Brand New To Keeping Tropical Fish 60ltr Tank

[strobe1980]

Hi my name is rich I've been bought a Marina style 60 aquarium by my girlfriend and have a few questions that the experts will answer easily,that why I'm here: ) .
My main questions are am i able to keep galaxy rasbora and dwarf cichlids together in a 60 ltr tank.
These are the two breeds of fish that I really like.
Second question how many could I keep in a 60 lyrics and what mid level and bottom feeder fish could be housed with these fish.
Obviously I'm open to any ideas of alternative fish, I would like a community style aquarium but I know
That I am cramped for space.
Any feedback would be really appreciated: )
Thanks, Rich

60 lyrics! Lol meant 60 ltr

 

[leighton_87]

I'm no expert so may be corrected but as far as I know Galaxy Rasbora prefer soft water and grow around and inch in size so as long as you have soft water would be a perfect size fish for your aquarium. I would suggest about 4-6 of them.

I think dwarf cichlids may be a bit territorial for such a small tank but if your thinking of of a centre piece fish and have soft water it's worth considering a pair of Peacock Gobys which will grow to 2.5 inches and should be fine in your tank.

I would then finish off with a small shoal (4-6) of salt and pepper corys which again will stay at about and inch.

The well repeated rule of thumb for fish stocking is 1 inch per gallon (this is a rule of thumb and a lot more things should be considered such as filters/number of water changes, but is a good starting point). The above stocking at 6 in both shoals would give you around 17 inches of fish in a 16 US gallon tank so with good maintenance should be manageable.

Before you get any fish please research cycling and consider the merits of a fishless cycle - without research you might find yourself in the emergency section soon. But don't be worries about cycling there's plenty of guys in here willing and able to provide the answers you need.

 

[leighton_87]

Just looked t your post again and you tagged dwarf gourami but wrote dwarf cichlid, if you meant Gourami a pair of these might be manageable in a 60 litre but make sure you only have one male.

 

[techen]

Just looked t your post again and you tagged dwarf gourami but wrote dwarf cichlid, if you meant Gourami a pair of these might be manageable in a 60 litre but make sure you only have one male.

I would say no to cichlid and yes to the above statement.

 

[strobe1980]

Thanks for the speedy reply,
I was thinking that the space I have would be sparce for cichlids, how many gobys should be kept are they also a schoaling fish?.
what do you think to the panda Cory?
I live in England, our gallon is different to yours but I follow what your saying I'll check the conversion table.
I've just read about the fishless cycle, also that you can buy matured media,sounds beneficial ?

 

[strobe1980]

Sorry I meant foursome haha.I was reading about cichlid when I was typing!.
That's good news about the gourami: )

Foursome!! Sorry predictive txt,

 

[strobe1980]

I must apologies im not getting the reply's through correctly.
now i have re read them it all makes sense.
Thanks for the help

 

[leighton_87]

Panda corys would work fine - personally I prefer the patterning of the salt and pepper but it's personal choice.

I'm in the UK as well but you'll fin when people are talking gallons on here they mean US gallons.

Gobys do not shoal and in your size tank would be best a pair as the bigger centre piece fish

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm no expert so may be corrected but as far as I know Galaxy Rasbora prefer soft water and grow around and inch in size so as long as you have soft water would be a perfect size fish for your aquarium. I would suggest about 4-6 of them.

I think dwarf cichlids may be a bit territorial for such a small tank but if your thinking of of a centre piece fish and have soft water it's worth considering a pair of Peacock Gobys which will grow to 2.5 inches and should be fine in your tank.

I would then finish off with a small shoal (4-6) of salt and pepper corys which again will stay at about and inch.

The well repeated rule of thumb for fish stocking is 1 inch per gallon (this is a rule of thumb and a lot more things should be considered such as filters/number of water changes, but is a good starting point). The above stocking at 6 in both shoals would give you around 17 inches of fish in a 16 US gallon tank so with good maintenance should be manageable.

Before you get any fish please research cycling and consider the merits of a fishless cycle - without research you might find yourself in the emergency section soon. But don't be worries about cycling there's plenty of guys in here willing and able to provide the answers you need.

Are you me in disguise? I was gonna say the same things. Apart from my water is hard, so long as you acclimate them properly, you'll find that softwater fish can live quite happily in hardwater.

 

[strobe1980]

We have a really reputable Stockist near where I live so I'm going to do my research and give them a visit.
Another question, How about love plants? Always prefered the look.(compared to plastic) and heard that the oxygenating properties
Help a lot.

*Live plants!

 

[the_lock_man]

The look of a planted tank, IMHO, far outweighs an unplanted one, and I've always had live plants in my tanks.

You need to figure out what your light levels are in the tank, and then go for plants which like the kind of light you have. A lot easier, for the beginner to go for a low light setup, but you may already have high light levels because of the lights you have with your tank.

 

[leighton_87]

I love live plants but have no experience with them.

I'm currently going through a trial an error period seeing which plants I can keep in a tank with no fertilisers and no added CO2. Managed to find an online store selling plants pretty cheap so going to plant a lot and see what survives!

Others on here will be able to help more or head over to the plant section of the forum.

 

[strobe1980]

I've been reading up on live plants and it's a bit beyond me at the moment, I'll get more experience before going down that route.