Aquanano 40 Stocking

[Alexarium]

Hello!
 
As you can see in my introductory thread (this post), I have an AquaNano 40 and I am currently at the beginning of its fishless cycle.
 
As I like to plan things ahead, I am trying to sort out a planting and stocking plan.
The tank will definitely be planted. I am using Floral-Base as substrate but haven't bought any plants yet. I won't be using CO2.
 
The fish I really like are bettas, gouramis, guppies, dwarf puffers and cardinal tetras (I also like dolphins and whales, but can't find the minimum tank volume requirements for these 

 )
I'd also like to get one or more nerite snails and one or more red cherry shrimps.
 
My water hardness is 5.25 dGH and my pH is 7.8
The actual water volume available for the fish (after wood and stones) is 52.50 lt.
 
Initially I had an aquascaping look in mind but, for various reasons, it won't be achieved. The most important of those reasons is that I don't want to prioritise the aquascape over the well-being of the fish. Other reasons include me avoiding the use of CO2 and being limited by the cubical format of the tank itself.
 

 
I've read so many posts, threads, articles, forums etc about possible combinations, that my mind has come to a dead-end.
I would therefore appreciate any suggestions you might have, as I fall on a wall everytime I choose a route.
The cubical shape of the tank (hence almost equal height to length), the substrate I've chosen, the strength of the filter flow (even set at minimum) and the water parameters (especially hardness) are making it so difficult to choose.
 
I have no problem with a one-species tank, a two-species tank or even a single-fish tank (if that's acceptable for the specific species' needs), but I'd like to keep the nerite snail(s) and the shrimp(s) if possible. Besides, I don't think they add that much to the chemical load of the tank.
 
Any ideas?
 

 

[ncguppy830]

a big group of micro rasboras and a gourami as a centerpiece

 

[Alexarium]

Any specific type of micro rasboras?
 
Also would a gourami be ok on its own?

 

[ncguppy830]

mosquito many to choose from
yea it would although you could have a pair i suppose

 

[Ninjouzata]

As far as I know, they are perfectly fine to be on their own, but pairs aren't all that recommended..it's best to have a trio (1M:2F) so that one female isn't taking all the harassment from the male. Unfortunately I stink at stocking since I'm quite new to this as well, so someone else will have to say on that >.< Beautiful tank you have there already!

 

[Squid31]

Maybe a group of harlequin rasboras, and some neons. And you can put a pearl gourami in there as well, with a pleco when you get the algae growth and a bit of leftover food. I'm pretty new to this but that would look good and they should all be compatible since they're peaceful.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

If you wanted a Dwarf Puffer fish then you certainly could have one. But, if you got one, you would not be able to have the nerite snail (DP will eat snails) or shrimp (I think they eat these too).
For a DP, you would need  heavily planted tank as they like lots of places to explore
 
You could have a Betta.
But, you would need to have a calmer flow so you would need to  put a piece of sponge or some plants in front of the out let tube.
You could have nerite snails with most Bettas (some will attack them but most won't) and you could have shrimp (some Bettas will eat these too, so you would have to be careful)
 
You could have 3-5 Guppies.
Snails and Shrimp should be fine with them.
Just make sure you end up with all males of you will have more than you can count before you know it.
 
You could have a Honey Gourami or a trio (1m:2f - as Ninjouzata said).
They would be fine with some shrimp and snails.
 
I wouldn't recommend putting Cardinal Tetras in this size of a tank as they are quite active and the minimum tank size I would put some in would be 20 gallons (same with Neon Tetras and Harlequin Rasboras)
 
You could have 5 Otocinclus if you were to have a Betta or Guppies or Honey Gouramis. Bear in mind though, Oto's need to be added to a mature tank that has a good supply of Algae.
 
Hope this gives you lots to think about

 

[Alexarium]

Thank you all for your answers
 
The Honey Gourami is the Trichogaster chuna, right?
 
Do Honey Gouramis come in only that colour?
 

 
or in this as well?
 

 
I do like the second one more, but I remember to have read it is a different species and my tank's size won't be enough for it.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The last pic is a Dwarf Gourami. I'm sure one would be fine in your tank size.
The first one is a Honey Gourami, they come in Yellow and Orange

 

[Alexarium]

So if I got the Dwarf Gourami I'd have to stick to only one, right?
And he'd still be fine with shrimps and snails?

 

[Wills]

Funny I was just looking at one of these today Nearly bought it there and then, it looks a smart bit of kit and I like the way the light hangs as well.
 
I have to say I think the stocking suggestions here are a bit all over the place, I think some are over and some are under. These are basically a 15 inch cube that holds 55 liters or just under 15 US gallons.
 
A lot of the above suggestions of the micro fish are on a great track For me I want this tank (or one similar) for a pair of Laetacaras, a dwarf cichlid that stays around the 2 inch mark - some make 3 but thats a little rare. I always think that the way to get the best out of these tanks is to stock them with fish with micro, and pygmy in the name. For my tank I would consider
 
2 Laetacara Dorsiger or Curviceps or sp.Bucklekopf (not decided yet)
12 Ember Tetras or Green Neon Tetras (maybe 6 of each)
 
But since you like Gourami you could go for Pygmy or Sparkling Gourami which are well suited to Chilli Rasboras and Dwarf Moth Catfish, Hara Hara so maybe a tank like
 
3 Pygmy Gourami
8 Chilli Rasbora
3 Dwarf Moth Catfish
 
You could probably get away with some shrimp in the second mix
 
Wills

 

[fluttermoth]

I agree with Wills, 100%; no pearl gouramis or plecs for these tanks, although I will confess to having an extremely ancient (15 yrs) clown plec in mine atm, while I'm having a tank shuffle, I wouldn't recommend it, long term.!
 
I have a dozen dwarf emerald rasboras in there, and might add either some shrimp or dwarf cories when the clown plec moves out.
 
As these tanks have a very good filtration system, if you stick with very tiny fish, you can push the stocking levels a bit, but nothing that gets to over two/three inches and nothing active, and don't forget you'll have to be scrupulous about maintenance, which is easy on these little tanks anyway; takes about 10 minutes do a 50% water change.

 

[Alexarium]

Thank you all for your time and suggestions.
 
Out of all the fish mentioned above, I'd love to have a male and 1 or 2 females Dwarf Gourami.
Is the tank size enough for three of them?
 
If it is, a couple of red cherry shrimps and nerite snails and I am ready to go...

 

[Alexarium]

Just to reply to my own post, I think this would be way too much.
I don't want to stress any fish under no circumstances.
Probably I'll go with 3-5 male guppies or a male betta (king of the tank!), along with red cherry shrimps and nerite snails.
 
Pardon my ignorance, I am really new at this and still learning...

 

[daizeUK]

Your tank is on the tall side relative to the footprint it occupies so I think you need to consider horizontal swimming space rather than capacity when researching your fish for this tank.
 
I think that betta, guppies, endlers or micro fish (as per the suggestions in the nano tank forum) are all great ideas.  I wouldn't worry too much about your pH but some of the micro fish do show their best colours in acid water so watch out for that.
 
If it were me, I'd have a shoal of small fish such as endlers or lampeyes.  Either would be fine with your pH and are both relatively hardy beginner's fish.