Which Fish

[stubs]

Hi all,

So I have my tank in cycle now and I am pretty confident I have my head around it. It's now time to start thinking about which fish I can get once the tank is ready, we are complete novices at this so have no idea

so my daughter and I took a trip to our LFS to take a look, pick some fish out and try to get advice, what would be suitable for my tank and each other etc.

The guy I spoke to said that pretty much all the ones we (actually my daughter) had picked out would work but to be honest I didn't have the greatest trust in what he was telling me, he seemed a bit vague and actually tried to talk me out of cycling my tank

Anyway these are the fish we picked, we understand that we will not be able to have them all and that some might not be suitable for each other or the tank. We just wanted to pick all the ones we liked and then see if they worked together, any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

Tank details: 60 litre.

Fish we liked:

Corydoras Paleatus
Black Mollies
Red Swordtails
Red Platy
congo tetra
Red Phantom Tetra
red devil angle fish

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Corydoras Paleatus; they'd be ok, but as you'd need a group of six, that would pretty much fill your tank! Panda or dwarf cories would be a better choice for you, or otocinclus. All Corydoras should be kept on a sand substrate IMO.
Black Mollies; ok, but might grow a bit big at 3-4 inches; get only males
Red Swordtails; great; get only males unless you want a population explosion!
Red Platy; as the swordtail
congo tetra; get too large for your tank
Red Phantom Tetra; fine
red devil angle fish; get too large

Hope that helps; there are so many fish to choose from!

 

[KittyKat]

Corydoras paleatus - too large, look at dwarf or pygmy Corys instead, 6 is a good number
Mollies - too large
Swordtails - too large
Platy - good, I recommend you keep only males, say 6 or so.. if you really want females, keep 4f 2m
Congo tetra - too large
Red phantom tetra - good, keep 6-10
Angel fish - too large

So good stocking for a 60 litre would be:
* 3 male platys
* 6-10 tetras of one species
* 6-10 dwarf or pygmy Corys

 

[stubs]

Thanks guys, all taken on board! it's much appreciated

Amazing eh, I have had the tank 2 weeks, no fish yet, and I am already looking at it thinking " I really need a bigger tank"

 

[stubs]

Guys..

I have another question, it's not related to the fish but to the filter.

As already stated I am currently trying to cycle my tank, when I got the tank it came with a filter (obviously) seeing as I got the tank filter and all from someone who had already had fish I just assumed the filter was right i.e it contained all I needed to begin the cycle, been reading quite a lot on the subject, and here is my question what exactly is media? (I feel stupid) I assumed (probably wrongly) that it was the sponges contained in the filter? that become a home for the good bacteria?? is that way off the mark?

I am now wondering if the filter I have in my tank is right or more importantly the stuff within my filter is right? I am to scared to open it up and have a look as it might scupper my cycle?

Again any help is appreciated

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Media is anything housed in the filter: biowheel, sponge, cartridge, floss, ceramics, etc. Basically if it is something you can put into the filter, it is "media".

 

[fluttermoth]

It's perfectly ok to have a look inside your filter; there's no way it could stall your cycle or anything! Switch it off first (and don't gorget to switch it back on again afterwards!).

It doesn't matter that much what media you use. Sponges and ceramic rings are the most common and work fine; on their own or a mix, with maybe a layer of floss too.

 

[stubs]

Right... I had a look (remembered to turn back on afterwards)Apparently I have an intrepid PF2, the top housing looks to contain ceramics, they look like polo mints but a bit bigger and not white is that right? the bottom housing just has sponges which look surprisingly clean.

So all good right? I'm assuming if I wanted to clean the sponges in the future I would just do so in the tank water?

Thanks again guys!!

 

[fluttermoth]

Sounds fine. Yes, always clean media in old tank water and don't go mad; just swish about to get the loose mulm off.

 

[stubs]

Sounds fine. Yes, always clean media in old tank water and don't go mad; just swish about to get the loose mulm off.

Brilliant thanks