Asian biotope stocking ideas

[JuiceBox52]

So I have a new 42 gallon tank. 4 feet long.
I was originally planning on using it as a breeding tank but I decided that can wait a few years. I decided to do a tank with asian fish. (I already have a south American one)

I'd love stocking suggestions! I want some type of gourami, some type of rasboras and kuhli loaches. I will also put cherry shrimp and mystery snails.

It wont be a strict biotope because I will mix and match plants that wont all be from Asia. But all the fish will be

My water is super soft and acidic. Gh below 22ppm

@Colin_T @Byron

 

[Sylvan]

Sphaerichthys vaillanti – Vaillant’s Chocolate Gourami — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

My LFS just got some of these in and if I had room for them I'd get some.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm with Sylvan, why not use the Asian theme to breed some of the rarer Asian fish.
Chocolate, Licorice or Snakeskin gouramis, or something like Betta pugnax.

Chocolate and Licorice gouramis are small (1 inch long), Snakeskin gouramis can reach 6 inches and Betta pugnax grows to about 4 inches.

 

[Byron]

The mention of the S. vaillanti rings bells...did you not have this queston in another thread recently? May be thining of someone else, but I do recall it was a soft water area. I posted a photo of my former Chocolate Gourami 70g tank.

As for Asian biotope/geographic tanks...you could have a quiet pond/swamp aquascape (gourami centre, rasboras additional), a stream tank (loaches, barbs, danios), rainbowfish (New Guinea/Australia).

 

[JuiceBox52]

The mention of the S. vaillanti rings bells...did you not have this queston in another thread recently? May be thining of someone else, but I do recall it was a soft water area. I posted a photo of my former Chocolate Gourami 70g tank.

As for Asian biotope/geographic tanks...you could have a quiet pond/swamp aquascape (gourami centre, rasboras additional), a stream tank (loaches, barbs, danios), rainbowfish (New Guinea/Australia).

I had a similar thread but this one is more specific the other one was super vague and just for some ideas of typea and now I know I want and asian type

 

[Salty&Onion]

Definentely get kuhlies! They give Rachel the 'wilies' lol

 

[Colin_T]

Get a small Botia species like B. sidthimunki and some Betta pugnax (mouth brooding Bettas). Both species are Asian and both should breed in the tank.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Get a small Botia species like B. sidthimunki and some Betta pugnax (mouth brooding Bettas). Both species are Asian and both should breed in the tank.

I'll see if I can buy them anywhere tanks for the suggestions. How may of each would you suggest?

 

[Colin_T]

10 or more loaches and 4-10 Bettas. The loaches need a group of at least 6 and the Bettas are reasonably social and you can have 2-20 in the tank. But I wouldn't add too many because they will breed and the babies can be grown up with the adults.

Have lots of plants and put some pvc pipe and driftwood in the tank for the loaches to hang out in.

If you can't find Betta pugnax, there are other mouth brooding Bettas and they all breed the same. They don't have many eggs (10-20) and the eggs are incubated in the parent's mouth. The babies are about 6mm long when they hatch and can be fed newly hatched brineshrimp from day one. It's really interesting to water the babies retreat back into the parent's mouth when they are scared.

 

[JuiceBox52]

10 or more loaches and 4-10 Bettas. The loaches need a group of at least 6 and the Bettas are reasonably social and you can have 2-20 in the tank. But I wouldn't add too many because they will breed and the babies can be grown up with the adults.

Have lots of plants and put some pvc pipe and driftwood in the tank for the loaches to hang out in.

If you can't find Betta pugnax, there are other mouth brooding Bettas and they all breed the same. They don't have many eggs (10-20) and the eggs are incubated in the parent's mouth. The babies are about 6mm long when they hatch and can be fed newly hatched brineshrimp from day one. It's really interesting to water the babies retreat back into the parent's mouth when they are scared.

I cant find any betta pugnax, do you have any other suggestions? Also I do like the dwarf chain loaches but I love the shape of kuhli loaches and that they look like little eels.

 

[Colin_T]

Khuli loaches aren't rare or endangered, and they hide all the time and you never see them. The Botias are much more active (especially at feeding time), and aren't bred by many people.

The following link has info on the Bettas. Most of the unusual Bettas are only available for a couple of months each year due to being wild caught. Keep in touch with your local pet shops and look online for them. When they become available, buy a group of them.

The Magnificent Mouthbrooding Bettas

The beautiful fighting fish Betta splendens is so well known in the hobby as a bubblenest builder that many aquarists just assume all species of the genus

www.tfhdigital.com

 

[utahfish]

I dont mess with breeding its not my thing.
So id go with a gourami at top like a pearl gourami then rasbora as my middle fish and then a loach as my bottom, probably sidthimunki as they are smallest. Or even zebra loach or yo yo loach

 

[JuiceBox52]

Khuli loaches aren't rare or endangered, and they hide all the time and you never see them. The Botias are much more active (especially at feeding time), and aren't bred by many people.

The following link has info on the Bettas. Most of the unusual Bettas are only available for a couple of months each year due to being wild caught. Keep in touch with your local pet shops and look online for them. When they become available, buy a group of them.

The Magnificent Mouthbrooding Bettas

The beautiful fighting fish Betta splendens is so well known in the hobby as a bubblenest builder that many aquarists just assume all species of the genus

www.tfhdigital.com

That article was really interesting I'll look into them. Do you think if I put cherry shrimp and mystery snails they would eat the loach eggs?

 

[ChefAlex]

JuiceBox52,

If you have soft and acidic water and are looking for a biotope from Asia I’d consider trying to replicate a slow moving or still backwater. Think shaded streams, blackwater pools, stagnant creeks etc. Water flow, or really the lack of it, seems to be an overlooked aspect in freshwater aquaria. Many of the commonly kept species indeed come from stagnant waters in tropical ecosystems. Little to no water movement is where these species really thrive.

Any sort of labyrinth fish, like a gourami, have developed their labyrinth organ specifically to survive in these low oxygenated, slow moving bodies of water. These as you have already discussed, would be a good occupant.

If you are looking to refine what you mean broadly by an Asian biotope also consider species in the Parambassis genus (AKA Glassfish). With a range from the Indian subcontinent down to South East Asia the genus’ range would fit in with many Asian biotopes you might look to recreate. Glassfish are really unique beauties that thrive in a slow moving, shaded aquarium. They can be little nervous but their behavior is on full display when the can dart in between densely foliaged plants. A school of these is an impressive sight when they are thriving.

 

[CassCats]

If you like the kuhlis, go for kuhlis. They rarely if ever breed in captivity, only a handful of times its been even recorded. But don't expect any breeding to happen also because of this.
Personally of the eel loaches, pangio doriae are my favourites. Really neat to see how they slink around and i find them less skittish than my pangio seminica (kuhlis). Leaf litter and hollowed out driftwood, rock crevices to hide in... have a LOT of these and you will see them more. Especially lots of leaf litter.