Stocking Suggestions

[Karliki]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if I could ask for your thoughts. I will be looking to create a community tank once my tank has cycled (125liters, 27.5 UK gallons, 33 US gallons) but am unsure if the fish I want will make the tank over stocked. This is the stock that I was thinking I could put in. Obviously, I will not put all the fish in at once.

4 fancy guppies
4 platies
7 Cardinal tetra
5 Cory cats


Does this sound alright and not overstocked, can anyone foresee any problems with this?

I will also be using sand instead of gravel so what is the best way of cleaning this without sucking half the sand up through the tube.


Thanks

 

[Luketendo]

That stocking is fine, although your livebearers will pose problems as they will breed loads. Consider upping the corys to 6 or more. Perhaps get 3 pearl gouramis and 2 bristlenose plecos instead of livebearers. Up the cardinal and cory numbers, you'll turn out with a very nice tank indeed.

 

[jennybugs]

Your suggestions sound ok, but as said, livebearers (unless you get all males) will probably lead to lots of babies (they're rampant things you see) and you could find yourself overstocked in no time.

I like the cardinal tetras and find them stunning in large shoals. You could have a couple of shoals of different tetra...cardinals with rummy nose tetra, or lemon tetra look great in large groups and then a nice big group of corys on the bottom.

To add a different level of interest you could get some shrimp (I have amano and cameroon armoured shrimp) and maybe one or two apple snails?

 

[Karliki]

thanks for the replies, I was only going to get male guppies and female platies (I should have put that in the original post). I was thinking of getting a few more Cory's but wasn't sure if I would have overstocked. Would shrimp cause problems with the other fish, and how many would you recommend?

If I had
4 fancy guppies (male)
4 platies (female)
7 Cardinal tetra
6 Cory cats

Would I have room for another shoal of tetras
Thanks again for the replies.

 

[darkwolf29a]

With the load you have in there now, you should be fine adding a few shrimp. What kind(s) are you looking at?

Other than that...I like the list. Of course...I'd lose everything bu the tetras and the corys....I'm partial though. LOL

The only thing I am questioning is not having a source to help keep the algae down. Plecos are good for that.

 

[Karliki]

thanks for the pleco suggestions: I've never kept plecos before so I'm not sure what type would be best for the size of my tank or how long I'd have to leave the tank before it had a good source of algae for them to eat. Any suggestions?

Also, I've never kept shrimp before so I don't know what the different types are like (amano shrimp seem to be popular on the forum). Any thoughts?

 

[jennybugs]

Amano shrimp are great little algae eaters and they keep everything from plants and wood to substrate clean.

I would also recommend otocinclus (dwarf suckermouth type fish) to keep the algae down. These are small fish who are great at chomping up the algae from all surfaces.

Corys adult fish size varies but let's say about 6cm, guppies average about 6cms, platys 5 cms and cardinal tetra are around 5cm each. That gives you 115cm of fish unless my maths is so much worse than I thought 1cm of fish per litre doesn't leave you enough to go for another shoal of tetra. I'd dump the platy and guppy and settle for a second big shoal of tetra personally

I wouldn't go for female platys...they will more than likely be fertilised by males in your LFS and you come home with them, add them to your tank and then hey presto - babies everywhere I'd stick to males. I have some and they're so interactive with each other

 

[Karliki]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I shall keep them in mind

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'll be honest. I think your selection is a little dull for my liking. Platies and guppies are the bread and butter of the fish world. If you had a load of money to buy a new car would you buy Fiesta? There are so many more interesting options out there. You tank will be fine to accomadate many species. I would suggest you head to a good LFS with a wide selection of stock, Maidenhead Aquatics are usually a good option, with a pad and write down things you like the look of. Aim for finding a couple of bottom dwellers you like and a load of schooling fish that catch your eye. Then post your ideas here.

My personal favourites are:

Sparkling Gouramis
Harlequin Rasboras
Boesemani Rainbows
Gold Barbs
Pygmy Cories
Endlers
Rummynose Tetras