Advice On A Community Tank Setup

[Adelphie]

Hello,

After many years of keeping cold water fish I have decided to try my hand at keeping tropicals. I was hoping someone on these forums may be able to give me a nice set-up for an 85l tank. The tank has been cycled (using a small school of Bronze Corydora), and is now stable.

Preferably I like to keep small schools of fish as I get most of my enjoyment from the tank by watching all the interactions between the different fish.

Any suggestions for a nice set-up? The easier to keep/maintain the better until I get used to trops. My partner is loves the idea of getting an angel fish but I am worried that the tank is too small. What are your oppinions on this.

Thanks,
Adelphie

P.S I am a newbie to these forums so please don't bite too hard!

 

[tangokitty]

I think it will be a bit to small for angel fish, but a nice schooling tetra species would be nice. Are you going to add plants? What type of filters are you using? How many Corry's are in there?

 

[Adelphie]

I think it will be a bit to small for angel fish, but a nice schooling tetra species would be nice. Are you going to add plants? What type of filters are you using? How many Corry's are in there?

Thanks for confirming about the Angel Fish ( and the quick response!), my partner will be dissapointed but I would rather the fish don't suffer.

Yes I plan to plant it up (however I havent decided how yet)

I am currently using a filter for upto 125l with Carbon medium (not certain of the make, perhaps Fluval).

Also there are currently 6 bronze cory in there.

Edit - Would a betta make a good substitute for the Angel Fish? I read that they are not good for community tanks, however I have seen a fair few setups on here which seem to have them living in harmony with other fish

 

[minxfishy]

No a betta would not be a good sub for an Angel, bettas - male particularly need to be housed in their own tank with limited tankmates if any Im afraid.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah veto on the angel and betta unfortunately.

i'd suggest getting something like a trio of dwarf cichlids, do a google image search on apistogramma and you'll see the sorts of things i mean. lots of different colour varieties and species, most of them are pretty hardy. they're slightly agressive but not too much, just enough that it makes them dead interesting to watch, but they won't hurt each other or anyone else.

then get something like a nice shoal of harlequin rasboras to finish the tank off.

 

[Adelphie]

I have just visited my local aquarium store (before you yell at me it is independently run by a bloke who seems to know what he is talking about!) and just wanted to hear some opinions on what he said.

Basically he suggested the following setup (along with my 6 cory's):

2 x dwarf gouramies
1 x Ram
12x Tetra
2 x Rock Shrimp (don't know the exact name of the variety, but they had long sucker-like things on the end of their forearms)

Will these guys live together happily and is 85 gallons enough for all this stock?

Cheers,
Adel

 

[minxfishy]

Personally I would go with one gourami - if you have two they could fight unless you have 1m 1f but then its recommended to keep 2f to 1m.

I would have 2 x Rams.
12 Tetras ok depends on which species - if they are the larger tetras only 6
Shrimp will get eaten by the rams unless they are quite large shrimp.

 

[OldMan47]

If you like lots of different fish it means small fish only in that tank. Where that leads is neon tetras, black neons, emperor tetras, rasboras, glowlight tetras, sparkling gouramis and similar small fish. All of these are suitable for a community tank but check each one's needs before just mixing them. Many of the smaller fish tend to shoal so a good number to start with is about 5 or 6 of a type. In your small tank you could not put all of those varieties, they are just food for thought.

 

[Adelphie]

Thanks for your help guys,

based on your advice I think I will go for 2 rams with 1 dwarf gouramie

Also the 12 tetras I was looking at were small neons.

I will let you know how I get on and post a few pics also... I'm getting excited now

 

[minxfishy]

Dont add all the fish at once, do it slowly over a course of a few weeks, preferably leaving it 2 weeks between adding each to allow your bacteria in the filter to catch up on the extra waste load or you could find yourself with a mini-cycle.

Also add the rams last as they prefer a more mature tank