Stocking Questings

[da7thson]

Hi All,

Just got back from my holidays and the tank has done really well while i was away. The plants have gone mental and some have almost doubled in size and i've got a large quantity of snails in the tank. Please find a link here to a video of my tank before i went away (11 days ago) to give you the idea of what it looks like. I'll post a new one in the nexy day or so.

I've tested the water and Ammonia has gone right down, Nitrite has gone up in the red (on the scale) and nitrate is showing on the scale, so i cant see the tank being far off.

We went to the LFS today and have decided that we will get 6 Zebra Danio's to start with as a definate, but the rest we would like some input with. The list below is what we saw in the fish shop and liked the look of along with information around nature and group size i researched on the internet (items in italics i think are a no no due to either being agressive or grow too large), but i would love some input on what would go well in our tank with lots of colour variations(125l Juwel, planted tank).

Thanks

Andy

Fish Max Size Group Size Aggression PH

Black Phantom Tetra 3.6cm peaceful 6.0 - 7.5
Cardinal Tetra 3cm 10+ peaceful 5.0 to 7.0
Aspito Agasizii m 10cm f 6cm 1m 2f peaceful 6.0 to 6.5
banded lepirinus mean 5.5 to 7.5
Tiger Barb 7cm 6+ can fin nip 6.5 to 7.5
Endlers guppys 6cm 5+ 7.0 to 8.5
Ancistrus blue eye?
Glass cat 15cm 4+ peaceful
Diamond eye tetra 6+ 5.5 - 7.5
Aspito virtues 1m 2f peaceful 6.0 to 6.5
Elongates cichlid 12cm aggressive 8.2
RTB shark 15cm 1+ aggressive 6.0 - 7.5
Sunset Platty 6cm 4 peaceful 6.5 to 8.2
Frog 4cm 1 peaceful 6.5 - 7.5
Fighter (Beta) 5cm 1 only aggressive 6.8 to 7.4
Otocinclus 4cm 3 peaceful 6.0 to 8.0

 

[KittyKat]

We went to the LFS today and have decided that we will get 6 Zebra Danio's to start with as a definate, but the rest we would like some input with.

I recommend you go for at least 10-15, 6 is a bare minimum and the fish will do better in a larger group.


Fish Max Size Group Size Aggression PH

Black Phantom Tetra 3.6cm *10+* peaceful 6.0 - 7.5 - ok, but you're better off sticking to fish which prefer neutral water
Cardinal Tetra 3cm 10+ peaceful 5.0 to 7.0 - as above
Aspito Agasizii m 10cm f 6cm 1m 2f peaceful 6.0 to 6.5 - as above
banded lepirinus mean 5.5 to 7.5 - too large
Tiger Barb 7cm 6+ can fin nip 6.5 to 7.5 - ok, a bit nippy in small numbers, so keep 10+
Endlers guppys 6cm 5+ 7.0 to 8.5 - ok
Ancistrus blue eye? - I'd prefer a smaller pleco
Glass cat 15cm 4+ peaceful - too delicate
Diamond eye tetra 6+ 5.5 - 7.5 - ok, but you're better off sticking to fish which prefer neutral water
Aspito virtues 1m 2f peaceful 6.0 to 6.5 - ..what?
Elongates cichlid 12cm aggressive 8.2 - Rift Lake, not compatible
RTB shark 15cm 1+ aggressive 6.0 - 7.5 - too large and too aggressive
Sunset Platty 6cm 4 peaceful 6.5 to 8.2 - ok
Frog 4cm 1 peaceful 6.5 - 7.5 - someone else can comment on this one
Fighter (Beta) 5cm 1 only aggressive 6.8 to 7.4 - danios are too active for Betta
Otocinclus 4cm 3 peaceful 6.0 to 8.0 - ok, but do best in well established tanks

Ideally, I would recommend something like this, based on you wanting danios:
* 15 zebra danios
* 1m 3-5f honey gouramis
* 1-3 small (3-4 inch adult size) plecos

 

[Jenste]

What type of frog?

you need to be much more specific - -

Ideally - you would not keep any type of frog. African Clawed Frogs will eat your fish, and you would not have a happy African Dwarf Frog in there - most adf drown when kept in non-species tanks due to food competition and harassment. They are easy targets, and being nearly blind they have to use their sense of smell to find food.

