,i have just bought my first aquarium,and need to decide what fish i want to put in,ready for when my tank has cycled.I have been looking for a few weeks now at various fish,at their size and compatibility with each other and my water conditions.I have a 125 ltr tank with sand on top of tetra plant subrtate,i have ordered 50 plants and it has 3 pieces of wood.I would like a peacefull community tank,with maybe some shrimp,but i know i may have to forget about those for the more colourfull fish that i want.I would like some colourfull fish that range from 5-10cm.So if anyone can suggest a group of fish and maybe even good places to buy them near me(surrey/hampshire).

These are some of my choices so far.I would like to pick 3 or 4 of these.

Sterbai Cory
Blue Ram
Golden ram
Guppies
Kuhli Loach
1 Red Tail Black Shark
White Micky Mouse Platy
Zebra Loach
Blue Gourami
Golden Pencil Fish

Thanks.

 

[lilfishie]

they all look good, not sure on the sjark as i have no experience with them, just make sure you have nice big groups and it will look great

have you thought about a large mid-dwelling shoal? eg Neons/Cardinals

 

[KittyKat]

Going from what you said, here is the stock I would have:
* 1 Trichogaster trichopterus (blue gourami, aka gold gourami, aka three spot gourami) OR 1m 2-3f dwarf gourami OR a group of honey gouramis
* pair of Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)
* 15 golden pencil fish (Nannostomus beckfordi)
* 8-10 sterbai Corys

I find platys slightly boring, otherwise you can have them instead of the pencil fish or a trio on top of the stocking above. Loaches are usually a pain, but if you insist, replace Corys with 10 khuli OR 6 zebra loaches.

Avoid these:
* blue ram (aka gold ram) because they are fragile
* guppies because they tend to die without reason and not compatible with many fish
* all sharks, including red-tailed black because they are aggressive

I do hope you are planning to do a proper fish-less cycle? I ask as it seems a bit early to be getting plants, if you are..

 

[Aqua Tom]

Definitely get the sterbai corys, absolutely charming fish.

 

[lifeofbrian]

Going from what you said, here is the stock I would have:
* 1 Trichogaster trichopterus (blue gourami, aka gold gourami, aka three spot gourami) OR 1m 2-3f dwarf gourami OR a group of honey gouramis
* pair of Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus)
* 15 golden pencil fish (Nannostomus beckfordi)
* 8-10 sterbai Corys

I find platys slightly boring, otherwise you can have them instead of the pencil fish or a trio on top of the stocking above. Loaches are usually a pain, but if you insist, replace Corys with 10 khuli OR 6 zebra loaches.

Avoid these:
* blue ram (aka gold ram) because they are fragile
* guppies because they tend to die without reason and not compatible with many fish
* all sharks, including red-tailed black because they are aggressive

I do hope you are planning to do a proper fish-less cycle? I ask as it seems a bit early to be getting plants, if you are..

Thanks,good tips on the rams etc,i'll look into some of those,and i've read a lot about cycling and i'm 100% in agreement on the fishless way.The other way sounds cruel.I have birds too,and get very upset if anything happens to them,i dont know if i will be that attached to the fish of course,but i will give them the best life i can.

 

[Lolly123]

You've been give great advice already, but just thought id give a +1 on staying away from the red tailed shark, nice fish, but I had nothing but bother with them in a community a few years ago.

 

[lifeofbrian]

Definitely get the sterbai corys, absolutely charming fish.

Yeah i really like the look of them,i like your fish names btw lol.

 

[lifeofbrian]

You've been give great advice already, but just thought id give a +1 on staying away from the red tailed shark, nice fish, but I had nothing but bother with them in a community a few years ago.

Ah ok,i always see on sites that sell them,that they are peacfull in a community,but thats the great thing about a forum,we learn from real experiences.

Cheers.

 

[Lolly123]

You've been give great advice already, but just thought id give a +1 on staying away from the red tailed shark, nice fish, but I had nothing but bother with them in a community a few years ago.

Ah ok,i always see on sites that sell them,that they are peacfull in a community,but thats the great thing about a forum,we learn from real experiences.

Cheers.

Indeed, see you'll always get mixed views some people have got them in a community setup and they'd be fine, but you cant judge the individual temperament of a fish and if they've got the potential to be aggressive anyway id rather stay away unless i was creating a specific tank for fish like that.
I think you've got some great fish on your list and im sure you'll be pleased once you've made an informed decision on your stocking.

 

[lifeofbrian]

I do hope you are planning to do a proper fish-less cycle? I ask as it seems a bit early to be getting plants, if you are..
[/quote]

should i be cycling without plants?Because every vid i've seen shows planting when setting up the tank.But the tank doesn't even have water in yet lol.

 

[Aqua Tom]

What is Cycling?

The Nitrogen Cycle

Fish-In Cycling

Fishless cycling



Tom

 

[KittyKat]

I do hope you are planning to do a proper fish-less cycle? I ask as it seems a bit early to be getting plants, if you are..

should i be cycling without plants?Because every vid i've seen shows planting when setting up the tank.But the tank doesn't even have water in yet lol.

The demos do not involve any cycling. They're just tanks which are set up to show and then broken down usually. They are rarely running for over a few days.

It is best to cycle without plants because plants need light and ammonia + light = algae.