Stocking A 100 Litre Planted Aquarium

[DwarfCichlidKeeper1998]

Hello, I will be getting my 2nd Aquarium which will be the Aqua One Aquanano 60(60Wx40Dx47H 100 litres) It will be planted quite heavily with Dwarf Hairgrass for the foreground, Cryptocorynes for the midground and backgorund along with Vallesneria for the background as well. My scape will contain bogwood and large rocks/stones. The substrate will be sand with a layer of Tropica Plant Substrate underneath along with Co2 running.  I want to stock it as the following:
 
6 Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish, They will hopefully take up the top section of the aquarium.
 
10 Cardinal Tetras or Green Neon Tetras, which one of these speices do you recommend and why?
 
A super red or starlight bristlenose pleco, probably just the one because I don't think the aquarium would support two and I couldn't get a sexed pair because I would be buying it when it's only 2 inches big. hopefully this would inhabit the bottom of the aquarium
 
I would like to add a pair of german blue rams when the tank is mature enough(6 months+) because I like german blue rams and I do know they are hard to keep because they are very sensitive
 
Any recommendations/advice would be taken gratefully
 
 

 

[Ninjouzata]

I think this sounds like lovely tank.
 
I can't make a recommendation on cardinals or green neons as I havn't had either. I've just had regular neons, which I think are lovely!
 
I think you may want to go with a super red BN, the starlights can be a bit shy (if they're the same as peppermint, I think they are?)
 
Have you looked at apistogrammas or peacock gudgeons? Something to keep in mind in case rams don't work out.

 

[Wills]

Green Neons are a much smaller fish than Cardinals, they are the smallest out of Cardinals, Neons and Green Neons. So the numbers probably need adjusting if you were to go with them (as in get more) I think they would look great with the Dwarf Neon Rainbows
 
Im always wary of Blue Rams, Ive had bad experiences and Ive been talking on the forum for long enough to know they really are not easy to keep. The best way IMO to keep them is in a tank set up specifically for them and try to source wild fish. You want a ph of about 6.8 and temperature at 28c - add almond leaves and alder cones to the water as well - that will really help. Then as for tank mates Rummy Nose Tetras and Sterbai Corys are good candidates as they both thrive in the same conditions. The problem with Rams is never knowing what generation from wild you are buying so sourcing wild ones rules all that out and means you know straight away they need high temperatures and low ph
 
There are loads of other dwarf cichlids that would work though - Laetacara, Nannacara, Apistos (as mentioned above), Checkerboard cichlids, Bolivian Rams... so it is worth looking around If you like Yellow and Blue on fish Apistogramma Borelli or Laetacara Curviceps would be good candidates
 
Wills

 

[BerryAttack]

IMO i think you are going to run into problems with your substrate. the sand, sure it can be the cap and the Tropical Plant Substrate that you will have, but under it will allow the sand to seep in. also it doesn't give nutrients to the plants just holds it. you put a root tap it'll allow all of it to stay in the substrate or at least the majority compared to other gravel that will let the nutrients out.
if you are going to use tropical plant substrate i would recommend you look into using that as a cap to dirt. organic soil. the co2 will encourage the plants to grow faster, the lighting (depending) will allow the plant to grow etc and so forth. its either the soil which will supply the endless nutrients or you'll have to put in liquid ferts (which you can get from soil) and root taps.
i know this from experience as i have med-high lighting, dirt substrate, co2 gas - the works. i had to switch to dirt substrate (bought the tank, came with only the plant substrate etc no dirt) and i ran into issues with my amazon swords not having enough.. blah blah blah now everything is starting to flourish. 
 
for the fish, i would recommend gold rams, as with the contrast between greens (plants), blue (rainbows), red and silver? ((would recommend rummynose tetra, as you have a 26 gallon you could get away with it if its heavily planted and what kind of tank you have, tall, breeder etc.)) and the show fish (yellow/gold) gold rams. then for a sucker fish i wouldn't get the BN or anything of that, but when it is established i would recommend otos. they are great for planted aquariums and you don't have to worry about them ripping up your plants.