It is in the best interest of the frog to have its own tank so you can make it fit the frogs needs, not the fish needs

 

[da7thson]

What type of frog?

you need to be much more specific - -

Ideally - you would not keep any type of frog. African Clawed Frogs will eat your fish, and you would not have a happy African Dwarf Frog in there - most adf drown when kept in non-species tanks due to food competition and harassment. They are easy targets, and being nearly blind they have to use their sense of smell to find food.

It is in the best interest of the frog to have its own tank so you can make it fit the frogs needs, not the fish needs

We saw a dwarf one in the same tank as some fish at our LSF and the missis really liked it so wanted one.

The main thing i'm after is a bit of diversity in the tank as its a brand new tank and our 1st one, so if i can put the minimum amount of fish (or just over) of each type and have 4 or 5 different verieties, that would be ideal.

cheers

Andy

 

[Tizer]

The problem with too much variety is that you get a tank of fish that dont really get along with eachother, or you dont have enough of the same fish for them to behave naturally. Also stuffing a tank full of all the things you want on day one means your fish keeping experience begins and ends on that day, as your tank is fully stocked and every visit to the local fish shop means you walking way empty handed.

Its nice to have some spare room in a tank while you are learning about the fish, you might find some that you like more than others a few months down the road.

If you like the Danios, get yourself a decent size school of them, as Kitty said, 12-15 is a good number and you dont have to buy them all at once. Take some enjoyment from them for a few weeks then scout around for your next fish.

Trust me, its ever so easy to over stock your tank and its soooo hard to walk away from a shop with nothing

PS, why the heck would any woman find frogs attractive...all the girls i know go "eeeeeewwww a frog!"

 

[da7thson]

PS, why the heck would any woman find frogs attractive...all the girls i know go "eeeeeewwww a frog!"

Well, she's with me, so that probably explains it LOL I did say to her, look you can get some fresh water shrip, to which the answer was NO and that they were "creepy"

Yeah i see your point, i want happy fish at the end of the day and adding another 5 danios later sounds like a better idea than getting 15 all at once as it gives me a bit of flexability should i see something else i like.

Honey gouramis dont appeal to me and neith do pleco's (both as they can get big and also i've heared they are messy). I do really like Aspito Agasizii as the males are differnt in colour to the femails so it would give the tank lots of contrast, so if you can think of anything like them that would go with the Zebra's then i'm open to idea's.

cheers

Andy

 

[KittyKat]

Yeah i see your point, i want happy fish at the end of the day and adding another 5 danios later sounds like a better idea than getting 15 all at once as it gives me a bit of flexability should i see something else i like.

Honey gouramis dont appeal to me and neith do pleco's (both as they can get big and also i've heared they are messy). I do really like Aspito Agasizii as the males are differnt in colour to the femails so it would give the tank lots of contrast, so if you can think of anything like them that would go with the Zebra's then i'm open to idea's.

Ah, I saw pleco in your list, and no other bottom area fish.

If you like Apistos, then think about going for South American fish instead of Danios, the two are not that great together. If you go for SA, then something like this would work:
* 1m 2f Apisto. agasizii
* 15 * 5 cm tetras of one species
(* I can't think of any bottom fish which do as well on gravel as on sand except plecos; shrimp and snails are not an option with A. agasizii either)

 

[da7thson]

Ah, I saw pleco in your list, and no other bottom area fish.

i think thats either down to us being a noob or the sticker on the fish tank was wrong as we were looking at some fish which was blue in colour and certinally not a bottom feeder. we'll have to go back and have another look.

cheers

andy

 

[fluttermoth]

PS, why the heck would any woman find frogs attractive...all the girls i know go "eeeeeewwww a frog!"

Loads of women love frogs! I love frogs (and toads) and my son's GF loves them so much that whenever we go to my mum's house, he catches frogs out of the pond for her to cuddle