Stocking 200 litre tank

Hi,
This is my first 200l tank. Previously just kept a 60l planted tank with 5 guppies and 3 acrican dwarf frogs. Looking for advice on stocking. At the moment i have
3 acrican dwarf frogs
5 guppies
6 cardinal tetra
6 rosy tetra
I would like to add 6 neon tetra, 2 black phantom tetra or 2 more rosy and possibly 5 platties. Is this too many? My tank has already been through a fishless cycle and is planted.

Welcome to TFF.

Several things to mention here, so...

First, water parameters. In very general terms, there is soft water (very low in dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium), and harder water (higher level of these dissolved minerals). Some fish prefer one or the other, some absolutely need one or the other, so it is best to sort out your source water parameters so you can acquire fish species that will be "at home" in your water. The GH (general or total hardness) and pH are the two most important parameters, and you should be able to ascertain these from your water authority if you are on municipal water. Check their website. A test for pH is worth having, so this you can test yourself if you have a reliable pH test kit. When testing tap water for pH, you need to out-gas any CO2 by letting it sit 24 hours, or very briskly shaking it before testing.

Soft water fish include most of the tetras, though some manage in moderately hard water, provided it is not extreme. Livebearers like platy need moderately hard water, and they will not do well in soft water long term. So we can sort this out once we know the parameters.

Second thing is about shoaling fish. This refers to a species of fish which lives in usually large groups of hundreds, and the fish has an inherent need for a group of its own species. Tank size often limits the numbers, and it is sometimes difficult to come up with a minimum, but it is important to keep in mind that in most species that are shoaling, having more rather than fewer will inevitably mean healthier fish. So numbers of each species are extremely important. All tetra are shoaling fish. Six cardinals and six rosy tetra is OK, this is about the minimum. If you decide on Black Phantom, they must have at least six, but this is a species that is better with a few more, so I would say 7-8. Male and female are easy to identify with this species, and 4 males to 3 or 4 females would be ideal.

A 200 liter (roughly 50 gallon) tank will work fine for fish like those mentioned, and give you the space to increase the groups for the fishes' benefit.

Personaly I would not mix cardinal and neon tetra, solely from an aesthetic aspect. The cardinals are more col;ourful, and together the neons can appear quite "plain." Increasing the cardinals would be a better option. But let's get the parameters sorted first.

Byron.

Thanks for all your info. I have soft water with a ph of around 6.8.
I might just give the platties a miss then, i was only adding them for a bit of colour. The guppies i have in the tank were bred myself so not planning on adding to these.
The cardinals are lovely to look at so adding more instead of neons is not a problem as they are very similar.
So if im not going for platties could i add a school of phantom tetra and some extra rosy? Or is there something else that would mix well? I think the problem with a compatability in my tank is the guppies and maybe the african dwarfs? Though none of the fish in at the moment bother them and they are loving the bigger tank. I find the lfs does not have a clue. So my 200l would look like this...
3 african dwarf frogs
12 cardinal tetra
8 rosy tetra
5 male guppies
8 phantom tetra or another suitable fish
Thanks again, very helpful.

The one unknown here (for me) is the frogs in with fish. I mention it, but can't say if this is OK or not, long-term. I believe other members have previously suggested not to combine them. No problem with the guppies as they are there, but platies would not be at home.

Increased numbers (as suggested in post #3) for the tetras, now that we know the parameters, are fine. You have, so far, sedate fish, meaning not active swimmers, so it is best to stay with similar. Very active swimmers can stress out less active species, another factor to keep in mind when building a community tank. There are many tetras suitable here, and some other characins for variety.

Have a look at hatchetfish, primarily those in the Carnegiella genus which remain smaller; the popular marble hatchetfish (C. strigata) is one of these. Carnegiella species remain right at the surface (so long as the tank is well covered, no issues with jumping out) and ignore lower fish, and are usually ignored by lower fish that are not nippers.

Pencilfish are another characin group; species like Nannostomus eques, N. marginatus, N. mortenthaleri would be ideal. You mentioned colour...N. mortenthaleri is a real beauty, commonly called the coral red pencilfish for very good reason.


A group of a species from either or both hatchetfish and pencilfish would work very well with what is planned. I would recommend 9-12 of these, as both hatchets and pencils fare much better with more of them.

For the substrate level...how about a gorup (7-9) of a Corydoras species? One species, or mix them, just keep the numbers.

I have or have had most all of the fish mentioned, so if you have any questions on them just ask. I've confined things to South America...I just like geographic tanks...but there are suitable Asian soft water fish too, like some of the rasbora. No barbs or danios though, they are much too active and some are nippy.

Byron.

I think the problem with combining fish and frogs is feeding trying to make sure the frogs get fed before the fish eat it all. Mines are pretty well trained and are normally in there bowl on feeding day before the food is even out haha. Wouldnt get danios for that reason far to fast haha.

The red pencil fish looks very nice, will need to have a look in my lfs as never seen these before.
Will need to go and have a looks see what is on offer, though i always end up with some form of tetra haha.
Thanks for all your help, going to look for hatchet fish too as could do with top dwellers.