Hi, I'm new member in the forum.I am setting up a new tank and need some help.My intention is to add in a time period of 6 months or less, the following fish:
- 4 PEARL GOURAMIS (Trichogaster leeri)
- 2 ANGELFISH (Pterophyllum Scalare)
- 6-8 ZEBRA DANIOS (Brachydanio Rerio)
- 1 RED-TAILED BLACK SHARK (Labeo Bicolor)
- 2 PLECOS (I already have them, they are 10cm long each)
TANK SPECIFICATIONS:
Dimensions: 80cm x 37cm x 32cm, 115lt
Eheim 20-26 Professionel II filter
ph: ~7.2
temp: 27 Celcium
Do you think, these fish fit to my tank and together??
Any suggestions instead of danios??
2 clowns ( botia macracantha ) wiil be too much??
Labeo may become aggressive towards the other fish??
Thank you for your time!!
First things first, your tank is about 28 gallons.
This is not enough for angels, which will turn very aggressive if cramped and, as they grow rather tall, may even end up deformed due to inadequate dimensions. It also isn't enough for the plecos which get to 18" and won't tolerate each other once mature if they don't have room to establish seperate territories. Return them to your LFS as soon as possible (or get a much larger tank). I'd also skip the RTB shark as these are active fish that grow to 6" and get rather aggressive once they reach sexual maturity.
Though the danios and pearl gouramies are both good choices, they also both occupy the upper layers of the tank. As I am biased towards the gouramies, I'd replace the danios with harlequin rasboras (6 to make up a school) instead. You'll find they school very nicely and are quite hardy. I'd also reduce the number of pearls to 3 and go for 1 male and 2 females. Search the gouramies + anabantoids section for info on sexing them.
Someone mentioned otos. These are not a good beginner's fish and terrible for new tanks. They also aren't realy bottom-dwellers, spending more time clinging to the glass or ornaments. Avoid them until your tank is at least 6 months old.
Cories are great bottom-dwellers though. As they are social, you need to keep them in a group of 4 minnimum. Bronze (corydoras aenus), albino (usualy a variety of c. aenus), peppered (c. paleatus) and blackfin (c. leucomelas) are all very hardy species/varieties. Choose just one or two species and make sure you have at least 2 of each.
If you end up with 3 pearl gouramies, 6 harlequin rasboras and 4 cories, you'll be pretty much fully stocked. You may be able to add a couple more fish later on (ie: those otos) but, for the time being, that's enough while the tank matures.
Before you add ANY fish though,
FISHLESS CYCLE. Fishless cycling takes a lot less time than cycling with fish, won't stress/kill anyone and means you'll be able to add more fish quicker. Read the link in my signature about fishless cycling if you don't already know how to do it. It may sound a bit complicated at first but ask questions until you understand it - believe me, it pays off.
edt: Also, forget the clown loaches. these get to 12", should be kept in groups and require a 90 gallon tank minnimum. They are very prone to ich and similar conditions if not kept in a suitable environment and they'll also (as with the plecs) render you severely over-stocked.
