Stocking Question

[cookie_db]

As my tank is now in the process of cycling I thought I best decide what fish I plan on getting. Tank is 45cm (H) x 120cm (W) x 40cm (D) 57gallons/216 litres. Fluval 4 plus filter, but I plan on getting an external eheim to run along side this at some point. I know about the one inch per gallon rule and different people say different things about it but I'm hoping I can push it a bit with the extra filter, good maintenance and by planting quite heavily. Stock will be built up over 4-5 months. Anywho onto the fish.

Glowlight danio (danio choprai) X8
Bleeding heart tetra (hyphessobrycon erythrastigma) X8
Tiger barb (barbus tetrazona) X8
Otocinclus X6
RTBS X1

If my calculations are correct that takes me to 71.4 inches. Fish would be introduced in the order above. What do you guys think? Will it work?

Thanx
Dani

 

[Miss Wiggle]

tigers you need a group of 10+ to dissapate aggression. personally i wouldn't bother as a group that big would fill up your stocking pretty damn quickly!!

71" is pushing it a little IMO, not drastically but possibly just a little bit too much, your call though, i've seen plenty worse!

otto's are best left until last as they're quite sensitive.

 

[cookie_db]

I was kinda hoping 8 tigers would be enough to deal with the aggression. The only reason for putting the RTBS in after the otto's is because of they're aggression and by adding it last I thought it wouldn't then be able to stop fish coming into his territory as he would be entering the territory of the rest of the fish. PFK reckon you can stock 2 inches per gallon after about 6months which is why I'm hoping I can push the stocking this far. Works out about 1.3 inches of fish per gallon. I still have time to change my mind so I'll just wait and see for now.

Thanx Miss Wiggle
Dani

 

[cookie_db]

Anyone else got any opinions on this stocking? Would like as much feedback as possible as this is my first tank

Thanx
Dani

 

[vinylman]

Anything that goes into a tank with Tiger Barbs needs to be equally aggressive, which severely limits your choice of fish. Have you thought about Pentazona Barbs; quite similar in appearance to TBs, but the males have a fabulous reddish/pinkish tinge. Very mild mannered, too. Try half a dozen, plus the other fish you mention. After the tank has cycled, leave it a good 6-8 weeks before adding the Otos.

 

[cookie_db]

Well I was kind of aiming for a semi aggressive tank due to the tiger barbs and RTBS. Any suggestions are welcome. The things that have to stay are the RTBS, tiger barbs and otos. I've heard that tiger barbs are great to watch which is why I really want some in my tank. I'm flexible on the others but would still like two groups of shoaling fish. The otos would be added at least that long after the tanks finished cycling. Money is a bit tight so things get done slowly, and need to get my external filter before I can fully stock.

Any more opinions?

Thanx
Dani

 

[01edmn]

wot about cherry barbs instead of the tigers i'd have to say stuff the rtbs and get a pair of kribs

 

[cookie_db]

I considered kribs for a while be decided I didn't want to have to worry about fry from them. I really like the look of RTBS's and my other half likes them too, although this is my tank but would be nice to have something in there that he likes. I'd like to get some kribs some day but once I'm a bit more experienced and am prepared to deal with the fry. Tiger barbs caught my eye very early on but due to there aggression they were off the list for a while but once i decided I really wanted a RTBS I reconsidered them as stocking round the RTBS meant I needed things that could look after themselves a bit more.

Looks like my initial stocking idea doesn't have and compatibility issues then, or does someone out there think otherwise?

Thanx
Dani

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I was kinda hoping 8 tigers would be enough to deal with the aggression. The only reason for putting the RTBS in after the otto's is because of they're aggression and by adding it last I thought it wouldn't then be able to stop fish coming into his territory as he would be entering the territory of the rest of the fish. PFK reckon you can stock 2 inches per gallon after about 6months which is why I'm hoping I can push the stocking this far. Works out about 1.3 inches of fish per gallon. I still have time to change my mind so I'll just wait and see for now.

Thanx Miss Wiggle
Dani

yeah I've seen that stocking guide from PFK, personally i think it's a load of rubbish! but there you go, you're always gonna get differences of opinions in a hobby, you have to make up your own mind. 1.3" isn't awful by any means, bit more than I'd do but that's just my opinion. Certainly seen much worse!!