 

[DwarfCichlidKeeper1998]

I think this sounds like lovely tank.
 
I can't make a recommendation on cardinals or green neons as I havn't had either. I've just had regular neons, which I think are lovely!
 
I think you may want to go with a super red BN, the starlights can be a bit shy (if they're the same as peppermint, I think they are?)
 
Have you looked at apistogrammas or peacock gudgeons? Something to keep in mind in case rams don't work out.

I think I probably go with the super red BN rather than the starlight BN because super red BN are easier to find and cheaper. My lfs always has a good range of BN, last time i went there they easily over 100 2 inch super red BN at £7 each. They also have a good range of apisto so maybe that is the way to go! Thanks!
 

Green Neons are a much smaller fish than Cardinals, they are the smallest out of Cardinals, Neons and Green Neons. So the numbers probably need adjusting if you were to go with them

(as in get more) I think they would look great with the Dwarf Neon Rainbows

 
Im always wary of Blue Rams, Ive had bad experiences and Ive been talking on the forum for long enough to know they really are not easy to keep. The best way IMO to keep them is in a tank set up specifically for them and try to source wild fish. You want a ph of about 6.8 and temperature at 28c - add almond leaves and alder cones to the water as well - that will really help. Then as for tank mates Rummy Nose Tetras and Sterbai Corys are good candidates as they both thrive in the same conditions. The problem with Rams is never knowing what generation from wild you are buying so sourcing wild ones rules all that out and means you know straight away they need high temperatures and low ph

 
There are loads of other dwarf cichlids that would work though - Laetacara, Nannacara, Apistos (as mentioned above), Checkerboard cichlids, Bolivian Rams... so it is worth looking around

If you like Yellow and Blue on fish Apistogramma Borelli or Laetacara Curviceps would be good candidates

 
Wills

 I might dedicate my 60 litre(60x30x40cm) to a pair of the best german blue rams I can find, I love the colouring on them and there just a unique fish! what about electric blue rams, are they as delicate as GBR? Apistogramma Borelli do look like a great fish but I havn't seen seen in my lfs, and they always charge over the top for pairs of dwarf cichlids! I do like red breasted acaras! Thanks for all the info, its always great to have people who know the stuff rather than the lfs who just want to sell the fish and make profit.

 

[kiwifeather]

I have a heavily planted low tech 90L with cardinals, beckford pencilfish and blue rams and they work very well together, they look great. I've never had any issues with my ram pair but maybe I just got lucky with them. I am very careful to make sure tank water is kept pristine though. If you look at other dwarf cichlids I'd go with an apisto species myself. A pair of these was actually my first choice but I couldn't find them. Happy with the ram though, such pretty interesting fish.

 

[DwarfCichlidKeeper1998]

IMO i think you are going to run into problems with your substrate. the sand, sure it can be the cap and the Tropical Plant Substrate that you will have, but under it will allow the sand to seep in. also it doesn't give nutrients to the plants just holds it. you put a root tap it'll allow all of it to stay in the substrate or at least the majority compared to other gravel that will let the nutrients out.
if you are going to use tropical plant substrate i would recommend you look into using that as a cap to dirt. organic soil. the co2 will encourage the plants to grow faster, the lighting (depending) will allow the plant to grow etc and so forth. its either the soil which will supply the endless nutrients or you'll have to put in liquid ferts (which you can get from soil) and root taps.
i know this from experience as i have med-high lighting, dirt substrate, co2 gas - the works. i had to switch to dirt substrate (bought the tank, came with only the plant substrate etc no dirt) and i ran into issues with my amazon swords not having enough.. blah blah blah now everything is starting to flourish. 
 
for the fish, i would recommend gold rams, as with the contrast between greens (plants), blue (rainbows), red and silver? ((would recommend rummynose tetra, as you have a 26 gallon you could get away with it if its heavily planted and what kind of tank you have, tall, breeder etc.)) and the show fish (yellow/gold) gold rams. then for a sucker fish i wouldn't get the BN or anything of that, but when it is established i would recommend otos. they are great for planted aquariums and you don't have to worry about them ripping up your plants.

