New Tank All Seems To Be Going Well. Future Stocking Options?

[justjon]

Hey guys,

Well - the tanks all gone smoothly, I lost one on the move but he wasn't well before changing tanks anyway (was sticking to filter not able to swim right etc).

I am now up to a 120 Litre tank from a 70, and have exchanged the pirate ship that I had for some really nice looking wood.

On to my next point, the tank has the following in it;

2x Male Platy
4x Glowlight Tetra
3x Silver Hatchet (This is one of the guys that I lost)
2x Amano Shrimp

I was thinking of getting a BN Plec and 2x cherry shrimps, obviously going to leave it a few weeks now before adding anything more. Anyone else have any ideas?

I did see Black Ghost Knife fish, but I have a really big feeling it wouldn't mix well with current stock in any case.

Piccies below:

 

[england]

looks nice, bristlenose yes,shrimps iam unsure about,maybe up the hatchets to 6...have a look at colombain tetra,they are very pretty,not had any issues with mine,got to find more i only have three

 

[justjon]

I will be upping the hatchets and glowlights to groups of 5 (so 1 more glowlight). Also by the way

Will take a look, though i've got two kinds from the tetra family at present so am thinking something different.

I'd like a really nice main/pair of fish in there but no ideas really.

Anyone else have any advise/suggestions?

Oh. Noticed my water has a slight brown tint since I put the wood in, completely forgot to boil it.. wish they would stick that on the label!

 

[hamfist]

Yes, any type of wood will leach tannins into the water for months/years, whether you boil it or not. Soaking or boiling will just give the process a headstart, so it is not quite so bad once you put it in your tank.
As for the fish stock. Good suggestions already. For a centrepiece fish, how about a male dwarf gourami, or a keyhole cichlid. A small angelfish would also work very well, but would need a tank upgrade as it grew.

 

[justjon]

Yes, any type of wood will leach tannins into the water for months/years, whether you boil it or not. Soaking or boiling will just give the process a headstart, so it is not quite so bad once you put it in your tank.
As for the fish stock. Good suggestions already. For a centrepiece fish, how about a male dwarf gourami, or a keyhole cichlid. A small angelfish would also work very well, but would need a tank upgrade as it grew.

Thanks for the suggestions.

An angel fish would be out as I can't upgrade again in the current place (Already on limit now). And it wouldn't be fair on the fish.

Was thinking on Gourami, I like them. Will they all be ok with the shrimps and current setup? Will take a look at the chichlid, as never had one!

 

[hamfist]

Was thinking on Gourami, I like them. Will they all be ok with the shrimps and current setup? Will take a look at the chichlid, as never had one!

A dwarf gourami should be just fine with shrimp.

An adult keyhole cichlid could possibly be a risk to shrimp. It would probably depend on the individual fish. It would be worth doing a bit more searching to find out if others have had success or problems housing keyholes and shrimp together.

 

[Wills]

I think if it were me based on what you have said here I would consider something like

3x Apistogramma Cacatuoides or any of the apistos - keep them 1 male to 2 females
4x Male Platy
8x Glowlight Tetra
8x Silver Hatchet
2x Bulldog Plec
3x Amano Shrimp
5x Cherry shrimp (they should start breeding)

As long as you get some little shrimp caves or tiny tubes for them to hide in they should be fine, quite a few fish eat shrimp so you might have issues but I think once a colony starts growing you will be fine

With the bulldog plec, I put that as a placeholder but any kind of small plec will be okay, you could also consider whiptails or twig catfish which would be pretty nice

Wills

 

[justjon]

I think if it were me based on what you have said here I would consider something like

3x Apistogramma Cacatuoides or any of the apistos - keep them 1 male to 2 females
4x Male Platy
8x Glowlight Tetra
8x Silver Hatchet
2x Bulldog Plec
3x Amano Shrimp
5x Cherry shrimp (they should start breeding)

As long as you get some little shrimp caves or tiny tubes for them to hide in they should be fine, quite a few fish eat shrimp so you might have issues but I think once a colony starts growing you will be fine

With the bulldog plec, I put that as a placeholder but any kind of small plec will be okay, you could also consider whiptails or twig catfish which would be pretty nice

Wills

Hey Wills,

Thanks for the awesome reply! It's great to see how much I can stock now i'm up to 120L You'll probably remember me unpacking it all till late friday! Atleast you've seen the finished result

I'm going to get a new pump and add an airstone I think, have a small airstone/pump at the moment but want bigger.

