Stocking ideas for 45 gallon planted tank

[AquaBarb]

Hi,

Looking for stocking ideas for new tank.

Its a 45 gallon (us 53g) measuring (39"x21"x15") in process of cycling.

My other tank is a 29 gallon
(34.5 us) with zebra danio's, cherry barbs, cardinal tetra and panda corys. would like different ideas on other fish and combo's for the new bigger tank.

Any ideas or suggestions would be very welcome.

New tank is well planted with sand substate. Water going off smaller tank will have a ph of 7.4.

Early thoughts on a few ideas are a big school of rummys some bronze/albino corys and some honey gourami's. Not made my mind up tho because theres so much choice lol

Many thanks

 

[Back in the fold]

I think your idea of the big school of rummy nose tetras is excellent. Maybe 50 of them. Huge schools of tetras look awesome. I think they like it too.

 

[AquaBarb]

I think your idea of the big school of rummy nose tetras is excellent. Maybe 50 of them. Huge schools of tetras look awesome. I think they like it too.

Watched them in my LFS and they school real tight and followed my finger across the glass. 50 will be pushing in my tank but that would look cool.

 

[Byron]

Some of us would like to know the GH (general or total hardness) of the source water before suggesting species that might have problems. I see the pH of 7.4 but the GH (though related usually) is the more important for fish.

 

[Byron]

Watched them in my LFS and they school real tight and followed my finger across the glass. 50 will be pushing in my tank but that would look cool.

You could manage 50 but given the length here I would say 30 would work better. And leave room for other compatible fish. You will want some surface area species as rummys tend to remain in the lower half, as do cories generally. The GH will help with this.

 

[AquaBarb]

You could manage 50 but given the length here I would say 30 would work better. And leave room for other compatible fish. You will want some surface area species as rummys tend to remain in the lower half, as do cories generally. The GH will help with this.

I was thinking of a group of 20 rummys because i do want room for other species.
I will look into GH. I know its hard to moderately hard water where i live. (Got that info of my local water board website) but i will order a test kit and get a ppm reading. I thought i purchased one from my LFS but i got a KH kit my mistake

 

[Byron]

I was thinking of a group of 20 rummys because i do want room for other species.
I will look into GH. I know its hard to moderately hard water where i live. (Got that info of my local water board website) but i will order a test kit and get a ppm reading. I thought i purchased one from my LFS but i got a KH kit my mistake

Rummynose tetras is one tetra species that requires a larger group than most others just to be "relaxed," and 20 is fine.

No need for a test kit if you can pin down the GH from the water board. Do they give any number, and the measuring unit? Rummys are not a species that adapts well to harder water, and most will be wild caught so far as I know.

 

[AquaBarb]

Rummynose tetras is one tetra species that requires a larger group than most others just to be "relaxed," and 20 is fine.

No need for a test kit if you can pin down the GH from the water board. Do they give any number, and the measuring unit? Rummys are not a species that adapts well to harder water, and most will be wild caught so far as I know.

Numbers i can get are on the following tables....(blue)5th line CaCO3 163 etc not sure if this helps ir not?

 

[AquaBarb]

Only numbers i can get are on the following tables....(blue)5th line.View attachment 91679

 

[Byron]

The "Total Hardness" numbers are what you/we want, and the mg/l (which is the same as ppm) and the degrees German are the two units commonly used in the hobby.

There is considerable variation in the ranges, so which of these may bee relevant to your water? A GH of 7 dGH is much better for soft water fish than 13 dGH for example.

 

[AquaBarb]

Thank you for your responses Byron.

Going off these charts then my dgh is 9.1.

However ive tested my water with a API gh test kit just and that reads 14° (200-400ppm).

Is it best testing water straight from my tap or from the tank its self?

 

[Byron]

Thank you for your responses Byron.

Going off these charts then my dgh is 9.1.

However ive tested my water with a API gh test kit just and that reads 14° (200-400ppm).

Is it best testing water straight from my tap or from the tank its self?

Two things. First, test the tap water alone which will tell you the GH of your source water. This will not change much if at all in the aquarium unless you target it. The organic processes tend to soften water and lower pH, but the degree this occurs depends upon the initial GH and buffering (the KH) and here it is sufficient to prevent much fluctuation. You can harden the water, and simultaneously raise the pH, by using calcareous material (limestone, coral, shells, aragonite, etc) for the substrate or with rocks. So this may be why the GH is higher in the aquarium. I would now test the tank water and the tap water alone to see how close they are with your test.

 

[AquaBarb]

Tested tank water and the tap water alone and both readings are the same.

GH 14° round 200- 275 ppm id say (°12dkh is 214.8 ppm according to API)
My Kh is °6 around 107.4 ppm

 

[AquaBarb]

Two things. First, test the tap water alone which will tell you the GH of your source water. This will not change much if at all in the aquarium unless you target it. The organic processes tend to soften water and lower pH, but the degree this occurs depends upon the initial GH and buffering (the KH) and here it is sufficient to prevent much fluctuation. You can harden the water, and simultaneously raise the pH, by using calcareous material (limestone, coral, shells, aragonite, etc) for the substrate or with rocks. So this may be why the GH is higher in the aquarium. I would now test the tank water and the tap water alone to see how close they are with your test.

Hi Bryon,

Really sorry to bother you but you seem to know this hobby really well.

I have my tank nearly ready to introduce some fish and dont want to get fish not suitable. Done plenty of research but get different info from different sites.

My ph is 7. 4 (may lower when i add my driftwood) kh 6 and gh 13/14.

Could you recommend a surface (pair/trio/group) and a mid level fish schooling fish with this water parameters please?

Id like a tetra school if possible

Thank you

 

[Byron]

Hi Bryon,

Really sorry to bother you but you seem to know this hobby really well.

I have my tank nearly ready to introduce some fish and dont want to get fish not suitable. Done plenty of research but get different info from different sites.

My ph is 7. 4 (may lower when i add my driftwood) kh 6 and gh 13/14.

Could you recommend a surface (pair/trio/group) and a mid level fish schooling fish with this water parameters please?

Id like a tetra school if possible

Thank you

The GH is the most critical to fish of the three (GH, pH, KH) so I tend to work with that. The pH matters, but provided it is not fluctuating and provided it is not excessive either way, it should be fine. Example, with a GH of 13-14 dGH and a KH of 6 dKH, the pH will remain pretty much where it is in the source water, so wood is not going to have much if indeed any effect here.

If these numbers are reliable, you could have moderately hard water species (livebearers, some of the rainbowfish) and/or some of the fish that tend to overlap soft/hard terms. I'm thinking of fish like the Pristella Tetra, non-wild caught cories, barbs, danios...just generalities. You also need to consider tank space obviously, and the activity level of the species is very important--quiet or sedate fish like gourami do not go together with active swimmers like danios and barbs for example.

For reliable fish data, nothing is better than Seriously Fish.