In the long term I was thinking of adding root tabs, the plant substrate is like dirt, it's one of the leading brands for plants within the uk, I do like the look of the gold rams, and I can get them pretty cheap around here. In time I would like to have a 200litre+. I've already had otto's there great little things and love eating algea! Thanks for all the tips!
 

I have a heavily planted low tech 90L with cardinals, beckford pencilfish and blue rams and they work very well together, they look great. I've never had any issues with my ram pair but maybe I just got lucky with them. I am very careful to make sure tank water is kept pristine though. If you look at other dwarf cichlids I'd go with an apisto species myself. A pair of these was actually my first choice but I couldn't find them. Happy with the ram though, such pretty interesting fish.

I do like beckfords but there expensive so I decided to leave them till I get a bigger tank than 100litres and more money. I suppose it depends on rams you have, you could get a really bad batch or you could get a strong healthy lot! I will probably leave them for a while because I want my tank to probably settle(6months+) before I add any cichlid as they would be the centre piece fish. Do you have any pictures of your low tech tank? I aiming for a low tech planted tank myself.

 

[kiwifeather]

 
This was taken about a month ago and some of the plants are different or in different places and everything is a bit less messy now but you get the gist. My camera has been pinched by my sister for a trip, I can get you an updated one when she returns it if you'd like. Most plants grew extremely well with only liquid ferts dosed once a week and of course light, though anything red didn't stay red long as I was low tech. Only thing that hasn't done well are those little dwarf sag's at the front there. They were an experiment to see how well they'd do. They are growing just very very slowly.
 
I only have five beckfords atm as that was all LFS had, three males two females. I def want to get another female or two to balance things out. They are very interesting fish and actually quite pretty so totally recommend them if you are going to go for them one day. They don't swim up as high as I would of liked (I was actually looking for rockets/hatchetfish but couldn't get them/waayyyy to expensive here (over $200 for six marble hatchetfish, yikes!) but males have beautiful red fins and all get on well with the other fish in the tank.
 
I sat and watched the group of rams for a while at the lfs, both to sex them as they were pale and still young (even now you can see by the picture they aren't fully coloured up yet) and picked the largest, strongest, healthiest and most dominant male and female in the tank. I probably did get lucky as I notice the rest now have ich, last time I was in LFS. I added them to my tank about a month after it was ready to go, if I recall correctly. But mature is probably safest. 

 

[DwarfCichlidKeeper1998]

 
This was taken about a month ago and some of the plants are different or in different places and everything is a bit less messy now but you get the gist. My camera has been pinched by my sister for a trip, I can get you an updated one when she returns it if you'd like. Most plants grew extremely well with only liquid ferts dosed once a week and of course light, though anything red didn't stay red long as I was low tech. Only thing that hasn't done well are those little dwarf sag's at the front there. They were an experiment to see how well they'd do. They are growing just very very slowly.
 
I only have five beckfords atm as that was all LFS had, three males two females. I def want to get another female or two to balance things out. They are very interesting fish and actually quite pretty so totally recommend them if you are going to go for them one day. They don't swim up as high as I would of liked (I was actually looking for rockets/hatchetfish but couldn't get them/waayyyy to expensive here (over $200 for six marble hatchetfish, yikes!) but males have beautiful red fins and all get on well with the other fish in the tank.
 
I sat and watched the group of rams for a while at the lfs, both to sex them as they were pale and still young (even now you can see by the picture they aren't fully coloured up yet) and picked the largest, strongest, healthiest and most dominant male and female in the tank. I probably did get lucky as I notice the rest now have ich, last time I was in LFS. I added them to my tank about a month after it was ready to go, if I recall correctly. But mature is probably safest. 

You sure have got some nice GBR there! They look lovely already. You tank looks great,I tried to grow ludwigia repens rubin low tech and it didn't work out either! when you can I would love to see a update of your tank! hope you have success with GBRs! marble hatchets are not that expensive over here, beckfords are more expensive than them! I saw beckfords the other day in my lfs and the males were displaying to each other! was quite a site to see there fins stick up and there red sticking out. If i get GBR's I will probably get the employees to sex them as they are good at their job.