What Fish Not To Have With Mts

[Dan-CR4]

once my tank is cycled (fishless cycle) i want to get some malaysian trumpet snails as i have read they are good for sand substrates, which my tank has.

my tank is 180 litres so wont be having too big of fish. would also like a small plec or similar, is there any you could recommend for my tank. i know some grow huge so i wont be wanting any huge ones, are any ok with malaysian trumpet snails, or would the MTS not stand a chance of living past lunch time.

could anyone also tell me what fish i should avoid, as im sure there are some fish that like to have malaysian trumpet snails as a side dish.

just really need some ideas i can think about while my tank is cycling.

Thanks

Danny

 

[Wills]

The main fish that eat snails are nearly all loaches and some synos, majority of the other fish might eat babies but I wouldnt think that its enough to concern a general population once you get going with it.

If you want stocking suggestions for a 180 liter I guess its all down to what you want, have you seen any fish that you like? If you give us a pointer we can probs work out a stock list to help keep your snails alive.

Just to add though, I have a pretty thick sand substrate and I just give it a good going over with my hands once a fortnight but all ways give it a good mix around with the syphon each week.

Wills

 

[Dan-CR4]

thanks wills , me and the missus are arguing over what fish to get, (this was supposed to be my tank) as i made a mistake by taking her with me to the aquatic shops today.

is that your tank in your sig? thats a nice looking tank, well designed.

I will post a new list of fish I/(we) have ideas on later.

 

[fishyfeet]

to be honest dan, even loaches have problems with adult mts, and puffers have been know to break their beaks on them, and they eat snails. loaches would keep the population under control but i find food availability does that fine, so stock what you want. di

 

[Wills]

Thanks the fish in my signature is a female nicuraguan cichlid, she will get to about 5 or 6 inches only about 3 at the moment and quite stocky. If you wanted to go the cichlid route in your tank, I would consider 5-7 dwarfs like apistos, nannacaras or bolivain rams for example or 2-3 medium sized cichlids depending on species but things like fire mouths, female nics, blue acaras, ellioti etc. Or you could do a nice tank of a gregarious cichlid like cupid cichlids or guinacaras perhaps?

Then you could mix them with a school of dithers like dwarf neon rainbows or columbian tetras, you would be able to have a few small plecs in there as well and depending on other choices some kind of catfish or loach like cories, zebra loaches or even in some combos a trio of pictus could work out nice.

Wills

 

[Dan-CR4]

thanks for the replies guys. could you all give your views on this stocking list. i used an online database that said this be well within my stocking level and was ok for my tank size but would rather have some human input, my tank dimensions are below.

As i said above, i did the wrong thing and took the wife out to the LFS and she wants some fish in MY tank, but if i give in, i may be able to upgrade to a bigger tank later in the year if i pretend its OUR tank . (theres a method to my madness)

4x Keyhole Cichlid
7x Bolivian Ram
5x Dwarf Rainbowfish
7x Platy (wife wants these)
5x Dalmation Molly (wife wants these)
?x Malaysian Trumpet Snails

i would love some angelfish as well but not sure if they would be ok with the above and if i would have room.

Tank Volume: approx. 180 Litres
Tank Measurements: 92 x 41 x 55 cm

heres a link to the tank i have My tank

 

[Wills]

Hi

Few issues with the stock list you picked, 4 keyholes and 7 bolivians are too many cichlids for that size tank you would be able to do 2 keyholes and 4 bolivians though then you could add the extra numbers to the dwarf rainbows.

With the platies and mollies, I would just stick to mollies, I believe you can get dalmation platies so would that be a good substitute? I would stick to about 5 as total for the live bearers as if you mix the sexes you will me over run with babies in no time. Also if you mixed just males to avoid the babies they might get too fiesty together and scrap a little too often. Also just sticking to just females in some cases can still bring babies as the females are sometimes pregnant in the stores or holding the sperm at least then have babies in your tank... But that said if you can raise the babies properly and rehome them to an LFS someway it will work out fine

So maybe do something like

2x Keyhole cichlids
4x Bolivian rams
10x Dwarf neon rainbows
5 - 7x Platies (all male) - you can mix the colours quite easily

Then you still have other options to add a few more of some other species maybe a bottom dweller like zebra loaches or cory cats?

 

[Dan-CR4]

So maybe do something like

2x Keyhole cichlids
4x Bolivian rams
10x Dwarf neon rainbows
5 - 7x Platies (all male) - you can mix the colours quite easily

Then you still have other options to add a few more of some other species maybe a bottom dweller like zebra loaches or cory cats?

Thanks Wills

that sounds good to me, think i will go with that as a stocking list, the wife gets some to keep her sweet as well.

 

[Wills]

Cool glad I could help, word of advice though - wives and girlfriends chipping into the hobby can sometimes cause problems, we spend all our time researching and reading and then they point and say pretty and sometimes it can mess people up as it leads to impulse buys. Ive had a few as a result and Ive even let her make a few little mistakes with the tank for her to learn..... nothing that could damage the fishes health but just stuff like mixing plants with sevs

 

[Dan-CR4]

Hi Wills, I think it will be at least a month before i even get close to getting fish but i can now start looking at the LFS around me, even though i been out every weekend to different aquatic shops for the past 4 weeks. trying to pickup as much info and surprised i am starting to be able to name some of the fish without looking at the cards on the tanks in the shops.

I agree what your saying, i would not let her choose anything that could harm any fish, thats the main reason i was asking on my stocking list so i get fish that would be compatible together. The Wife she would hate the thought of hurting any fish, as she is animal mad, i think she prefers animals more than humans.

will probably have more questions once im nearer the end of my fishless cycle, but glad i got an idea what fish to look for now.