Options, Options, Options!

[ghent_3rd]

I have had so much great advice from people ont his forum over the last few years so hopefully this section will not fail to deliver.

I have a Vision 260 that will be running 2 x External filters and think I have narrowed it down to the 2 options below, I would just like some advice on the pros and cons of each.

The tank is going to be a feature in the front room of my terraced house. If it wasn't so much on display then I would probably have gone for something a bit more obscure but I want to keep the family happy with something colouful and interesting!

So here is option 1

Group of angelfish (advice on this would be good)
Group of black widow tetra
Group of "another" tetra
Group of bronze cories


option 2

Group of apistos (advice again please
Some hoplo catfish of some type
Group of black widow tetra
Group of "another" tetra
Group of bronze cories

I like to keep with large groups of fish to make the tank look more realistic and the tank is not small so think I could have good amounts of the tetras.

 

[Verminator89]

I saw a tank scaped simply with just wood and sand, with a bunch of Vallis in two places. Looked beautifull. It was topped off with a shoal of 5 black angels, with a shoal that must have been nearing 30 Rummynose tetras. They had a 5" common plec in, along with a group of Panda Corys, along with a group of roughly 7 Tiger Barbs. It looked spectacular. Certainly the black angels with the rummynose was brilliant with the contrast.

How is your tank decorated?

I'm certainly with you on the 'less is more' front. Larger groups of less species of fish is always alot more attractive than say 3 fish of 12 different species!

 

[ghent_3rd]

That is pretty much exactly what my tank will be like!! I am a big bogwood and sand fan so sounds exactly what mine would be like. How many angels could I have in a 260?? I know that you either keep one or three as with two they can be aggressive but is it comfortable to keep 5 in a 260? I was thinking between 5 and 7 if possible as that would fit the tank really well.

 

[sswm]

Sorry dont know the tank, how big is it? Depending on that you could mix option one and two. You could have the angels and apistos in the same tank. Angels will stay up in the mid levels and apistos generally keep near the bottom of tanks with your group of tetras as well

 

[minnnt]

The 260's are 4ft i believe. This would look brilliant. But i would fear for the rummy noses when the angels reach adulthood. My old male decapitated several neons after being in the tank for around 2 hours.

Would you be getting a group of Angels to try and get a pair? If a pair did form then they would bully the others imo. Also i think black widow teras would nip the fins of the Angels.

Rummy noses get my vote though as they are simply stunning, and you could get a nice big shoal in the tank you mention.

Personally i would go for a pair of Apisto's, a shoal of 20+ Rummy Noses, a shoal of 8+ Cory's (which ever your favourite may be) and possibly a nice Plec of some sort.

I have a tank with sand, 2 pieces of bogwood and a selection of rocks with a few Vallis (about 10) and it is my favourite tank at the minute, it's looking great and the Vallis is thriving which makes a change for me.

 

[sswm]

Rummynose are one of the better tetras with angels because they grow large enough that they shouldnt fit into the angels mouth. If its a 4 foot tank and you seem to have good filtration, I think you would be able to do a group of 4-5 angels, pair of apistos(or even one male apisto if you dont want them spawning and becoming aggressive) and a shoal of tetras if you wanted.

With angels, they are cichlids so they can have aggression but will do fine in a group until they pair off. Then the pair will become really aggressive to the rest and you will have to decide to rehome the rest then.

I personally have kept 4 angels, a pair of apistos and a shoal of about 10 rummynose tetras in a 4 foot tank without any problems

 

[ghent_3rd]

Thanks for the advice so far, really giving me food for thought. I do really like the black widows so need to make some choices I think??

In a 4 foot, 260 litre, would it be possible to keep more than 1 pair of apistos if I gave them space at either end of the tank? I want to keep the tank really easy to look after so plants like vallis sound good. I love amazon frogbit as well, think it looks amazing with all the roots dangling down!

It is a pity that the apistos and the angels can be aggressive, I want the tank to have some really colourful fish in ti to please the family but I love stuff like the hoplos which are not the most aesthetically pleasing of fish!! I have 2 HUGE external filters to run on the tank so know that I can be slightly heavy on my stocking.

The other option I would have is to go for a larger group of black widows and a large group of a smaller tetra, glowlight/ember/neon/gold. Couple this with the cories and 2 or 3 hoplos. That way I have quite a hardy tank, easy to look after but with the colour of the smaller tetra really coming through well against the widows and the hoplos. The cories for entertainmen on the bottom and then maybe room for a feature plec once the tank has matured a little.

 

[ghent_3rd]

Right, decision made! South American set-up.

So, here we go....

The Vision 260 is going to be have a sand substrate with dried oak leaves across the bottom. Loads of bogwood to replicate a fallen tree will be added to one side of the tank and then I'm going to have some twiggy wood comig into the tank from either the same side as the bogwood or the other side, like roots protruding into the water I may add some very light vegetation to the side where the roots are, as if there are some plants growing in the bank area, not sure on this yet though.

The tank was going to have 2 externals running on it but think I am going to have just one now and use the other one I have on another tank that I will be setting up. It is massively oversized for the tank so will easily cope with everything listed below.

Now the fun part, the stocking!!

I have decided to go with 6 angelfish, a large shoal of cories (not sure which yet, possibly for Bronze for ease of keeping, maybe Zygatus though, don't want anythig too expensive as will be having about 15-20!), around 20 black widow tetras and around 20 lemon tetra. I may add some ancistrus in the future but want the tank to be only have a few basic species in to keep it natural and easy to maintain, and as we all know the plecs can make a mess!

I know I have mentioned my stocking here but the cories and the lemons I am still not 100% on. Are there any cories or other tetra that would be more biotope correct for the angels. I am going to have P. Scalare.

 

[minnnt]

Your setup sounds excellent, but look into the compatability of the black widows with the angels as i believe they can be a bit nippy so the fins may suffer on the angels. Definately go for the large group of cory's they sound stunning.

 

[karin]

I like the angelfish option. Take a look at green lazer corys (or gold lazer corys) for stunning option.

Have lots of fun with this.

 

[ghent_3rd]

The green/gold lazers are stunning but they are a bit more expensive aren't they! We'll have to see how many pennies I have in a couple of months!!

I know that Black Widows can be a bit nippy but they are my favourite tetra so I really want them. I am hoping that if I have enough Widows then the aggression will be spread between them and they will leave the angels alone.

 

[Kerber13]

I have some black widows with my angel and they never go after him. He's the kong of the tank and everyone knows it. You should be fine with that stocking

 

[ghent_3rd]

Thought I would get this thread live again instead of starting a new one. I have had some change of plans that will affect my stocking and just want a seriously hardy South American set-up now. The angels may not happen now so smaller fish it will be unless there are any non-aggressive feature fish that can live alongside the tetra and cores with no problems that people can suggest?

I am currently looking at the black widows still, possibly a lot of glow lights or lemons, bronze cores and then a group of hoplos. All very hardy but should look good together. Going to start it off this afternoon now the tank is all set-up finally!

 

[minnnt]

Sounds good mate. I vote for Glowlight Tetra's, they're very under rated and cheap as chips too! One of my LFS have them in for 85p each! I would go with 20. You will need some sort of a centre piece fish though imo if going with shoals. Maybe a group of 3 Honey Gourami's? 1m 2f should work out well!

 

[ghent_3rd]

I have been thinking what to use as a centrepiece fish but want Toledo it South American really. I had been leaning towards Angels but now just a little unsure due to potential aggression and pairing in the future. Any other ideas?

I already have a couple of glow lights and some black widows so leaning towards upping their numbers!