*Beginner* Starting a tank + Stocking - 60L

[Mark17]

Hey All,

I'm extremely new to starting a fish tank of any sort,

After doing some reading I'm looking for some info on stocking and things I should keep an eye on.

Before getting any fish I know I will have to do a fishless cycle for 4-6 weeks.

As for fishes to add I really like the following fish:

Sunset Honey Gourami
Cherry Barb
Guppies
Cardinal Tetras
Neon Tetras
Khuli Loaches
Sterbai Cory

I understand that I can't have all these fish in my tank as they all probably don't get along.

So I was thinking about the following (sticking to the rule I saw online about inch of a fish per gallon):

5 x Neons or Cardinal Tetras
3 x Sunset Honey Gouramis
5 x Sterbai Cory

Also what fish should I introduce first to the tank should I put them all in or introduce them slowly?
Would 26 degrees Celcius be ideal for this tank setup?
Are there any issues you all can see or tips you can give me?

Tank Information:
PH: 7-7.6
Water Hardness: 16-21 mg/l
Tank Dimensions: Length: 62cm, Width: 31cm, Height: 30cm
Substrate: Sand

Thank you!!

 

[AquaBarb]

Hey All,

I'm extremely new to starting a fish tank of any sort,

After doing some reading I'm looking for some info on stocking and things I should keep an eye on.

Before getting any fish I know I will have to do a fishless cycle for 4-6 weeks.

As for fishes to add I really like the following fish:

Sunset Honey Gourami
Cherry Barb
Guppies
Cardinal Tetras
Neon Tetras
Khuli Loaches
Sterbai Cory

I understand that I can't have all these fish in my tank as they all probably don't get along.

So I was thinking about the following (sticking to the rule I saw online about inch of a fish per gallon):

5 x Neons or Cardinal Tetras
3 x Sunset Honey Gouramis
5 x Sterbai Cory

Also what fish should I introduce first to the tank should I put them all in or introduce them slowly?
Would 26 degrees Celcius be ideal for this tank setup?
Are there any issues you all can see or tips you can give me?

Thank you!!

Hi and welcome to the forum

Could you give us your tank dimensions please.

Also it would help members if you could provide your water parameters. We need your Gh (general hardness) and Ph of your water.

Most of the fish in your list are soft water fish with guppies being more suited to hard water. If you could pop your params down members will be able to point you in the right direction.

Your water hardness can be attained of you water boards website. Looking for the number and unit. (Ppm or dgh)

Any problems we can talk you through it

 

[Mark17]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Could you give us your tank dimensions please.

Also it would help members if you could provide your water parameters. We need your Gh (general hardness) and Ph of your water.

Most of the fish in your list are soft water fish with guppies being more suited to hard water. If you could pop your params down members will be able to point you in the right direction.

Your water hardness can be attained of you water boards website. Looking for the number and unit. (Ppm or dgh)

Any problems we can talk you through it

Ph: 7-7.6
Water Hardness: 16-21 mg/l
Currently don't have my GH for you sorry

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Welcome to the forum!
I would not go with three gouramis in a tank that size. If you want to keep those fish I would go with
1 Gourami
6 Neons
5 Corys
Just remember less is more!

 

[Mark17]

Welcome to the forum!
I would not go with three gouramis in a tank that size. If you want to keep those fish I would go with
1 Gourami
6 Neons
5 Corys
Just remember less is more!

Thank you!!

Also for the dimensions I will update the thread with them soon as im not home and the tank was given to me Thanks for the help in advance

 

[AquaBarb]

Ph: 7-7.6
Water Hardness: 16-21 mg/l
Currently don't have my GH for you sorry

mg/l (calcium carbonate) is fine which i think is the equivalent to ppm. We can work with that.

16-21 mg/l is very soft water so Species like tetra/gourami and cories will suit.

If you can give us your dimensions when your home that will help further to your stocking question

 

[CryptFan]

Welcome to the forum!
I would not go with three gouramis in a tank that size. If you want to keep those fish I would go with
1 Gourami
6 Neons
5 Corys
Just remember less is more!

While this is true for male dwarf gouramis, honey gouramis and many others do way better in groups, so stick with 3. Preferably 1 male 2 females, but with honeys it won’t matter as much as with other gouramis. Just make sure you get true honeys, not thick lipped.
and Sterbai corries need some floor space so the dimensions would tell us if those are a good fit or not.

 

[Retired Viking]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I would also suggest some live plants for your tank. Many fish like neon tetra should have plants with them in the tank. I have a shoal of 15 neon in my tetra tank. Floating plants like anacharia or hornwort are easy to maintain and tetras like shade. They come from South American jungle streams. Ferns like Java, African water and Crested Java ferns are also easy to take care of and all you need to do is attach them to something in your tank like driftwood or stones. Live plants also improve the quality of the water by absorbing things like ammonia and adding to the oxygen level.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

I agree you have very soft water so the tetras/cories/gourami are suited from that aspect (forget guppies or any livebearers) but TheTenthDoctor raises a valid point about the tank size. We will be better knowing those dimensions when you post them, but even without you are pushing things in a 60 liter (15 gallon). The tetras and cories are shoaling species, and that means a group, and while five or six are usual minimum numbers cited everywhere it is true that the fish will be better off with a few more. So rather than risk gourami, increasing the cories and tetras would be better for the fish. You could still add some upper colour with a "nano" species in a group, maybe one of the dwarf rasboras in Boraras. But let's wait for the dimensions.

