Stocking My 200L

[Dave26]

After a year or so without a tank I'm getting back into the hobby.

This is my old 400 and odd litre tank which housed emperor tetra, some geophagus, an ellioti cichlid, green terrors, a convict and a common plec.



Sadly I had to sell up due to a house move.

A year later and I've finally got another tank!! It's a fluval roma 200 which is almost finished cycling!!



Stocking wise I'm thinking a group of corys, probably sterbai as I've always wanted them (maybe 6?), a golden nugget plec or similar (have bogwood to go in), a large group of some sort of tetra and then a centre piece of some kind, but that's where I'm stuck.

I live near pier aquatics so have got a decent choice!

Any ideas?

 

[fluttermoth]

What are the dimensions of the tank, and what's the pH and hardness of your water?
 
Any fish, or colour, you particularly like?

 

[508]

Rummynose Tetras are lovely, they shoal a lot more than the other species. A group of 15 would look spectacular. Cardinals would still be good though, but in that case I'd probably get even more than 15 as they do spread out more.
 
As for the centerpiece, a single Gourami, German Blue Ram or Angelfish could work.

 

[Dave26]

What are the dimensions of the tank, and what's the pH and hardness of your water?
 
Any fish, or colour, you particularly like?

The tank is 100cm x 40cm front to back x 50cm tall if I remember correctly.

Just tested the ph using the API master test kit and it's showing as 6.

As for hardness, I'm not sure, although leaning towards hard as limescale tends to appear around the bath.

Leaning towards celestial pearl danios rather than tetras possibly. As for the centerpiece I'm not a fan of angels or gouramis. What about a pair of something?

 

[508]

Pair of some sort of Rams?
 
Celestial Pearl Danios don't do well in community tanks imo, they're tiny and very skittish. They'd do better in a small, single species tank. 
 
What about Harlequin Rasboras or Rainbows? They would do well in your hard water. I have 5 Boesemanis in my 200L and they're very active and interesting to watch.

 

[FTM22]

A pair of locally bred German blue rams would be good and a school of dwarf rainbows or some bleeding heart tetras would work.

 

[Wills]

The smaller you go with the Tetra/ Rasbora the more limited you are with the centre piece fish... living near Pier, personally I would look for some great feature fish to sit centrally in there.
 
What about getting a group of some kind of gregarious cichlid in there like Cupid Cichlids or their relatives? Or you could look at a group of Geophagus sp.Pindare - they are rare but I have seen them in Pier before. Could be worth a go.
 
In a 260 I like it with a group of Cupids and then a mid sized cichlid like a Blue Acara, a Rotkiel Severum might work or a true Heros Severus. There are a bunch of other Acara types that would work as well that you will find at Pier.
 
For schoolers, I tend to like to keep tanks with fish from the same continent, so have Tetras, Pencil Fish and Hatchet Fish rather than Rasboras, Barbs or Danios. Disk Tetras will work nice in there Bentosi or Rosy Tetras are nice as are Flame Tetras both of which are nice and calm fish not too flightly for the cupids etc. Pencil Fish are nice as well and stay higher up in the water.
 
Headstanders are a good choice as well and a nice bit of diversity to the tank, which just leaves something for the bottom of the tank
 
Wills

 

[Dave26]

Thanks for the help so far folks, really appreciate it!

Right. Think I've decided on a group of Sterbai (8?), tetra of some kind (20?) a golden nugget plec or similar (possibly a pair?) and a pair of community suitable cichlids, thinking blue rams?

How does that sound? Other rams more suitable?

Room for anything else?

 

[Wills]

If your thinking of Blue Rams and Sterbai Cories you could get Rummy Nose Tetras and go for a tank set up suitable for all of them. So 28c and a ph of 7.8 and below.
 
Wills

 

[Dave26]

If your thinking of Blue Rams and Sterbai Cories you could get Rummy Nose Tetras and go for a tank set up suitable for all of them. So 28c and a ph of 7.8 and below.
 
Wills

Aye, think the tetra are the only thing I'm not sure about yet, just not sure which kind but want some that will stand out.

As for blue rams, better as a pair or group?
Before I settle on blue rams, any alternatives? Be good to have a couple of similar options in case they haven't got any blue rams!

The Cory's I'm set on, always wanted sterbai!

 

[Wills]

Blue Rams are really really hard to keep - the problem with them is that you can not fully know where they have come from or how they have been bred.
 
Wild ones need low ph and high temperatures and farm bred ones need neutral ph and mid temperatures other wise they can grow reasonably healthy until about a year old and just die suddenly rather than the 5-7+ year life span they should have.
 
I always advise where I can to do a really natural set up as I mentioned above with the Sterbai and the Rummy Nose. Both of these thrive in similar conditions and are quite easy to find. You can lower the ph quite easily now with things like Alder Cones and Almond Leaves and it softens the water as well, you can even peat filter the tank as well which are all natural ways of doing it, there are loads of shops not too far from you (including Pier) that sell these now.
 
As for stocking I would start with a group of say 8 youngsters and let a hierachy form, remove any over dominant ones or any overly weak ones. You may be able to keep all of them in that sized tank but more likely you would go down to a group of 4-5 with a dominant male and some sub males and females.
 
Hope thats helped
Wills

 

[FTM22]

Rams are best kept in pairs and if you're worried about the German blues bein tough to keep, you could get a pair of Bolivian rams instead. They're not quite as pretty, but they are much more hardy.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi the tank looks great, welcome back to the hobby, I have a question about your tank please. When you buy a fluval 200 what light bulbs come with it,and what size, length etc light ballast comes with it as standard. Thanks

 

[508]

Hi the tank looks great, welcome back to the hobby, I have a question about your tank please. When you buy a fluval 200 what light bulbs come with it,and what size, length etc light ballast comes with it as standard. Thanks

 
Two T8 bulbs come with it
They were pretty weak, I replaced them with an all pond solutions T5HO light unit

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Thanks 508, shall look into it, cheers