Stocking advice for a 630L

[EnJayOhh]

Hi, I have a 530L tank (5ftx18”x30”) plus a 3ft sump (max 150L). It is fully cycled, parameters are settled and steady. PH 7.5 and GH 180ppm. It is mostly open sand substrate, with a large pile of rocks, and some bigger pieces of bog wood off to one side.

I’ve started off with 8 Clown Loaches, 6 Spotted Silver Dollars, 2 Electric Blue Acaras and 1 Albino Hoplo Catfish. All are babies, currently between 3-5cm. I also have a Bristlenose in a different tank he will be moving into the 630L once he’s outgrown my other one.

I have tried to find a definitive way of working out essentially how many fish to put in. I’ve got lots of ideas but of course they can’t all go in, and there just seems to be so much conflicting advice on how many is too many and even whether particular fish can work well together or not.

So, I thought I’d put a list of the fish I’d like to have at some point, maybe some of you could advise how many and which ones to go with?

In no particular order:

Rotkeil Severum
Oscar
Geophagus (Megasema’s are my favourite!)
Green Severum
Firemouth
Jack Dempsey
Blue Tiger Parrot
Convict
T-bar

I am hoping to also have a larger size Pleco and/or Catfish (but not the huge ones!) a Senegalus Bichir and I’d love an Elephant Nose as well. Also very happy for any other suggestions.

So, any ideas on which way to go?

 

[EnJayOhh]

Ooh I forgot one, Ellioti Cichlid, so very pretty!

 

[Wills]

Sounds like a great setup! Nice big tank and a good volume of water but... your footprint is going to limit things a bit. In an 18-inch wide tank I'd be looking at cichlids that max out at 6-7 inches and with a hardness of 180 I'd say to go for the South Americans but nothing too sensitive and since all your current fish are Souths too I think it makes sense. In terms of stocking I always do a quick tot up based on inch per gallon and work backwards - eg does it just sound too much, are different levels too busy, will anyone eat each other and how am I managing territorial fish? Clown Loaches are really hard to do as inch per gallon as their max adult size is a. very variable and b. takes a loooong time to get there. Realistically your tank isnt going to be ideal as they hit 10 inches and above but its better than 90% of them get and you will be able to make decisions in 3-5 years as to what you want to do, by contrast, an Oscar will grow an inch per month so you can see it. But assuming in a years time you'll have 8 5 inch Clown Loaches you are at about 95 inches of adult fish in 166 gallons of water so still some room to play with

In a 5 foot tank, looking at your list I'd probably go for something like

1 Rotkiel or Mouthbrooding Severum - both species stay much smaller than Greens and Golds.
2 Electric Blue Acaras
4 small Geophagus - Geophagus Pindare, Winemilleri or Pyrophalceus would be good options or you could go for a bigger group of Cupid Cichlids.

An other option would be to get a school of 6-8 Angelfish which would take the upper level territories and take advantage of the 30 inch height. And keep your EBAs at the bottom, you might be able to have the Cupid Cichlids in this mix as well.

The Silver Dollars may be too skittish for the Angels though? You might need to see how they develop. Also worth mentioning that your Hoplo needs to be in a group so I'd increase their numbers to 5 - you can mix regular and albino

I've stuck to South American Cichlids here rather than Centrals which cover the second half of your list, reason being they do better in harder water (though yours is pretty neutral so potentially ok) but I dont recommend mixing souths and centrals as they act and behave very differently. Centrals display much more and are sometimes more aggressive than the average South so when you mix them you can run into problems so behaviour mixed with water chemistry just makes me advise to stay away.

If you wanted an other Pleco or catfish I'd consider Whiptail Catfish, Sturisoma are great looking fish but a lot of the more unusual ones are available now like the Spoonheads and Chameleons. Whiptails are more active than most Plecos and produce less waste. With your Clown Loaches and Hoplo Catfish your substrate level is also very active and Whiptails will stay on decor and the glass more often than not.

I don't know loads about Bichirs but I'm tempted not to suggest them in here, you've got a nice South American theme going here and they break that, and i dont think an 18 inch width would work for them either just because of how long them get. Elephant Nose are quite a specialist species that really need the tank planed for and around them rather than adding them into something else.

Have a look at these ideas let us know what you think and we can figure out some more plans

Wills

 

[EnJayOhh]

Thank you - there is just so much to consider, and I don’t want to get it wrong or risk putting any of them into the wrong set up.

I do feel I have a bit of a saving grace in that I have a great LFS that not only can source practically any fish, but they will also take in any fish. So if I do have any big aggression problems, or if someone gets too big, I know I’m not going to be stuck with fish that aren’t in the best environment for them.

The Silver Dollars are very skittish, they were doing well and were out and about most of the time until I put the two EB Acaras in, since then the Silver Dollars only come out when I’m feeding them. There’s no chasing or fighting though, and they don’t seem bothered when the Acaras venture into the wood and rocks. They’ve just stopped cruising. I’m hoping they’ll pick it back up once they’re a bit bigger.

And yes to the group of Hoplos, that is in the plan, just waiting for new stock in the LFS.

I am going to go and have a good read up on those Geo’s, and see if I can finally make a decision - I’ve been going round and round for months!