Stocking Advice

[JJ56]

Hey, I have been out of fishkeeping for around 3 years now, and now wish to get the ball rolling again.

In the past, I have sucsessfully bred guppies, barbs and kept basic planted aquariums. After moving house a while back, all my tanks went, so I recently picked up a small 2 foot tank second hand for only £10. At this point in time, I have it nearing completion, all hardware is installed, spec is as follows.

24" x 9" x 8" glass tank, works out just short of 30 litres.

50w superfish heater

Superfish Aqua flow mini filter

1 x 15w T8 light in home made hood with reflector

small piece of bogwood

standard gravel

Water treated with aqua safe, and stress zyme has been added once a week for the last 3 weeks. Ph is currently at 7.5.

I will be planting it soon.


As it's a small tank, I was wondering what advice you guys could give me on what fish I could keep. Ideally, no livebearers as I always end up with loads of fry, and I dont want that again. Although I would be interested in breeding in the future. I would love some sort of Dwarf Cichlids, Do you think my tank is too small for some?

So, any reccomendations for small, colourful and attractive fish that would enjoy my conditions?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan

 

[Esfa]

you could have a dwarf puffer, and 2-3 otos in there.

or you can have a group of about 10 bumble bee gobies.

other fish that could live in there include:
african dwarf frog
betta
endlers
pygmy cories
shrimp

 

[Thomas 2507]

you could have a ram and a shoal of six neon tetras, that would look nice.

other fish that might interest you:
pygmy cories
microrasboras
most types of tetra

 

[Colin_T]

1pr of Apistogramma cacatuoides and some pencilfish & pygmy cories as mentioned above.

 

[JJ56]

Thanks for the advice, I'm now researching most of the fish mentioned.

German blue ram? Lovely looking fish, anyone had any success with these in smaller tanks?

Thanks,

Jonathan

 

[shelaghfishface]

hi Johnathan

welome to the forum
is it the tank in the picture you have?? i have one that is 42 litres going spare, and i can never after 3 attempts make it look like a fish tank ( that sounds strange) it always looks spare, i have a feeling you are going to end up with a beauty.. but then you have done it all before , so maybe thats why i cant get it right.. im keeping my eye on this thread as i would love to see how you progress, ( so i can have a go with mine too )

so wish you tonnes of luck, hope it all goes really well for you
shelagh xxxx

 

[JJ56]

Yes, the tank in my picture is the tank mentioned, and thank you for the support!

It should hopefully be planted in the next few weeks, nothing too much. I also hope to add more bogwood.

I just hope to decide what fish I am getting, so I can adjust the Ph and aquascaping to match the fish's preferances.

Jonathan

 

[Esfa]

What are you planting with? Are you going low-light or high-tec?

If you had it really densely planted, then it would make a great shrimp tank.

shrimp are sexy.

 

[JJ56]

I am hoping to use low light levels, with relatively hardy and smaller plants. No CO2 or anything fancy. I may upgrade my lighting in the future but it sure is bright enough at the moment (Can't tell from the picture)

So some smaller plants, possibly is groups to allow for some free swimmig space.

Jonathan

 

[Esfa]

ah cool

 

[Colin_T]

blue rams are easy enough to keep in a 2ft tank. Have some rocks and plants in there for them and keep the water clean and the fish well fed on a varied diet. If you get a pr they will probably breed readily. Females have a pink belly.

 

[JJ56]

Great, if I remember correctly, my LFS sells them at £13 per pair.

Ill add some rocks too, as I heard they prefer to spawn on flat surfaces.

Should In lower the Ph for these fish? As mentioned, currently at 7.5

Thanks

Jonathan

 

[Colin_T]

You only need to lower the PH if they are wild caught or come from breeders that keep them in acid water. Most are fine in water with a PH of 7.5
Make sure the tank has cycled and the filters are well developed before getting them. They can be sensitive to ammonia & nitrite levels.

 

[JJ56]

Cool, the tank has been cycling for three weeks now (although with no plants, ) so once the plants have been added and have established, I'll look into buying the fish. The filter has had stress zyme dropped into the sponges weekly, as directed by my lfs.

I have been looking at some of the new world tanks on this forum, and have got lots of inspiration.

Thanks

Jonathan

 

[shelaghfishface]

all sounds great,cant wait to see the results, id be interested to know why you are adding stress enzyme to the filter when the tank is empty-as i thought it was a water conditioner,for use when there are fish in there ( maybe its to boost the filter-faster cycling) but i genuinley have never herad of that one before,and am wondering if its something i should be doing to,
i would love tpo go with a decent planted tank, but the only worries i have is ... is there enough room when they grow for the fish to swim,how do i vac the sand without ripping the plants out, i have been reading my first issue of practical fish keeping,and the planted tanks i saw in there were out of this world, albeit at a much higher level of planted than the idea i think you are going with.. and anyway with my fish ( oscars ,clown loaches,convicts) they wouldnt stand a chance, but i do love the heavy planted with neon tetra look. very appealing, hhmmmm, maybe thats what i could do in my 42 litre...lol i dunno,just a thought out loud
i think a back row full of java fern would look good in yours,with maybe small grassy plants as you come forward.
but whatever you decide remember to take photos of the progress

shelagh xxxx