Would This Combo For A 260l Work?

[locust267]

Hi, am still planning my new tank set up and am so far having fun sticking the background on and looking online for a good external filter and researching plants.

From my current fish I would like to eventually move across to the new tank are my 5 danio's, 1 BRTS, 3 mollies.

I've been looking at some other fish and was wondering if this combo would work with the above fish:

1 x Giant or Pearl gourami (which is best?)
2 x Angel fish
4 x Dwarf gourami
6 x male platies OR 3 x swordtails

For a 260L how would the stocking look with the above?

If certain fish are not suitable together could you please let me know why, if you highly recc some other fish instead of one of the above then fire away.

I still currently have 2 male guppies in my 35l which dont have to move across to the 260l but would be nice if they could, would they get on with the other fish mentioned above?

My pH is quite high ruling out tetra's (8), water is hard in this area and my current tanks are set at 26 degrees C but thats not to say the 260l will be once it's set up.

Many Thanks

Vicki

 

[jacko9901]

Hi, am still planning my new tank set up and am so far having fun sticking the background on and looking online for a good external filter and researching plants.

From my current fish I would like to eventually move across to the new tank are my 5 danio's, 1 BRTS, 3 mollies.

I've been looking at some other fish and was wondering if this combo would work with the above fish:

1 x Giant or Pearl gourami (which is best?)
2 x Angel fish
4 x Dwarf gourami
6 x male platies OR 3 x swordtails

For a 260L how would the stocking look with the above?

If certain fish are not suitable together could you please let me know why, if you highly recc some other fish instead of one of the above then fire away.

I still currently have 2 male guppies in my 35l which dont have to move across to the 260l but would be nice if they could, would they get on with the other fish mentioned above?

My pH is quite high ruling out tetra's (8), water is hard in this area and my current tanks are set at 26 degrees C but thats not to say the 260l will be once it's set up.

Many Thanks

Vicki

there is a big difference in size between giant and pearl gouramis. i dont think the tank is big enough giants though so i would go for pearls. other than that it seems fine. maybe get 2 bristle nosed or pitbull plecs.

 

[Corleone]

Definitely stay away from the giant gourami. Those guys become monsters eventually, and dwarf the likes of oscars. I've seen 400 liters quoted as a minimum size tank for them, and the only big one I ever saw was in more than that and looked cramped.

Pearls, though, are only 4 inches long or so - you could probably go with a trio of them in that stocking. Only gouramis I'm really familiar with are dwarves, but a lot of people say most gouramis do better one male with two females.

 

[locust267]

Thanks for that, I read in a book that pearls are bigger than giants

That's ok though as I think I prefer pearls anyway

Will take a look at the plecs too could I add those as something extra or would I need to lose one of my other idea's to make room?

If I'm looking for a centre piece fish(es) would a trio of pearl's do the job nicely? Can I still have some dwarf gourami too?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Ah, I see the source of confusion. In older books there are two very different fish that both go by the common name of giant gourami:

one is colisa fasciata, which is a slightly larger, much hardier and more peaceful lookalike of the dwarf gourami. These days you are more likely to find it under the name of Indian gourami, or possibly banded gourami. I have one of these. Very handsome and gentle, but extremely shy.

the other really is a giant: osphronemus gouramy. This is a chunky looking giant which is used as a food fish over much of SE Asia.

If I were you I would either go for a group of pearl gouramis (look beautiful and are usually quite peaceful with each other) or a single Indian gourami.

 

[rabbut]

I would add the pleco mentioned above, instead of one of the dwarf gourami. You want a male with 2+ females. Two males will fight, they would probibly go as far as to the death, but I didn't allow things to get that serious when I placed two together. I have had males kill lone females before, so I advise against male-female pairs . The pearls are better suited than giants. Most of my books quote 3 feet as a max size for these guys Never heard-of or seen one even close to this though, so how accurate that size is, is questionable The pearls should max out at 6 inches, and make great centre pice fish

All the best
Rabbut

 

[locust267]

Oooh thanks, so can we just double check that my proposed fish for my 260l tank is gonna be fine:

5 x Zebra danio's
1 x RTBS
3 x Mollies
1 x Pearl Gourami
2 x Angel
3 x Dwarf gourami (1 male 2 female)
6 x Male platies OR 3 x Swordtails
1 x Bristlenose Pleco

From the Pearl gourami downward how easy are the fish to get hold of in the LFS?