I was going to bury the coconut halfway under gravel to make a "cave" possibly for a small plec... i'll take a look now at the whiptails and catfish, I take it you mean these instead of the bulldogs?

My LFS is very good and can pretty much order anything

How soon do you reccomend now before adding any fish? Did the tank change friday. And no casualties so far.

Also didn't realise I could get 2 plecs, which is great news!

With that full stock list, I take it a 10% water change per week (say 1 bucket) will be sufficient?

Oh: The cherry shrimp, how to handle them when they breed, just sell to my LFS? Got a feeling they wont take them until a certain size.


With that stocklist, Aqadvisor says i'll be at 119% stock capacity, and also;

Warning: Bulldog Pleco is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 5.1 inches.

 

[Wills]

Dont talk to me about Aqadvisor its balls

To say they have bulldog plecs listed as one type is interested as the common name covers about 6 species - the one you want is Chaetestoma sp. 2 which is the olive green one with black spots aka L187 b Some of the chaetestomas get a bit bigger but only one that can border about 5 inches. But yeah have a look at the whiptails I just got some the other week and they are awesome quite active and always lurking on the broadleaf plants.

With the water changes, if you can get back to BnQ and get two of those big builders buckets they are perfect for water changes it gives you chance to clean the substrate out properly each time - aim more towards 20-30% per week and you will be fine

I would wait 2 weeks to let things settle before you add any more fish, with the shrimp breeding they are easy to sell on usually. You can even post them in a small plastic box to other forum members if you want as well. The babies might get eaten by the other fish though so you might not get as inundated as you think.

Wills

 

[meguro]

A small angelfish would also work very well, but would need a tank upgrade as it grew.

120L is fine for an angelfish but the tank needs to be 18 inches high.

 

[justjon]

Dont talk to me about Aqadvisor its balls

To say they have bulldog plecs listed as one type is interested as the common name covers about 6 species - the one you want is Chaetestoma sp. 2 which is the olive green one with black spots aka L187 b Some of the chaetestomas get a bit bigger but only one that can border about 5 inches. But yeah have a look at the whiptails I just got some the other week and they are awesome quite active and always lurking on the broadleaf plants.

With the water changes, if you can get back to BnQ and get two of those big builders buckets they are perfect for water changes it gives you chance to clean the substrate out properly each time - aim more towards 20-30% per week and you will be fine

I would wait 2 weeks to let things settle before you add any more fish, with the shrimp breeding they are easy to sell on usually. You can even post them in a small plastic box to other forum members if you want as well. The babies might get eaten by the other fish though so you might not get as inundated as you think.

Wills

Cheers Wills,

I've popped into the LFS on my way home, and am very impressed with bulldog plecs, they have a few of them for £6.50 each, love the patterns so i'll think I will grab 2 of those eventually.

I've got more gravel for the tank which is just rinsing out at the moment, just to equal it all out but also so I can plant more in there.

Going to get some sort of cave built with these 3 rocks =) also have another small piece of bogwood to put in there.

Do you think I should up each tetra first, before anything else? want to also start water changes to help get rid of the brown tint asap.

 

[Wills]

Try adding some carbon to the filter that might help clear up your water a bit, like I say wait a few weeks and see if there are any negative issues to deal with. Then add as you like Wills

 

[justjon]

Try adding some carbon to the filter that might help clear up your water a bit, like I say wait a few weeks and see if there are any negative issues to deal with. Then add as you like Wills

Cheers, I will grab some carbon tommorow for the filter, shall I just chuck it on the top part? (Below the white spongey bit).

I'll wait 2 weeks before getting anything at all.

I've now re-arranged the tank, and topped up the gravel, I half-buried the coconut to form a small cave, and i've also "blocked in" the bottom half of the filter so it forms its own cave for something to hide away in, I now also have a nice big half/front tank space to fill up a little, so may get some more bogwood, i'd like a natural wooden cave, but seems very hard to find.

I've also moved the plantation so one is each side of the coconut now, but i'll be "filling" the whole back of the tank with plantation, and possibly more small ones scattered about also.

My LFS Doesn't seem to do any floating plants