Choosing a Centrepiece Fish

[KiwiGal77]

Putting together ideas for a new planted community 3ft / 200L tank. This is my stocking plans so far:

10 x Neon Tetra
10 x Harlequin Rasbora
6 x Diamond Tetra
4 x Panda Cory
4 x Julii Cory
5 x Otocinclus
1 x Golden Bristlenose Pleco

AqAdvisor doesn't have any concerns about having these fish together (but happy to hear any from experienced fishkeepers!) - 74% stocked, water temp will be 25 C

These are the 3 options I'm tossing up between atm for centrepiece fish:
- Angelfish x1
- Honey Gourami x3
- Golden Gourami x1 (mixed reviews on whether or not this fish can work in a community tank)

Any other ideas/thoughts?

 

[AmyKieran]

Putting together ideas for a new planted community 3ft / 200L tank. This is my stocking plans so far:

10 x Neon Tetra
10 x Harlequin Rasbora
6 x Diamond Tetra
4 x Panda Cory
4 x Julii Cory
5 x Otocinclus
1 x Golden Bristlenose Pleco

AqAdvisor doesn't have any concerns about having these fish together (but happy to hear any from experienced fishkeepers!) - 74% stocked, water temp will be 25 C

These are the 3 options I'm tossing up between atm for centrepiece fish:
- Angelfish x1
- Honey Gourami x3
- Golden Gourami x1 (mixed reviews on whether or not this fish can work in a community tank)

Any other ideas/thoughts?

Before answering this, ide like to know your tap water kh and gh. Do you know those values?

 

[KiwiGal77]

Before answering this, ide like to know your tap water kh and gh. Do you know those values?

Haven't tested mine, but according to the city council website our water is soft with a total hardness of 45 mg/l, and more alkaline with a pH of 7.8. Don't know KH value.

 

[Colin_T]

Before answering this, I'de like to know your tap water kh and gh. Do you know those values?

And pH as well as the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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Don't get Otocinclus catfish until the aquarium has been set up for at least 3 (preferably 6) months. Most Otocinclus starve to death in captivity and need algae and biofilm to live on. This takes a few months to build up and if you add Otos to a new tank, they will probably die.

Similar deal with Bristlenose catfish except they are more willing to eat algae wafers and other foods. Try to wait a month before getting a bristlenose unless you have lots of algae on the glass. Then you can get one. Bristlenose and Otocinclus also need driftwood to graze on.

No to the gold gourami. They are nothing but problem fish.

Honey gouramis are nice fish and you could get a pr.

Angelfish might get a bit big for the tank.

If you could get 4 more diamond tetras and 2 or more of each of the Corydoras, that would make them happier.

 

[Colin_T]

Haven't tested mine, but according to the city council website our water is soft with a total hardness of 45 mg/l, and more alkaline with a pH of 7.8. Don't know KH value.

45mg/l is the same as 45ppm, which is very soft water ideal for the fish you have chosen.

The pH is a bit high but typical for most countries. Captive bred fish should be fine or you can try to lower it with peat. But I wouldn't bother.

The KH will probably be low.

 

[KiwiGal77]

45mg/l is the same as 45ppm, which is very soft water ideal for the fish you have chosen.

The pH is a bit high but typical for most countries. Captive bred fish should be fine or you can try to lower it with peat. But I wouldn't bother.

The KH will probably be low.

Yea, my understanding with pH is that as long as they're captive bred fish and the pH isn't excessively low or high, it's more important that the pH remains stable than fluctuate between good and bad, so I probably wouldn't try and bring it down at all.

This is with 1 more of each cory and 2 more diamond tetra, then 3 honey gourami as the centrepiece. Wouldn't want to stock more than 90%

 

[Wills]

Honey Gourami would be the best choice from that list but you could also think about dwarf cichlids from South America like Laetacara, Apistogramma or Nannacara.

 

[KiwiGal77]

Honey Gourami would be the best choice from that list but you could also think about dwarf cichlids from South America like Laetacara, Apistogramma or Nannacara.

Oh a dwarf cichlid could be cool too! How about some Bolivian Rams? I've had German rams in the past and absolutely loved them, but they're a bit higher needs than for this community tank, but apparently the Bolivians are more peaceful, hardier and like the slightly lower temp?

 

[Wills]

Oh a dwarf cichlid could be cool too! How about some Bolivian Rams? I've had German rams in the past and absolutely loved them, but they're a bit higher needs than for this community tank, but apparently the Bolivians are more peaceful, hardier and like the slightly lower temp?

I think Bolivians would be good in here, bit contentious on how to keep them sometimes. Personally I think they should be in a small group, some people say pairs, some say a single male. But in a 200 litre I'd be happy with a group of 4, my justification is they are a Geophine species and all of their relatives are gregarious as I believe are they.

I'd probably say you are at your stocking limit then though.

Wills

 

[Byron]

Concerning upper-level fish, I do not suggest adding anything as large as gourami. Diamond Tetras (Moenkhausia pittieri) are about the same size, and there is certainly not room for both. Another aspect, these tetras are fast swimmers, charging around quite a bit, and sedate gourami will find these annoying at the least. I would not rule out fin nipping either, under these conditions.

The Bolivian Rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) are lower level fish so no issues there, but not four. This fish has ben observed to live in solitude in the habitats, except when spawning. Mates must select each other, and males are extremely territorial even outside of spawning. There is insufficient space here for more than one, or a male/female pair but only if they have selected one another and bonded. I had a male in my 5-foot tank who lived into his tenth year, not bad for a fish with a normal life expectancy of 4-5 years. He owned that tank, that was well understood by the 150 other fish, but he was content to abide them unless they got out of line--his laying down the law to the group of Bleeding Heart Tetras was instructive.

 

[Wills]

Like I said contentious

 

[KiwiGal77]

Yea I was wondering about the Diamond Tetra if I went with Honey Gourami or Bolivian Ram, as they would be a similar size. Wondering now if I skip the diamond's altogether and just stick with the other 2 smaller tetra/rasbora species, then do both the rams (4 - 1 male 3 female) and the honey gourami x3, for both lower and upper level feature fish.

From what I've read, heard and seen, unlike the German or Golden Rams, the Bolivian Rams are usually fine in groups of 4+ in a well planted community tank with lots of hiding spaces and separate areas, especially if you have 1 male and 3 females. Likely you'll get a pair who will find a territory, and the other 2 will hang out peacefully in the rest of the tank. I'd be happy to try that, and then remove any fish if there were fighting issues.

 

[jaylach]

Honey Gourami would be the best choice from that list but you could also think about dwarf cichlids from South America like Laetacara, Apistogramma or Nannacara.

I would question south american cichlids with a reported PH of 7.8. From my limited knowledge it would seem such fish would rather have a PH of well under 7.0. South American critters seem to like softer water.

 

[KiwiGal77]

I would question south american cichlids with a reported PH of 7.8. From my limited knowledge it would seem such fish would rather have a PH of well under 7.0. South American critters seem to like softer water.

6-7.5 pH for the Bolivian Rams. The water is very soft, so the slightly higher pH wouldn't be an issue as long as it's stable.

 

[Wills]

I would question south american cichlids with a reported PH of 7.8. From my limited knowledge it would seem such fish would rather have a PH of well under 7.0. South American critters seem to like softer water.

Op has very soft water but slightly above neutral ph so I think it’s ok - can always take steps to lower ph in the tank too with wood and botanicals