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[doodleing]

Hi, We are in the process of obtaining and setting up a 4ft bow fronted Jewel 260Ltr tank 121 x 46 x 64. After a fish-less cycle has been completed we would like to add the following species.
Our questions are.:
1 Are they suitable tank mates,
2 What would be the order of introducing them.
3 Have we over stocked our tank.

10 X Blue Tetra
6 x Cherry Barb
1 x Striped talking catfish
1 x Red tailed black shark
6 x Chain Loach
1 x Male S F F
6 x Black Molly
4 x Peacock Gogy
10 x Zebra Danios
10 x Galaxy Rasbora
4 x celebrity Rainbow

Cheers Phil

 

[lilfishie]

Ditch the Fighter, i think red tailed sharks have problems with similar shaped fish including loaches/cories if i remember rightly.

The shoals look good although personally i would just have 2 big shoals instead of 4 smaller ones

 

[doodleing]

I thought the Fighter would be a problem but they do look soooooooo nice. Could i still keep it if i didn't have some of the others, i yes which ones wouldn't i have.
The RTBS I know they can be a issue does anyone recommend giveing it a go.

 

[lilfishie]

i know they are so nice, i have loads (4 Males, 7 Females and 4 Wild types ) if your really keen on getting one then i'd suggest after this tank is cycled getting a smaller tank (around 5 gal would be perfect although bigger would allow certain tankmates) for one. Once this tank is cycled and running you coulds take some of that media for the 'betta tank' so no need to cycle

 

[KittyKat]

Hi, We are in the process of obtaining and setting up a 4ft bow fronted Jewel 260Ltr tank 121 x 46 x 64. After a fish-less cycle has been completed we would like to add the following species.
Our questions are.:
1 Are they suitable tank mates,

10 X Blue Tetra - good
6 x Cherry Barb - good
1 x Striped talking catfish - grows to 20cm so I wouldn't
1 x Red tailed black shark - bad: aggressive, most sharks are
6 x Chain Loach - good
1 x Male S F F - ...? Betta spendens? bad
6 x Black Molly - good
4 x Peacock Gogy - good, although having kept them myself, I would definitely recommend them for smaller tanks and with smaller fish
10 x Zebra Danios - good
10 x Galaxy Rasbora - I wouldn't, I would recommend a smaller tank for them and no larger fish
4 x celebrity Rainbow - bad: schooling so keep 6+, too fragile for the rest, I would keep in smaller tank without larger fish
Here is what I would do with that list:
10 blue tetra
10 cherry barbs (4m 6f)
10 zebra danios
(may be possible to increase all of the above to 15 each later)
10 chain loaches
1m 2f lace gourami or three spot gourami (aka blue gourami, aka gold gourami) OR a group of dwarf gouramis OR a group of honey gouramis
1m 1f Bolivian rams

I actually personally prefer to have fewer species, but in larger groups so am more likely to have even only two species of mid-water schoolers.

2 What would be the order of introducing them.

After a fish-less cycle with 5ppm ammonia you should be able to add all the fish at the same time. If you do not, the extra filter bacteria may start dying off.

3 Have we over stocked our tank.

See above.. if you are only starting with a tank like this, I would recommend slightly understocking (see my suggestion based on your list) and then maybe increasing school numbers later if you think it would benefit the tank.

You seen to have done much research, so

p.s. about the Betta: in a 4fter, it would be lost. The reason 30-60 litres is ideal for them is because in larger tanks they can't defend their territory (the tank itself) so stress themselves out trying to patrol the whole thing.. well, a plakat Betta might be able to do it in larger tanks, but not a fancy.

 

[doodleing]

OK i give up on the RTBS and Male SFF it was a long shot we just haven't the room for another tank. Would 3 Females SFF work instead?
I knew the talking catfish gets big but wouldn't it fit?, if not what smaller (not to small) alge eater would you recommend.
The Galaxy and the celebrity were an after thought they were crossed out on my list but I thought I'd give them a go.
Thanks Kitty Kat i do like you suggestions,
1m 2f lace gourami or three spot gourami (aka blue gourami, aka gold gourami) OR a group of dwarf gouramis OR a group of honey gouramis
1m 1f Bolivian rams.

