New Tank Fish Selection

[DrSlackBladder]

Hi. I'm new to the forum. About a year ago I bought a small 20 litre cold water tank for my son, it has 6 small white skirt tetras, all doing well. But I've been bitten by the bug, and just bought a 100 litre heated tank. I've been busy doing my homework on transferring the tetras and adding compatible others, but would appreciate the views and advice of the experts and experienced aquarists.

Firstly, am I ok to transfer the tetras once the tank is fully cycled, with temperature set at around 24C (thought I'd transfer at current temp around 20C then increase a degree per week)?
Then over the next couple of months, I'd like to add small groups of about three of four different fish, all about 1 inch in size; thinking of maybe 4 platties, 4 cories and 6 to 12 cardinal tetras. Is this stock level ok for this tank size?
Is around 24C the optimum temp for these fish?
Can anyone confirm that these species are all peaceful and compatible?
Any further advice for a new-comer to tropical fish keeping?

Thanks in advance!

 

[beccalovely]

Just spotted your post and saw that nobody has replied yet, which is unusual on here!
I'm only a newbie myself so not sure how much helpful advice I can give in response to your questions...

Some things I have picked up from reading on here though...
You can use the media from the current tank to kick start your cycle in the new one, and you'd need further advice from some of the gurus on here but maybe you can even use some of the water too...

For Corys I think you need a smooth substrate so they don't damage their mouths when feeding.
Going on the '1 inch per gallon rule' I think it may be slightly too many if you went for the 12 cardinal tetras...
Other than that I'm not an expert so somebody else would be better placed to answer about the stocking.

What might help in choosing though is knowing the pH of your water.

I'm sure somebody with more knowledge will be along to give better advice than I can.

Enjoy your new tank

 

[Murrayjane]

Hello Drslackbladder, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your 100 liter tank.

First step in your new setup will be to make sure that the tank is fully cycled.

Make sure ammonia levels are at 0.
PH, Nitrite, Nitrate levels are not too high/low etc...

I advise purchasing a test kit or getting it tested at your local aquatic store. (They should test it for free)

Once your water conditions are met, you can consider your stock.

I think your temperature levels are fine. 24-26C is fine for tetras, but when thinking about including any other fish, make sure you check the water requirements, diet, and compatibility.

I think your plan for cardinal tetras is great. You could definitely get a shoal of around 10-12 without facing a problem. Be sure to try and keep the same species of tetras in your tank.

Another addition I would suggest to a tank of that size is to get a pair of Bolivian Rams. They are harmonious cichlids that add a lot of life and excitement to a tank. (You might have to raise the temperature and slightly lower the tetra count).

So a potentially safe setup could be:
2 Bolivian Rams
8-10 Cardinal Tetras
6 Cories

(Maybe lower the tetra count to 6 and add 4 Platies, 1 male, 3 female)
[Only problem with Platies is that they will reproduce like crazy]

I would say that this is a good starting stock to a tank.

If the Rams don't strike you, there are other candidates you could look into

Killifish, Dwarf Gourami's, yoyo and dojo loaches, Ottos, etc...

So another potential combination
1 Dwarf Gourami (maybe a sunset Gourami)
1-2 Killifish
10-12 Cardinal Tetras
4 Platies
2 Ottos
4 Cories

Hope this helps!

 

[Blitz]

I say a few german rams would be good for your tank. No goldfish... maybe a school of 8 neon tetras and a 10 cherry shrimp?? Or perhaps cherry barbs?

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm in no rush to transfer the tetras or add new fish, and will ensure full and complete cycling first. Today the new tank was cleaned, washed gravel added, water added with recommended amounts of Aqua Safe and Easy Balance, heater and filter on. I'll wait 'til my API test kit arrives next week before starting the cycle by adding a couple of plants and household ammonia, then begin measurements.

So far so good!

Unless I'm lucky enough to have a text-book style cycle, I'll probably be back on here in a couple of weeks asking for advice on my ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH measurements!!!

Regarding stock intentions, now looking at the 6 skirted tetras, plus 8 cardinal tetras, 4 cores and 4 platys. Maybe a few ghost shrimp too.

Cheers!

