Stocking ideas

I have set up a new 110 litre tank¹ which is currently cycling. Pic below.


I would like to put in 2 angelfish, maybe 4 plates and 3 or 4 Cory's. Would this be overstocked? Or does anyone have any other suggestions?
View attachment 150942

Litres are one thing, the dimensions are other. Dimensions in my opinion are more important. Nevertheless my opinion is that angelfish should be kept in fishtanks at least 50cm tall (excluding the substrate) and at least 240l. I know folks keep them in smaller tanks, but I find them the most attractive in bigger, taller tanks. Corydoras are schooling fish - you should have at least 6 of them as a minimum.
Also remember - they are not cleaning fish, they are pretty messy. But they move any waste of the bottom and if filtration is good enough it goes straight to, or close to your filter inlet.

To keep corydoras you HAVE TO have fine sand. Gravel won't work - they will hurt themselves and won't have any fun - they LOVE to dig.
For example:

Hi, the tank is a tall tank, 62cm x 56cm x 40.

There are significant issues here, aside from the tank size unfortunately.

Corydoras are shoaling fish which means they must have a group, and it has to be several fish not just three or four. A group of 9-10 would be best as minimum, with more when space is suited. With the stated dimensions, this is not a large area tank (thinking of the substrate and obviously the identical surface area) but a group of cories would work. Having a few chunks of bogwood/driftwood vertically positioned helps as it provides more surface area for the cories to browse (here, surface not meaning water surface obviously). And I agree they must have fine sand, this is just part of their expectation. So this fish is the first issue to resolve.

Now to the Angelfish. This too is a shoaling species, and a group of five minimum, more preferable, is needed. A pair may well form from such a group, and then there is the issue of the pair not tolerating the other angelfish so a backup plan is needed. There is not sufficient space here for any group though, so without a much larger tank, at least 4 feet but preferably 6 feet in length, this is not a good fish to consider. And finding a "pair" is not easy; the fish must select their mates and bond. Any female with any male, even if distinguishing genders is possible (it often is not in immature fish), is rarely going to work. I would strongly suggest looking at other fish than angelfish here.

That brings us to the water parameters. Corydoras are better in soft water, whereas platies require moderately hard water. There may be some overlap, depending upon the cory species, but you need to find out the hardness especially. GH is total or general hardness, and if you do not already know this, your local water supply authority may have the data on their website. The pH is also important.

@JodieBos You give your location as London - assuming that's in the UK you probably have very hard water. Your water company's website will give a number for your hardness. If you can't find it, tell us the name of the company and we'll look for the page.

Thank you both for the info. What fish would you recommend for the tank?
Yes I do have hard water.

JodieBos said:

Thank you both for the info. What fish would you recommend for the tank?
Yes I do have hard water.

Click to expand...

Could you @JodieBos or perhaps @Essjay locate the actual GH number? There are "hard water" fish that need it quite hard, and others less, and there are some normally soft-water species that can easily manage in moderately hard but not very hard. The number will tell us what you are dealing with in terms of parameters, and that will enable us to offer more useful suggestions.

@JodieBos If you tell us the name of your water company I can find the page on their website, then you'll just need to enter your postcode and read off the numbers. Then we'll know just how hard.