 

[Corleone]

From the Pearl gourami downward how easy are the fish to get hold of in the LFS?

Angels and dwarf gouramis are eveywhere, they're pretty much a fixture in the hobby. So are platys and swordtails, unless you have your heart set on a specific color form.

Edit: I will put one caveat to that, though. I've actually had trouble finding female dwarf gouramis occasionally. It's always annoyed me, since every time I decide I want some, there's a thousand males and no females. Same thing with guppies, tank upon tank full of males, handful of females.

I don't know about bristlenose, though. I've heard of them being hard to come by in some areas. In my area, its rare to see any in a store, but when they do have them, they have tons.


Late edit: I'd like to hear some of the more experienced members' opinions on compatibility, as well, since this stocking has a few overlaps with my own ideas for my 55 gallon.

 

[rabbut]

86 inches of fish there..... It is doable with realy good filtration, but you will want an exturnal to run that type of stocking...

You may need to watch the male gourami and the angels, but I don't see an major issues there Whether the dwarf gourami and angels get allong, will be down to the dwarf gouramis temprement. I've seen some tanks where they get along like best palls, and some that constantly persue the angles, looking for a fight

I'd add half of the stocking after cycling the filter, and then if you are running an exturnal, get the rest in two stages after 6 months, to allow the tank to mature before boosting stocking. An internal filter won't cope with the planned stocking though I wouldn't have thought

All the best
Rabbut

 

[dwarfgourami]

Couple of thoughts:

5 x Zebra danio's
1 x RTBS
3 x Mollies
1 x Pearl Gourami
2 x Angel
3 x Dwarf gourami (1 male 2 female)
6 x Male platies OR 3 x Swordtails
1 x Bristlenose Pleco

I wouldn't necessarily like to keep swordtails (highly active and can be aggressive) together with the gentle pearl gouramis. Would go for platies instead- though you can get some psychopathic male platies. Think I'd have females instead and rely on any babies being eaten by the larger fish.

mollies can be difficult to maintain unless you are able to offer them brackish (which wouldn't be right for your other fish)- I would skip the mollies and have more pearl gouramis instead

not sure if you would get territorial issues between the dwarf gouramis and the pearls in a tank this side. Basically, gouramis are highly territorial, but tank might be large enough- ask in the anabantoids forum. If you do have both, make sure there is a secluded area with surface plantation at both ends of the tank. Remember you have to have room for territories for both gourami species, room for females to escape attention of male and room for angel territory.

I would keep a larger school of danios, more like 10.

None of the above fish should be difficult to find, except the female gouramis. Plenty of bristlenoses in the South of England and there are often people on here with bristlies to sell, they're really easy to breed.

 

[locust267]

Hi again, thanks for replies - Am planning on finding a 2nd hand tetratec ex1200 for filter purposes and if not waiting even longer to buy a new one

At present I am looking into what plants are a good idea but am planning on having a good variety planted.

Will makes sure I have lots of little hidy holes dotted about.

Next time I'm in a fish shop will take my list with me and see what all the above look like up close.

If I were to go for a larger shoal of danio'l could I get some pearl instead of more zebra's?

*Edit: I already have the mollies so was hoping to keep them but was told that as my water is hard they should be ok?

 

[Corleone]

I don't know if pearl danios will shoal with zebras, but I have to recommend them anyway, just because they put on a better show, IMO. (I'm a shill for pearl danios. I think this is the tenth time I've plugged them on this forum)

Keep an eye on the mollies. They're pretty adaptable as far as salinity goes, my grandfather used them to cycle marine tanks in the bad old days before fishless cycling. In fresh water, they can be more prone to disease than in brackish, but they'll still breed like it's spring break, so they can't be too unhappy.

 

[martyn413]

My Local pup has a giant gourami. It must be about 14 inches long. Next time i go there I'll tank a pic. It looks cramped in the tank however the land lord assured me the rspca have inspected the tank and said it's ok. BTW it's not a pearl gourami, it's blue.

 

[locust267]

Ok I've pretty much decided on the above list so I'm gonna shoot off to the specific forums to ask more questions in those