Advice On Fish To Add

[Dave T]

Hi

I have a question and all input and advice greatly appreciated

Have 125 litre tank up and running for a while have encountered a couple of problems along the way but fingers crossed all appeares to be going well at the moment
in the tank at the moment is two platys had four two passed .

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks i would like to start introducing more fish i am looking to make it a communal tank so am looking for advice on which fish would be suitable to this

I have kinda got an idea of what i would like just not sure if these fish would be compatable its as follows i know some of these are shoul fish so an idea of what size a shoul should be for these would also be great


Platys
Threadfin Rainbow
Rosy Barb
Red Tailed Black Shark (1)
Congo Tetra
Neon or Cardinal Tetra
Ram
Guppy
Black Molly

All replies welcome

Cheers

 

[anwhyte]

Hi

I have a question and all input and advice greatly appreciated

Have 125 litre tank up and running for a while have encountered a couple of problems along the way but fingers crossed all appeares to be going well at the moment
in the tank at the moment is two platys had four two passed .

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks i would like to start introducing more fish i am looking to make it a communal tank so am looking for advice on which fish would be suitable to this

I have kinda got an idea of what i would like just not sure if these fish would be compatable its as follows i know some of these are shoul fish so an idea of what size a shoul should be for these would also be great


Platys
Threadfin Rainbow
Rosy Barb
Red Tailed Black Shark (1)
Congo Tetra
Neon or Cardinal Tetra
Ram
Guppy
Black Molly

All replies welcome

Cheers

hi, species mix looks OK, but you have 6 species of shoaling fish there & they usually like to be in groups of5/6 at a minimum so you can't have shoals of all of them, i'd limit yourself to 2 or 3 species of shoaling fish only

 

[Dave T]

Hi

I have a question and all input and advice greatly appreciated

Have 125 litre tank up and running for a while have encountered a couple of problems along the way but fingers crossed all appeares to be going well at the moment
in the tank at the moment is two platys had four two passed .

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks i would like to start introducing more fish i am looking to make it a communal tank so am looking for advice on which fish would be suitable to this

I have kinda got an idea of what i would like just not sure if these fish would be compatable its as follows i know some of these are shoul fish so an idea of what size a shoul should be for these would also be great


Platys
Threadfin Rainbow
Rosy Barb
Red Tailed Black Shark (1)
Congo Tetra
Neon or Cardinal Tetra
Ram
Guppy
Black Molly

All replies welcome

Cheers

hi, species mix looks OK, but you have 6 species of shoaling fish there & they usually like to be in groups of5/6 at a minimum so you can't have shoals of all of them, i'd limit yourself to 2 or 3 species of shoaling fish only

Ok never thought of that so lets say i take two shoals of 6. Congo Terta and Black mollys assuming that they are shoal fish what fish would be a good choice to add

 

[drobbyb]

Those threadfin rainbows need extra care. They can be difficult feeders meaning they like lots and lots of live food. The most economical would be hatching baby brine shrimp on a daily basis until you can get them weaned on regular crushed flakes. Hopefully they would already be on the flakes but you never know.

Secondly, they need clean water. Frequent large waterchanges of at least 50% are warranted. Not trying to put you off of them as they are wonderful fish, but you should know about them before you buy.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

When you say "Ram" I assume you mean Mikrogeophagus ramirezi? I'll caution you that these guys do require higher temps than normal, and in my personal experience most dwarf cichlids don't do very well in high pH tanks (which mollies prefer, but I'll get into that a bit later) no matter how clean the water may be. Cleithracara maronii, aka Keyhole Cichlid, does seem to tolerate a higher pH a bit better than most however. German rams are notoriously delicate, although some of that may be from questionable husbandry practices in large fish farms, so if you do decide to get one, try to find one that has be bred by someone. They have great personalities, and are one of my favorite fish of all time, but I'd also caution that it may conflict with your red tailed shark, as they can both get territorial. (As an example...my EBR attempted to attack the new CO2 diffuser I put in earlier today XD)

Mollies are technically brackish fish, and are especially prone to ick and other diseases when kept in soft water. Mollies should be an okay choice if you have hard water however.

Hopefully others will have more to add. I've been wanting Congo tetras a while myself, but don't have a tank big enough for them yet.

 

[arobinson1984]

What fish do you currently have in the tank?

As Aphotic Phoenix said, mollies tend to do better brackish tanks and are prone to ick, especially black mollies.

The tank isnt big enough for a red tailed black shark, you will encounter territorial and aggression issues, they really need a minimum of 220L and above sized tank as they claim large areas of the tank as their territory and will come aggressive to other fish as they reach maturity.

