New Tank! Suggestions?

[samihyypia]

I have a new tank ready to set up... 72l

I was thinking of a community tank with...

2 x Pearl Gourami
5 x Harlequin Rasbora
1 x Clown loach
1 x Red tailed shark

for a start...

Is this ridiculous and fanciful?

What other suggestions can you make based on some of these fish for me?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

rtbs are not a brilliant community fish anyway, tend to get v aggressive.
clown loaches can get to 12" and need to be in groups, need like 100 gallons or there abouts for a group of clown loaches.
the pearls are just a smidge big for your tank imho


I'd make some suggestions however as that wipes out nearly all your stocking list i think it's right back to the drawing board.

however what i will do is give you some pointers on working out stocking lists to help make this process easier.

first thing is check the adult size of the fish, remember the fish you see in the shops are often juveniles, they will get much bigger. just stick the species name into google and you'll find plenty of info. find the adult size and work out stocking on that.

so find some species suitable for your size tank, i'd say nothing with an adult size of over 3". then for each species look up their group size requirements, some of them will need to be in groups of 6 or more, some in pairs or trios, some singularly.

so for each species that you choose, times the adult size by the number you need to keep in a group, add together all the values and you get the "'s of fish, erall aim for 1" of fish (on adult size) per US Gallon of water in the tank (roughly 3.7 litres in a US Gallon).

look into agression, any aggressive fish are bad in community tanks, you usually need either all aggressive fish, or all peaceful fish.

look into water requirements, particualry pH and then measure the pH of your tap water, most fish will tolerate some variance, but f it's way off then you can't have those fish.

hope that helps you work out a slightly more rational suggestion. feel free to post back with any other fish you'd like to keep

 

[samihyypia]

I have read up a little in these fish and as such was kind of already thinking it was silly. These were just the "oh they look nice" approach...

Although you say the Gouramis are slightly too big, is it really unadvisable to start with a pair of those and would the rasboras be suitible as tankmates.??

rtbs are not a brilliant community fish anyway, tend to get v aggressive.
clown loaches can get to 12" and need to be in groups, need like 100 gallons or there abouts for a group of clown loaches.
the pearls are just a smidge big for your tank imho


I'd make some suggestions however as that wipes out nearly all your stocking list i think it's right back to the drawing board.

however what i will do is give you some pointers on working out stocking lists to help make this process easier.

first thing is check the adult size of the fish, remember the fish you see in the shops are often juveniles, they will get much bigger. just stick the species name into google and you'll find plenty of info. find the adult size and work out stocking on that.

so find some species suitable for your size tank, i'd say nothing with an adult size of over 3". then for each species look up their group size requirements, some of them will need to be in groups of 6 or more, some in pairs or trios, some singularly.

so for each species that you choose, times the adult size by the number you need to keep in a group, add together all the values and you get the "'s of fish, erall aim for 1" of fish (on adult size) per US Gallon of water in the tank (roughly 3.7 litres in a US Gallon).

look into agression, any aggressive fish are bad in community tanks, you usually need either all aggressive fish, or all peaceful fish.

look into water requirements, particualry pH and then measure the pH of your tap water, most fish will tolerate some variance, but f it's way off then you can't have those fish.

hope that helps you work out a slightly more rational suggestion. feel free to post back with any other fish you'd like to keep

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i'd say they are too big for the tank so you shouldn't get them.

if you had a larger tank they'd be fne with the rasboras.

have you looked at the smaller gouramis?

don't get dwarf gourami's as they suffer from the aptly named dwarf gourami disease and are pretty weak, however honey dwarf gourami's could be a better choice, or possible sparkling or chocolate gouramis.

 

[samihyypia]

Small Gouramis and Rasboras... Thats a good sensible start...


What are the logical suggestions for loaches/catfish for a tank this size?

Presumably Corys etc? any other catfish?

Anything a bit like the clowns?

Eventually I will get a much larger tank but for now as you can tell I'm quite new to this...

Thanks for your help btw

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, yes that's certainly a good sensible start!

yes cories or small loaches would work, personally i prefer cories so that'd be my choice but either could work. I'm not a massive loach fan though tbh. however if you are then look at the yo-yo loaches or chain loaches. they're small loaches and stripy like the clowns so sort of on those lines!

otto's would be another alternative.

no problem, we all have to start somewhere!

 

[samihyypia]

Hi, I have read about Cories... The panda cory is one of the smallest and I think Nicest. However it says you should keep them in groups of 6 or more.

Is this correct?

 

[james41683]

Hi, I have read about Cories... The panda cory is one of the smallest and I think Nicest. However it says you should keep them in groups of 6 or more.

Is this correct?

alot of people recommend doing 6 or more, but you can get away with a smaller group. i have a group of 4 1.5" peppered corys in my 10 gallon at the moment and they act just fine.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah you can get away with 3/4 but 6+ is preferred.

panda's are a lovely cory, however they are very sensitive to water parameters, need the tank to be minimum 6 months old so it's nice and mature before adding them, then you need to make sure the water is kept spotless.

lovely fish but they can be a challenge even to experienced aquarists, that's not to say you shouldn't get them, but you should be aware of it before hand.

there are however plenty of other cories which are much more hardy.

 

[samihyypia]

Argh!!! Why is every fish I like sensitive in some way or another... ;0)

I have had the tank & plants etc set up over 10 days now and added 2 dwarf honey gouramis yesterday...

I know that I'd like to add Harlequins in a week or 2 but is it advisable to get a scavenger to foridge for any waste food 1st?

Yoyo loach as suggested before? or others?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

did you cycle the tank before getting fish?

 

[samihyypia]

Now this is where I might sound a bit dim...

I'm not too sure about what constitutes a tank cycle...??

I followed a guide in a fish care book as to how long the tank should be set up from beginning to adding water and then plants and then the very first fish...

During this time I tested the water for P.H & that came out at 7.5 (have been adding water treatment and filter start bacteria)

Nitrate test suggests that the filter although not yet fully mature is on its way to becoming mature (around 0.5 mg/l - 1) i'd say (colouring tricky to pin point)...

Does all that sound about right to you?