Stocking 30 Gal

[CKutz]

Hi,

I've got a 30 gal. tank cycling. I've of course been dreaming about what i'll put in it all the time. So i've got a few pretty certain ideas, just want to check what other people think...I've been trying to research them all and see how compatible they are, but it gets confusing after awhile, plus one site says one thing and the next says something else.

the tank is 36"x12"x16"

2 german blue rams or 2 krib (having both would be too much right?)
6 cories (or 1 or 2 regular catfish, my little brother always likes them but doesn't understand many get big and aggressive, any suggestions?)
6 schooling fish (rummynose tetra/cardinals/rasbora, don't know yet)
Pearl Gourami

maybe instead of the cories/catfish:
6 yoyo/angelicus/chain/khuli loach
1 hillstream loach

oh my brother also likes glass cats a lot..but i'm not sure how well we'd be able to fit them in since they are a few inches and need a school. comments?

I'm guessing the loaches are probably over doing it..but if we skipped the cories and got 1 syno or something catfish would there be room for the loaches?

Do German blue rams and krib get on ok?
I thought they being cichlids would want a higher ph and wouldn't go with most the fish but it seems that's not the case.

My brother also likes stuff like sharks/eels i dunno, lots of more aggressive fish that he doesn't realize couldnt really go in the tank if we wanted more fish.

any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[CKutz]

anybody?

In thinking about this i guess it would probably be over stocked. i edited to break it up a bit. but i'm looking for some combination of these fish if it's possible.

 

[Zekumi]

Hmm. Well, I probably won't be of much help, but right now I'm working a 29 gallon with afew dwarf Cichlid.
I've got one Keyhole, one German Blue, and one Firemouth (in addition to other non-dwarf Cichlid fishies).
So far, everything's worked out swimmingly.

I've also got 4 rummy nose that I love.

What kind of catfish did you have in mind in substitute for the cories? I've been wanting to get some cory cats myself, but I'm already fully stocked.
I can't think of any off the top of my head that would be aggressive, although I can think of afew that'd be too large.

Anywho, the initial little list looks good to me (the GB's or kribs, the cories, the schooling fish, and the gourami). You'll probably want a second opinion on overstocked vs. understocked on that, though. I'm not quite an expert in that department just yet.

 

[loachman]

I would not do a hillstream loach in a normal tropical tank. They come from very fast flowing streams, that are cooler and highly oxygenated. As a result, they tend to not do as well in standard tropical tanks.

Yoyos and botia kubotai (new name for botia angelicus, although a lot retailers use the old name) are both too large for a 29/30 gal IMO. Dwarf chain and kuhlis are much better.

I don't know of any "sharks" that are good for that size tank. I think peacock eels are okay, but someone with experience with them could give more info.

 

[CKutz]

Thanks for the suggestion of a spiny eel, I had always dismissed something like that as needing a bigger tank. I see my tank is at the minimum size. I'm sure my little brother would love it though, so we might go that way if we can find one.

I read that zebra loaches stay a bit smaller than yoyo/kubotai, would they be ok? i think 3" instead of 5.
Would they be ok?

Do you think loaches/cories would be alright with the eel? i read khulies aren't suggested due to their resemblance to earth worms

as far as catfish, my brother keeps asking about raphael catfish/clown synodontis. The clown is out, too big i think...I think i'll just try and talk him out of the catfish since it seems there's only a few that stay around 5", and some are mostly nocturnal. I'm just trying to find stuff that he likes in order to keep his interest in this hobby going.

about the hillstream, yea i agree now that wouldn't be a good idea. I remember now reading that about them before and thinking it wouldn't be the best fit, just forgot about it i guess.

so:
pearl gourami
2 gbr/krib
6 schoolers
6 loach/cory
peacock eel

..the peacock eel would look a bit big, but it sounds reasonable to me. As i've been told i can have 6 rasbora and up to 6 cherry barbs in my 10 gal, the 6 schoolers shouldn't add too much. That stocking gives me the feeling that it would probably be bordering overstocked, but do able, agreed?