Stocking Ideas For 2 Foot 70 Litre Open Top Aquarium

[davidjp1982]

Just acquired a 2 foot 70 litre / 18 gallon aquarium and would love some ideas for a new setup. I already have a 64 litre Amazon Blackwater setup with floating plants, bogwood, dark tannin stained water, apistogrammas, corys and Neons. I would love to do something completely different for this new setup - still need to get lighting and a filter sorted out but was thinking about maybe some Kribs or I love the look of German Blue Rams. Also, this tank doesn't have a hood of any sort so have to take that into consideration as I don't fancy scraping anything up from the carpet. What would you guys suggest? 

 

[wrightt3]

Well, if you go with rams then your going to end up with something similar to what you already have (blackwater, amazon)
If you want something completely different then I would look at fish from hard water habitats. You could do a Central American tank with some livebearers and breed them. Don't immediately think guppies and platies though, there are plenty of rarer livebearers that are often overlooked such as goodeids, mosquitofish and limia. 
You could also do a dwarf shell dweller tank and decorate it with a large rock structure and some shells.

 

[ncguppy830]

i agree with ^ . Although i wouldnt get mosquito fish they eat all the food and murder their tankmates.

 

[Zante]

Something unusual could be a desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius) colony. I've wanted to do ona fo a while, but don't have the room for yet another project.
 
Another option could be a species tank for Boraras brigittae. A soil substrate (as in garden soil) with leaf litter and some wood. Add to this very very very soft water, and you'll have the low low ph where these fish come from. Don't be surprised if you end up with more fish than you started with.

 

[davidjp1982]

All sound like great ideas - I have had difficulty getting soft water conditions for my blackwater tank - our tap water is slightly above neutral and slightly hard. I was thinking about a Lake Malawi African setup but I don't really know anything about those species.

 

[wrightt3]

I can't think of any fish from Malawi that would be suitable, I would look into Tanganyika instead.
Most of the lamprologus or neolamprologus should be fine.

 

[Zante]

Desert gobies will be fine in hard water, and they are really entertaining fish.
 
Another possibility, a bit unusual, could be a brackish beach tank with four red clawed crabs. 1/3 water and 2/3 beach. Another unusual possibility that could be quite interesting. Just make sure it's escape proof, as crabs are masters at escaping.

 

[davidjp1982]

Those desert gobies look like really great fish - definitely on the list of possibilities now  Neolamprologus look amazing but look like they may grow too large for a 2 foot tank?

 

[wrightt3]

Those desert gobies look like really great fish - definitely on the list of possibilities now

 Neolamprologus look amazing but look like they may grow too large for a 2 foot tank?

Depends on what species you go for...
multifasciatus or caudopunctatus for example should be fine.

 

[davidjp1982]

 

Those desert gobies look like really great fish - definitely on the list of possibilities now

 Neolamprologus look amazing but look like they may grow too large for a 2 foot tank?

Depends on what species you go for...
multifasciatus or caudopunctatus for example should be fine.
 
They look absolutely gorgeous - how many would you suggest for a 18 gallon tank? Do they need to be overstocked? Tank dimensions are 24" long 12" deep and 15" tall
 

And I assume this setup would be lots of rocks, shells, coarse gravel?

 

[wrightt3]

Assuming you went with multifasciatus I'd say you could squeeze a good 4-5 in there. Not sure about the caudopunctatus though...
Shells are very important here, I'd go with about 5 per fish to reduce competition for territory and to appreciate their natural behaviour. Rocks can be used to fill the tank out a bit but the shellies will mainly stay in the shells rather than the rocks. I would go with either sand or crushed coral substrate.

 

[davidjp1982]

Assuming you went with multifasciatus I'd say you could squeeze a good 4-5 in there. Not sure about the caudopunctatus though...
Shells are very important here, I'd go with about 5 per fish to reduce competition for territory and to appreciate their natural behaviour. Rocks can be used to fill the tank out a bit but the shellies will mainly stay in the shells rather than the rocks. I would go with either sand or crushed coral substrate.

 
Thanks - think I can see me doing this set up they look like great little cichlids