Retired Viking is bang on about plants. Even just some good floating plants will make a big difference to water quality but also shade which all these fish appreciate. And floating plants once growing eliminate the need to "cycle" which is a plus.

Substrate hasn't been mentioned...for cories (or the kuhlii loaches) you want sand, smooth non-rough sand.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I agree with @Byron

 

[Mark17]

mg/l (calcium carbonate) is fine which i think is the equivalent to ppm. We can work with that.

16-21 mg/l is very soft water so Species like tetra/gourami and cories will suit.

If you can give us your dimensions when your home that will help further to your stocking question

While this is true for male dwarf gouramis, honey gouramis and many others do way better in groups, so stick with 3. Preferably 1 male 2 females, but with honeys it won’t matter as much as with other gouramis. Just make sure you get true honeys, not thick lipped.
and Sterbai corries need some floor space so the dimensions would tell us if those are a good fit or not.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I would also suggest some live plants for your tank. Many fish like neon tetra should have plants with them in the tank. I have a shoal of 15 neon in my tetra tank. Floating plants like anacharia or hornwort are easy to maintain and tetras like shade. They come from South American jungle streams. Ferns like Java, African water and Crested Java ferns are also easy to take care of and all you need to do is attach them to something in your tank like driftwood or stones. Live plants also improve the quality of the water by absorbing things like ammonia and adding to the oxygen level.

Welcome to TFF.

I agree you have very soft water so the tetras/cories/gourami are suited from that aspect (forget guppies or any livebearers) but TheTenthDoctor raises a valid point about the tank size. We will be better knowing those dimensions when you post them, but even without you are pushing things in a 60 liter (15 gallon). The tetras and cories are shoaling species, and that means a group, and while five or six are usual minimum numbers cited everywhere it is true that the fish will be better off with a few more. So rather than risk gourami, increasing the cories and tetras would be better for the fish. You could still add some upper colour with a "nano" species in a group, maybe one of the dwarf rasboras in Boraras. But let's wait for the dimensions.

Retired Viking is bang on about plants. Even just some good floating plants will make a big difference to water quality but also shade which all these fish appreciate. And floating plants once growing eliminate the need to "cycle" which is a plus.

Substrate hasn't been mentioned...for cories (or the kuhlii loaches) you want sand, smooth non-rough sand.

Hi guys,

I have updated the post with the following!

Tank Information:
PH: 7-7.6
Water Hardness: 16-21 mg/l
Tank Dimensions: Length: 62cm, Width: 31cm, Height: 30cm
Substrate: will use Sand

I do want to add some plants I have seen some recommendations so far which is a big help.

Also thank you all for the help so far it is very appreciated.

Mark.

 

[Byron]

Hi guys,

I have updated the post with the following!

Tank Information:
PH: 7-7.6
Water Hardness: 16-21 mg/l
Tank Dimensions: Length: 62cm, Width: 31cm, Height: 30cm
Substrate: Gravel? I really like the look of gravel so I'm leaning toward it.

I do want to add some plants I have seen some recommendations so far which is a big help.

Also thank you all for the help so far it is very appreciated.

Mark.

The dimensions indicate a basic 15g (20g high are the same except a tad higher) so helps. The surface area of the substrate and the surface of the water are key.

The GH at 15-21 ppm (as someone said, ppm = mg/l) which is equivalent to 1 dGH for those who like me do better with smaller numbers, is very soft. The pH will lower once the biological system gets going, and become acidic, which is good for soft water fish, so no issues there.

Substrate...if cories are intended, it needs to be smooth sand. Corydoras are filter feeders, and this they cannot do with gravel. The other thing is that sand always makes the tank appear larger in area than gravel, because of the finer grains. Not that that matters to the fish, but after I switched all my tanks from gravel to sand 6-7 years ago I did get the feeling they were larger.

 

[Mark17]

The dimensions indicate a basic 15g (20g high are the same except a tad higher) so helps. The surface area of the substrate and the surface of the water are key.

The GH at 15-21 ppm (as someone said, ppm = mg/l) which is equivalent to 1 dGH for those who like me do better with smaller numbers, is very soft. The pH will lower once the biological system gets going, and become acidic, which is good for soft water fish, so no issues there.

Substrate...if cories are intended, it needs to be smooth sand. Corydoras are filter feeders, and this they cannot do with gravel. The other thing is that sand always makes the tank appear larger in area than gravel, because of the finer grains. Not that that matters to the fish, but after I switched all my tanks from gravel to sand 6-7 years ago I did get the feeling they were larger.

Thanks for this information I think after reading the comments about gravel vs sand I will use sand instead.
As I do want to do this correctly

 

[CryptFan]

I would not do corries, they do way better with more floor space and it is not advised to keep them in a 20 h so a 15 wouldn’t work very well,

 

[Mark17]

I would not do corries, they do way better with more floor space and it is not advised to keep them in a 20 h so a 15 wouldn’t work very well,

Are you maybe able to recommend a few fish that could replace the corys so i can see what id like?
I am definitely going to stick with the 5 x tetras and 2/3 Honey Gourami