Andy

 

[Wills]

Platys - Would be okay - need to be kept in the ratio 1M 2F
Threadfin Rainbow - As said above can be delicate so maybe add later once tank is older and also once you have a live food system set up.
Rosy Barb - Needs a school but should be nice for your tank
Red Tailed Black Shark (1) - A lot of people advice a four foot tank minimum for these as they can be nasty though others have done well in a 3 foot. Personally I would skip these for this tank as there are other less problematic fish you can.
Congo Tetra - Needs a school but also needs a bit of a bigger tank as they are very active and get to a reasonable size even without the finage.
Neon or Cardinal Tetra - I would go for cardinal as regular neons have a tendancy to be a bit weak from mass breeding. Though neons need a mature tank 6 months + but cardinals can go into a younger tank.
Ram - As said the blue ram needs to be in soft water with a higher temperature than most other fish. Though you could get bolivian rams which are a little bigger with different colours. Or you could look at apistos? Some need soft water but if you can find a tank bred batch they will have been raised in similar water to yours and should do well.
Guppy - Same as platy
Black Molly - Same as molly but as said above dont do well in soft water but hard water is good for them - where abouts are you based and we might be able to give you an idea of your water type.

I think if it was me I would have

4 Bolivian Rams
12 Cardinal Tetras
12 Threadfin Rainbows
3 Bulldog plecs (or similar small plec)- to help clean the bottom up

Wills

 

[Dave T]

Platys - Would be okay - need to be kept in the ratio 1M 2F
Threadfin Rainbow - As said above can be delicate so maybe add later once tank is older and also once you have a live food system set up.
Rosy Barb - Needs a school but should be nice for your tank
Red Tailed Black Shark (1) - A lot of people advice a four foot tank minimum for these as they can be nasty though others have done well in a 3 foot. Personally I would skip these for this tank as there are other less problematic fish you can.
Congo Tetra - Needs a school but also needs a bit of a bigger tank as they are very active and get to a reasonable size even without the finage.
Neon or Cardinal Tetra - I would go for cardinal as regular neons have a tendancy to be a bit weak from mass breeding. Though neons need a mature tank 6 months + but cardinals can go into a younger tank.
Ram - As said the blue ram needs to be in soft water with a higher temperature than most other fish. Though you could get bolivian rams which are a little bigger with different colours. Or you could look at apistos? Some need soft water but if you can find a tank bred batch they will have been raised in similar water to yours and should do well.
Guppy - Same as platy
Black Molly - Same as molly but as said above dont do well in soft water but hard water is good for them - where abouts are you based and we might be able to give you an idea of your water type.

I think if it was me I would have

4 Bolivian Rams
12 Cardinal Tetras
12 Threadfin Rainbows
3 Bulldog plecs (or similar small plec)- to help clean the bottom up

Wills

Sorry Water Conditions are
nitrate level between 0--10
nitro 0
general hardness around 10
kh level aroung 6
ph level around around 7.2
cl2 level 0
ammonia 0

With regards the Ram i was thinking about a papiliochromis ramirezi AKA Butterfly cichlid
How about the lyretail what are they like by nature
i noticed you have the bulldog plecs as a preferance any reason for this
And if the redtail shark is not a good option for my tank size what would be a good idea for a bottom dweller

Thanks

 

[Wills]

I put the bull dog plec as they stay small and do well in groups and would stay low down but also zip up and down the glass. For a 3 foot tank good bottom dwellers would be things like cories, zebra loach, pygmi chain loach or small plecs like BNs Peckolitas and rubber lips there are a few other suitable ones as well.

The Butterfly cichlid that is the blue ram we were talking about they are tough to keep as they need higher temperatures but it depends on how confident you are with your fish keeping. If you feel you can meet their needs go for it but if you want a hardier fish the bolivians will be better for you. Did you have a look at the apistos at all? Some of the tank bred strains will work well in your water.

Wills

 

[Dave T]

I put the bull dog plec as they stay small and do well in groups and would stay low down but also zip up and down the glass. For a 3 foot tank good bottom dwellers would be things like cories, zebra loach, pygmi chain loach or small plecs like BNs Peckolitas and rubber lips there are a few other suitable ones as well.

The Butterfly cichlid that is the blue ram we were talking about they are tough to keep as they need higher temperatures but it depends on how confident you are with your fish keeping. If you feel you can meet their needs go for it but if you want a hardier fish the bolivians will be better for you. Did you have a look at the apistos at all? Some of the tank bred strains will work well in your water.

Wills

My List started out at

Platys--- Which are still in contention
Threadfin Rainbow--- Little bit more work but really like these
Rosy Barb--- Has moved up the list
Red Tailed Black Shark (1) Not Happening
Congo Tetra---Going to have to rethink which is a real shame had my heart set on these
Neon or Cardinal Tetra-- If either it will be the neon waiting another couple of months not a problem
Ram---Not Happening
Guppy---Which are still in contention
Black Molly---Like this one but based other posts i have read i think he can wait

Had alook at the apistos there is a large selection there i did notice a triple red wonderfull looking have not found to much out about them yet
also had a look at the chain loach again very nice

Also any idea of what might be good single fish i know the betta can mix well with other fish just not its own kind

Cheers