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Regarding cycling of the new tank; should I squeeze the filters from my established small tetra tank into the new 100 l tank to accelerate kickstart the cycle? I added few frozen bloodworm today to start an ammonia source. Will be adding household ammonia when I get the test kit in next day or two, so I can work out how much to add each day targeting 4 ppm. I have read that when the tank can convert 4 ppm ammonia daily into nitrate, the cycle is over; is this a good guideline?

Thanks!

 

[fluttermoth]

If you're transferring all the tetras from the little tank to the big one, you don't need to cycle the big tank; you can just move all the fish and all the filter media over at the same time.

Technically we don't cycle tanks at all; we cycle filter media, for a certain amount of fish. You've already got cycled media for that amount of fish, so just put it all into the new tank's filter.

The bacteria don't care what tank, or what filter they're in, as long as they get their ammonia from the fish, they're happy.

 

[Questions?]

you could up your cories to about 8 if you get pygmy cories, as most barely reach and inch and are around 3/4"
if you get rams, and you don't want them to breed, get 2 females. it wil also make your tank safer for tetras, etc during breeding season

but idk if rams would be good with shrimp

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Thanks for your responses; still in fishless cycling, 12 days in and just got first nitrites and nitrates, so far so good. Done some research on rams and they don't seem perfect community fish; being my first community tank I want all to be low risk until I'm more experienced. Thinking I might give the platys a miss too and go for my existing 6 skirt tetras, a decent shoal 10-12 cardinal tetras, 4 corys and some shrimp. But I'll probably change my mind again!

 

[DrSlackBladder]

21 days into fishless cycle, waiting for nitrites to spike, going well so far (posted my data on New Aquarium forum). Still pretty much sticking to original stocking plans, but have a question.....research on this and other sites tells me that corys prefer sand. Would it be cruel to keep them in a pea gravel tank? My son has his heart set on them but not if it's cruel. Do people on here keep them happily in gravel, or is sand a must?

Thanks!

 

[Aquascaper]

Sand is preferred due to their barbs which can be damaged on gravel as they root around. Preferred - yes, essential - don't know.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Well the great news is that my 100 l tank appears to be cycled! I've had three days now of dosing to 2-3 ppm NH3, and then zero NH3 and zero NO2 within 24 hrs. Went quicker than expected after relatively slow first stage. So now continuing to feed ammonia and dropping temperature slowly for a few days, planning the big water change Saturday, for transfer of the cold water skirt tetras from my 20 l tank, then increase temp 1 C per day to 25, then assuming all is well, will add the first new fish, probably a small group (5-6) of corys, and some cherry shrimp. Then wait a couple of weeks, see how it's all settling, keep checking water quality, then the shoal of cardinals (10-12).

Thanks for you guys' help so far!

Also thinking of swapping out a quarter to a third of gravel for sand, for the corys to play in.....here's a pic of the tank so far, waiting for the first inhabitants......

 

[Aquascaper]

One of the main benefits of doing a fishless cycle is that you can stock the full compliment of fish all at once, replacing the ammonia you've been adding with fish that will create the same (usually less) with their waste.

If you complete your fishless cycle then only add a few fish your filtration capacity will fall to match the amount of ammonia available in the tank (a few fish may only produce the equivalent of 1ppm). Each time you add more fish there will be lag time while the filtration capacity builds up again with the increased ammonia now available and too many fish at once may cause a mini-cycle, just the same as if you had done a fish-in cycle.

By adding fish in stages you are essentially undoing a lot of your hard work building a bacterial colony that can process a full tanks bioload, you could have cycled the filter to a level of 1ppm a lot faster if this was your plan all along.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Thanks Aquascaper, I've been considering that for the last few days, but not been absolutely sure what I want to fully stock the tank with, while I'm still regularly researching and changing my mind. I also prefer the idea of understocking right now, realising that adding one or two fish much later will have proportionally less chance of an NH3 spike and mini-cycle once I've already got a significant bio-load. Hence why I've been daily dosing 2-3ppm NH3 instead of the recommended 4ppm, which I guess has led to a slightly shorter cycling duration. I'm happy you've confirmed my concern though, and will do the approximately 3/4 stocking within this weekend now, so the 6 skirt tetras, 5-6 corys, a few shrimp and maybe 8-10 cardinals. Cheers!

 

[Aquascaper]

No problems.

Some people think because they've done a fishless cycle the filter stays able to process a big bioload regardless of the available ammonia and have huge problems when they add stock in stages. Sounds like you've got it covered though