Stocking Ideas

[CamG369]

I have a 105L, long tank.

Currently there are 5 mollies, about 6 months so not fully grown
5 bronze Cory's

I'm looking for suggestions on what to add to it?

 

[mbsqw1d]

Hi do you know the hardness of your water? Can usually be found on your local water supplier's website. This helps determine which fish are better suited to your water.

Do you have a preference of fish? A group of shoaling fish or more a centrepiece?

 

[CamG369]

Hi do you know the hardness of your water? Can usually be found on your local water supplier's website. This helps determine which fish are better suited to your water.

Do you have a preference of fish? A group of shoaling fish or more a centrepiece?

I done a test (granted, with a strip) which showed 0-30 general hardness. Probably closer to 30

Probably looking for more of a centre piece, but also any other ideas really

 

[mbsqw1d]

Quite hard water then? Ideal for your mollies, not so much the cories. I'm a bit stumped for centrepiece hard water fish in afraid sorry

 

[CamG369]

Quite hard water then? Ideal for your mollies, not so much the cories. I'm a bit stumped for centrepiece hard water fish in afraid sorry

Strange "hardness as mg/l CaCO3" is 33.42, which is stated as soft..
No idea what the CaCO3 means

 

[seangee]

A good site for checking up on fish species and their requirments is seriouslyfish.com
A hardness of 33 mg/l is indeed soft and well suited for cories. Mollies need a hardness of around 300 mg/l. ALthough they may appear healthy now their lifespans will be severely reduced and they will have health issues down the line. Unfortunately fixing this for the mollies will be detrimental to the cories.
Here are two snippets from the profile:

A planted tank is preferable but this species must be maintained in moderately hard or harder water, with a basic pH. When kept in soft or acidic water, the fish weakens fairly rapidly, frequently indicated by shimmying, fungus, and/or clamped fins.

Peaceful but should only be kept with fish that can tolerate the same water conditions. Not recommended for the general community due to this.

I would recommend that you focus on soft water fish which will thrive in your tap water. Many fish in this category are social fish and do better in bigger groups. What you choose as a centrepiece should be guided by what else you plan for the tank. Or you may decide that a good sized shoal is a centrepiece on its own. One of my tanks has around 30 cardinal tetras, I have never felt the need for a centrepiece in there because they are already a spectacular sight.

 

[Essjay]

Strange "hardness as mg/l CaCO3" is 33.42, which is stated as soft..
No idea what the CaCO3 means

CaCO3 is calcium carbonate. There are several units of measurement for hardness and this one is measured as mg/l calcium carbonate. It is the same as ppm, the term fish profiles use.
The other unit used in fishkeeping is German degrees, abbreviated to dH or dGH.
Fish profiles use one or other of these units for the hardness range of any species.

Your 33.43 ppm converts to 1.9 dH. You need fish which have this hardness around the middle of their range.

 

[Byron]

With water this soft, your mollies are going to soon have difficulty. They must have harder water, 12 dGH or higher. The cories however are much better with the very soft water you seem to have. Before adding more fish, the mollies need to be dealt with.