Stocking A Newly Cycled 125L Tank

[214jay]

Hello
 
Over a number of weeks I have been fishless cycling my new Fluval Roma 125L.  The cycle is now complete and I am looking at getting some fish tomorrow!

 
The details on my tank are as follows:
 
Fluval Roma 125L
Filter: Internal Fluval U4 Filter
Sand Substrate with quite a few plants and rocks.
PH is a steady 8.
 
I have been looking at the following list which I think is possibly slightly overstocked:
 
1 x Dwarf Gourami
8 - 10 x Harlequin Rasbora
8 - 10 x Neon Tetra (or similar)
5 x White Cloud Mountain Minnows
5 x Rummynose Tetra - (I may decide against these)
5 x Serbai Cory
5 x Armano/Ghost Shrimp
 
Any thoughts or suggestions?  I am after a nice community tank with lots to watch and enjoy!
 
Thanks for any advice
 
Jay
 

 

[Zante]

I'm not sure the tetras and the corys would appreciate the ph too much.
I'm not too sure of the other fish either TBH, apart maybe from the gourami.
 
Consider replacing the tetras, minnows and rasboras with danios, the sterbai corys with paleatus corys and you should be fine.
Livebearers would thrive in that ph too, so consider platies, guppies, mollies and swordtails.

 

[214jay]

That really bad news.  I had thought most fish would be okay as long as the PH was stable.  Should I go down the route of PH reducing chemicals?  I really love tetras and rasboras.
 
THanks for the advice.

 

[Zante]

No, no chemicals, that is the worst way of reducing ph.
 
Usually a high ph is also an indication of a high kh. How's your water in that respect?

 

[214jay]

Ah okay, I will avoid that then.  Good question, have not tested for that as not one of the kits I have.  My water board does supply online information for my postcode based on their water tests and they list the water as Ph: 7.8 and Hardness (clark): 10.00 Slightly Hard.
 
Not sure if that helps?

 

[Zante]

Hmm... that makes it 8 in german degrees.
 
You could go for harlequins, I guess. The ph is kinda on the border of their range, but it shouldn't be too difficult to lower it a bit with alder cones, catappa leaves or similar methods. The kh isn't too bad. You could lower it a bit by doing a mix with RO water.
 
One quarter RO and three quarters tap water will lower the kh enough to also have a slight effect on the ph, also with a lower buffer the alder cones, catappa leaves or whatever you choose to use will have more effect.
 
I still advise against tetras, unless you do go for one quarter RO water and lower the ph enough.
 
Also I advise against the minnows. They could live in the same chemical conditions as the rasboras, but they come from fast waters, and a tank with high water circulation would be best for them, but the rasboras and the gourami come from more peaceful waters and would not enjoy brisk circulation.

 

[214jay]

Some great advice.  The filter I have kicks out quite some water movement so may not be good for more peaceful fish. 
 
I do not want to fully stock the tank straight away so maybe I will go for
 
5 x Zebra Danio
5 Celestial Pearl Danio
5 x Paleatus Cory
 
Am I okay to add some shrimp yet?  I have heard that I should wait a few weeks but my tank is fully cycled as per the instructions on this forum.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Minot sure what temperature you have your tank at but danios and the minnows prefer sub tropical temps of 18-23°C. Unless you want to lower your tank temp (which your other fish won't be happy about), I recommend you don't get the danios or minnows.
Celestial pearl danios, however, will be fine in tropical temperatures. I do recommend that you get more than 5 though as they like to be in schools of at least 6.

Most fish will be fine in your pH as long you buy hem all locally and make sure your LFSs tank water is the same as yours. If they have been bred locally then that will be even better

 

[Zante]

Celestial pearl danios are a bit small, they might be harassed by the gourami, but if the tank is well planted they should have no particular issue. Also I'd up the population.
 
Instead of getting 5 of each consider getting the full shoal of just one species. They will settle in much more quickly.
 
As for the shrimps, your tank is cycled, but not stable. Just by adding stock you will make the parameters fluctuate a bit. To be honest I'd wait until a month after your last fish addition. Mind you, amano shrimps are very hardy, so they should survive any fluctuation in your tank. It's 125 litres, so it's not as if you're trying to keep a nanotank. The mass of water should be a significant buffer.

 

[214jay]

Thats all great advice, many thanks.  I think I will skip on the minnows, maybe the gourami too.  Would a full shoal be 10 or so?
 
If I do get amamo's then I will make sure I do lots of water changes to make sure there are not too many fluctuations.

 

[KirkyArcher]

White cloud minnows would get scratched off the list 1st (fundamentally a cold water fish) except for them I have the virtually an exact stock list, and they are all coping very well in my 125 Roma, however once new tank is up and running my stock will be revised.

 

[214jay]

Yes think I was advised wrongly on the minnows at my LFS