Disaster, New Start

[mhancock]

I've had an 85 litre tank that was doing really well (compost under black gravel so plants growing fantastically), but have just had to remove 10 dead fish (2 small algea eaters, 2 corys, 5 neons and a couple of guppies).  Other fish have been put into my big tank and the fry put into a small tank I happen to be house-sitting for - thankfully as the fry would be angel food in the big tank. 
 
Anyway, the cause of the deaths is very hot water.  I've never had it happen before and no idea if a failed heater is common?  According to a kitchen digital thermometer the water is 36oC.  The heater is now of course disconnected but I've left the filter running.  Amazingly some fish were alive still, but the shrimp were turning white so not sure how long they'd last.  In order to get them into the other tank they had to deal with a 12oC temp change.....
 
So, before I re-stock the tank I'll be buying a thermometer for the tank.  Are the digital ones accurate enough?
 
And - the point of this post - if you had a nice 85l tank ready to start again, what would you put in it?  I've been fish keeping for a few years and would like something different from the normal tetras and live bearers, but don't want something too fussy like killifish.
 
Would a pair of kribs by themselves be good?  Something as colourful and interesting as them but maybe a little more community friendly? 

 

[the_lock_man]

85l is a bit small for kribs, or indeed any cichlids really, and they breed as readily as livebearers, and then actually look after their fry. You'd have a huge problem rehoming those fry. The possible exception might be shelldwellers, but even then I'm a bit dubious (not being a shelldweller expert).
 
How hard is your water?

 

[Akasha72]

aquarium heaters can indeed fail - my Dad rang me yesterday to tell me there's something wrong with his aquarium heater and asked if I had a spare (which of course I do) They can fail by either just stopping working or they can fail by sticking on and effectively cooking your fish. 
 
Always have a tank thermometer in sight. I'd recommend always having belt and braces with tank temperature. I have a digital thermometer (and yes they are accurate) and a stick on glass type too. I check daily that both agree on the tank temperature. You can also get aquarium thermometers that set off an alarm if the tank gets too hot or too cold. I've not tried this type so I've no idea how effective they are. 
 
If I had room for a 85 litre tank (my four foot tank takes up a lot of space already) I'd set it up as a black water amazonian inspired tank with natural sand and leaf litter base, drift wood, red cabomba and ozelot sword plants and I'd stock with cardinal tetra's, pygmy cories and a nice pair of Hongsloi apisto's - in fact this is my plan for my 110 litre tank that is currently sitting empty in my shed. I'm hoping to move home this year and I'm hoping to have enough space for both tanks so I can set this up. That all said I have very soft water in my area and so this plan is perfect for the water that comes out of my tap. Not everyone has water like I have.
Before deciding what to do and what to stock with it's best to know what water type you have. If it's soft the possibilities are endless, if it's hard it restricts you severely. 

 

[mhancock]

Thanks for the replies.
 
I live in London so the water is hard.....

 

[Akasha72]

hmm ... rules out a lot of fish then unless you go with RO water

 

[mhancock]

I'm thinking about making it temperate, some small goldfish variety. Water hardness not an issue then?
And agree that I may struggle to rehome krib fry, good point.

 

[Akasha72]

if your going temperate then platies would be a good choice. Colourful little fish, will like the hard water and cooler temps and they're easy going. I like platies but my water is too soft for em