Stocking Suggestions

[tommo2]

Ok

im trying to get a list of fish together for when my fishless cycle is finished

Tank is 8' long, 13" wide and 30" high. 120 gal or 450 litres.

Substrate is natural gravel

Filtration is 2 cascade 1000 canister filters.

Heating is 2 x 300W

Lighting is 2 x 36W dayglo flourescent and 2 x 36W "blue moons"

Ph is 8
I dont know the kh or gh yet

Tank is not yet planted but will be when i have more experience. I reckon i will have my hands full with the fish at the start.



Im looking for a large community tank with plenty of colour and variety. Im not too bothered about having large fish, I would prefer plenty of small schooling fish. Algae eaters aswell. Maybe a red-tailed shark but ive heard these can harass other fish. Someone mentioned that adding tiger barbs can prevent the redtails from becoming too territorial... advice please

Some bottom feeders/dwellers. dwarf frogs aswell

Basically, im looking for a peaceful tank that is splendid to look at with plenty of activity. No fish over 6".

Your ideas are welcome and ill post pics here when the tank is fully stocked

Cheers!!

 

[ICEEGRL]

Hi! I love cory cats! There is a good variety, and they have a cool personality. Mine winks at me.
They will go with lots of other fish too.
Amanda

 

[QuotheRaven]

Okie dokie
You want some bottom dwellers however gravel isn't the best for them so something like cories is not the best.
Harliquin rasbora's would be nice
Dwarf cichlids would add colour and not to much aggression

thats my 2 cents

 

[Griz]

Think about a part of the world that you want to create a little piece of. Not neccessarily a strict biotope, but something like it. For example, you could do something with a South American theme with SA catfish, tetras and new world cichlids in a planted tank with lots of bogwood. Or maybe a rocky setup with African cichlids. Doing things this way helps to make sure that your fish will all share the same requirements and it is also much easier to be sure of compatability issues rather that just picking fish you like from all over the world. You'll end up with a more harmonious and IMO interesting tank that way.

 

[QuotheRaven]

I agree with Griz a tank that size deserves something special and a semi-biotype would be great

(P.S Griz whats that fish in your picture I know its a cichlid (dwarf one...)
but whats it specific name?)

 

[Griz]

Cockatoo cichlid Apistogramma cacatuoides. He was closer to the wild type than the double or triple reds you usually see.

A 120gal, planted, full of apistos (you could house a LOT in there), various interesting plecs, large schools of 2 or 3 different tetras and some hatchetfish and pencilfish would be a great idea for you, tommo2

 

[dwarfgourami]

Some suggestions for semi-biotope:

Asian tank:
school of moustached danios- these fellows are SO handsome and they would love a big tank like this
d golden barbs
school of loaches (let the loach people advise here) OR a red-tail black shark

Africa:
Malawi tank

South-America:
school of bleeding hearts
angelfish
1 large plec, or a trio of small fancy plecs, or a BIG school of corydoras, or a pair of whiptails- or combo of any of these

Central-America:

Ameca splendens (gooeid)
Central American cichlid

In any case, I would keep the dwarf frog in a smaller tank as it would be easy for him to get lost and be outcompeted for food in this big tank- also a long way to swim to the surface.

 

[mikster]

If i was doing it with the criteria you have set i would do something like cockatoo cichlids or maybe pearl gouramis (or other types), few schools of tetra and rasbora. Then for bottom have cories and various small plecs (check the catfish forum for a list of them). Then maybe some stuff like shrimp frogs and snails for added interest.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I don't suggest Pearls, as they usually like a more peaceful setup and you said you wanted lots of action. A few Clown Loaches might be nice, and although they grow to 12" they are notoriously slow at growing and are bottom dwellers. I might suggest Danios if you want fast, active lil' fish.

 

[tommo2]

The red-tailed sharks look cool. Any chance of having more than one???

 

[dwarfgourami]

The red-tailed sharks look cool. Any chance of having more than one???

Afraid not. They are VERY territorial. They will even attack a fish that looks a bit like them (like a rainbow shark).