 

[KittyKat]

OK i give up on the RTBS and Male SFF it was a long shot we just haven't the room for another tank. Would 3 Females SFF work instead?

5+ females would work instead of the gouramis.. if you keep only 2-3, then it is likely that the dominant female will abuse the other two much. Having more would spread out any aggression.

I knew the talking catfish gets big but wouldn't it fit?

It might, but it would probably be stunted and could also eat all the other fish when it got big. Platydoras costatus is more likely to fit, but they're not east to tell apart from P. armatulus and P. armatulus are the most common species available in the trade.

if not what smaller (not to small) alge eater would you recommend.

Platydoras armatulus and P. costatus are meat eaters, not algae eaters Plecos such as bristlenoses would work better, but they might not get on with the loaches. You could try a single bristlenose and see how that goes.

 

[doodleing]

Revised list:
10 - 15 blue tetra
15 cherry barbs (6m 9f)
10 - 15 zebra danios
10 - chain loaches
2 - Bolivian rams (1m 1f)
6 - 9 Female Siamese Fighting fish
4 - 6 Peacock Gogy
6 - 8 Black Molly
Either a Bulldog catfish or Clown plec

I think this is about our stock limit. Do you agree?

A new addition, a 30 or 60 Ltr biorb for my wife to house a Male Siamese Fighter with a couple of Otocinclus and a small shole of either: Cherry barbs, Harlequin's, Zebra Danios or white cloud minnows.

What are people views on the Biorb's as I've read that the viewing is poor due to there shape?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Zebra Danios and Bulldog Catfish need cooler water than most of the others on your list, you have a mix of species that need either ~20C or ~26C as their regular temp (perhaps excluding a small "summer season" of slightly raised temps.

Mollies are supposed to do much better in brackish water, rather than fresh.

 

[KittyKat]

Revised list:
10 - 15 blue tetra
15 cherry barbs (6m 9f)
10 - 15 zebra danios
10 - chain loaches
2 - Bolivian rams (1m 1f)
6 - 9 Female Siamese Fighting fish
4 - 6 Peacock Gogy
6 - 8 Black Molly
Either a Bulldog catfish or Clown plec

I think this is about our stock limit. Do you agree?

On the upper side, I would personally not stock that high in my own tank.

A new addition, a 30 or 60 Ltr biorb for my wife to house a Male Siamese Fighter with a couple of Otocinclus and a small shole of either: Cherry barbs, Harlequin's, Zebra Danios or white cloud minnows.

If you want Otos, definitely 60 litre. I would not put any of the others in there as cherry barbs and harlequins need at least 2ft long tank and zebra danios and WCMM need at least 3ft because of how active they are. You're better off looking at ember tetras or espei rasboras, of which a 60 litre bi-orb should take 8.

What are people views on the Biorb's as I've read that the viewing is poor due to there shape?

I would always take a standard shaped tank over a Biorb exactly because of the shape (the view, the surface area, the filter limitations). I would also avoid Edge and Biube (and whatever the third one is, with the coloured plastic sides) for the same reasons. If I absolutely had to pick a tank out of that lot, I would probably take a Biube.

Zebra Danios and Bulldog Catfish need cooler water than most of the others on your list, you have a mix of species that need either ~20C or ~26C as their regular temp (perhaps excluding a small "summer season" of slightly raised temps.

It might work at 22C, but you would have to be careful about the temperature fluctuations and may be better off having two smaller heaters for that reason.

Mollies are supposed to do much better in brackish water, rather than fresh.

+1

..or to be more precise, there are a few species and the majority are brackish, but the freshwater minority also do better in brackish.. from what I understand. But the mollies in shops are mostly hybrids who have been kept in freshwater for a long time.