Stocking For A Pfk Nano

[scouse_andy]

I have inherited a second hand PFK cube, 25 litres.

It has a few plants in it, Bacopa Monnieri, Hygrophila Polysperma, Anubias Barteri on bogwood and some Java Moss.

I am wanting a couple of small shoals of fish and was thinking of Corydoras Habrosas (dwarves) and Endler's livebearers.

How many of each do you think I could manage to keep doing weekly water changes of 25% or so? I have quite hard water with a pH of about 7.8

I have heard that pygmy cories can be a bit delicate. Can anybody confirm? I notice there is going to be an article in next month's PFK about keeping and breeding these, which I'm looking forward to.

 

[archamfr]

ok... id suggest:
4-5 pygmys
around 4 endlers, (all female or all male, the fry will make the bioload go crazy)

however, if it was me i would either have 1 or the other and have about 7, id personally go for the corys.

 

[scouse_andy]

yeah maybe I will just go for a larger group of corys - I hear habrosus, hastatus and pygmaeus are all pygmies.

Any recommendations anybody? I've also heard they are very easy on the bioload so I could have quite a few, could I go as far as ten and make it a species tank do you think? I'll probably wait til the 11th when PFK is next out with the article about breeding these.

 

[fishboy619]

i would say 4-5 C.harbrosus, and 3-4 endlers. maybe either all male, all female or 1 male and have plans for the fry.
pygmy cories can be quite weak to start with, ive had problems with them in the past, but my harbrosus are very hardy and i personally think are better then the pygmys. C. harbrosos or C. hastatus would be fine. C. pygmaues is the species ive had problems with, but if you get your water the right quality and take care of the tank, no reason why they shouldnt live.

if you are after small shoaling fish, instead of the endlers what about some of the small rasboras on this page> http/www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm
(my personal choice from this page would be either the Chili Rasbora, Sparrow Rasbora or the Phoenix Rasbora)

 

[scouse_andy]

Wow. I really like those bororas. I've had a look at those before off the net. I like the bororas brigittae especially. I will have to keep my eyes open for those. Do you think I could stretch to 5 dwarf corys and a shoal of 6 bororas?

 

[fishboy619]

5 dwarf cories and 6 bororas? erm... maybe, with good filtration and live plants. tho i would say 4 dwarf cories, and 6 bororas would be fine. or maybe 5 of each as cories stay on bottom and bororas at mid-upper dwellers

 

[scouse_andy]

I found some Boraras Brigittae today, labelled up as Chili Rasbora at my local MA, five for ten pounds. They also have corydoras habrosus at a similar price. They all look so cute and will really suit a planted nano. However, I have a third contender for the tank, Gertude's Blue Eye Rainbowfish. Five for 12.50. I've done some searching online and found this site GERTRUDE. What a stunning fish!

I'd be really interested to know if anyone has much experience of these or can point me in the direction of further websites. I was thinking of maybe 5 of these and 5 habrosus. The boraras are lovely also but I'm veering towards the rainbowfish at the moment.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Probably the smallest rainbow is the praecox rainbow, but it is not small enough to fit in a 6 gallon tank, they need to be in schools.

 

[scouse_andy]

The praecox is the dwarf neon I think which is way bigger than Gertrude's.

This rainbowish only grows to 3cm

 

[Gill]

Gertrudes are amazing fish to watch and have lovely colors when they settle in. And yes they are the smallest rainbows.

Another one to look at is the threadfin rainbow. Stays Small and has lovely finnage.

 

[scouse_andy]

Threadfins are nice, I inherited two from a board member, one died but I have one left, I need to add to the numbers really.

Do you have any experience of the gertrude?

 

[Gill]

Threadfins are nice, I inherited two from a board member, one died but I have one left, I need to add to the numbers really.

Do you have any experience of the gertrude?

Have kept them in the past and they were lovely. They are timid fish and are jumpy. Stayed near waters surface alot.
They accepted food readily.

I would have plenty of floatig plants with plenty of cover to make them feel more secure.

Get a Nano external and you can increase the Number of fish you can have. (Eden 501 or Jebo)
I Would have this group.

Cories - Hasboras 6-10
Rasboras - 5
Gertrudes - 6-10
Threadfins -7-10
Some Shrimps, Snails, Bristlenoses

I kept around 40 fish in the PFK Cube - Heavily Planted and Heavily Filtered Internal/External.

also Clown Killifish are amazing

 

[scouse_andy]

Wow that's amazing. 40 fish must have looked stunning. I may look into the external filter in time then, I have plenty of hornwort in other tanks that I can float on the top.

If I start with my internal filter do you reckon 5 gertrudes and 5 habrosus would be ok for now? What would you say for a max stocking with an internal.

Many thanks for your help. It's good to talk to someone who has kept them as there is not much info out there.

I did see some lampeye killifish in the LFS today which looked very nice but not as nice as boraras or gertrudes.

Finally, are the gertrudes fairly hardy and suited to hardish water with pH 7.8? They look so delicate.

 

[Gill]

Yep Gertrudes will do fine in hard water, Cov is very hard water. Good idea with the hornwort. I can send you some Duckweed if you want some.

Yeah you should be fine with the internal to start off with.
lampeyes are nice, have kept those awell.

Have a look on ebay, there are some amazingly cheap external filters on tonight.

 

[iSnail]

I found some Boraras Brigittae today, labelled up as Chili Rasbora at my local MA, five for ten pounds. They also have corydoras habrosus at a similar price. They all look so cute and will really suit a planted nano. However, I have a third contender for the tank, Gertude's Blue Eye Rainbowfish. Five for 12.50. I've done some searching online and found this site GERTRUDE. What a stunning fish!

I'd be really interested to know if anyone has much experience of these or can point me in the direction of further websites. I was thinking of maybe 5 of these and 5 habrosus. The boraras are lovely also but I'm veering towards the rainbowfish at the moment.

Try this website for more rainbow fish info

I like the sound of Gertrude/Brigittae/Hastatus combination perhaps with some cherry shrimps.