Fluval Roma 200 - The Beginning.

[MBOU]

I dunno if you came in today or not but we were having epiclly bad day I hope you didnt!! LOL. We are similarly sized to Bourne End, though better laid out and better staffed
 
Like I said, hope you didnt come in, had awful day and was hecktic busy and no time to algae clean so tanks look dirty... embarassing!

 

[sadguppy]

Late to the party but I also have a Roma 200. I have an eheim 2117 on this one - brilliant filters. Got mine second hand on ebay.

I have sand and I love my plants - I also have co2 and they have come on a lot since the last pics. But basicaly the substrate is your choice. I have gravel in my Roma 240 and that also looks pretty good (in my humble opinion)

One heater is fine.

As a centrepiece fish go with an angel or gourami. They can both be kept as singles, the gouramies in trios of two females one male if desired, and are peaceful community fish.

The lighting will be fine for low tech plants like anubias, vallis, crypts or java fern for example. Unless you're going to be adding co2 and ferts then you don't need to worry too much, just don't expect to be able to grow all plants.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Hi I have the same tank as well, and I use two Eheim Ecco Pro 200's, one on each end. I also use regular play sand (B&Q for me) and am pretty well planted now, and it's totally fine. I do dose ferts and use root tabs and haven't had any issues. I also use two T8 tubes one rated at 10000k and the other @6500k and plants have generally all been fine. I use one Fluval heater for a 300l and it works great in my tank and I also have a Koralia powerhead to push water around and improve flow, which has definitely improved plant life.

 

[Aviici]

Hi MBOU, we decided to go to the MA in St Albans, and tbh it was absolutely incredible, so many fish, some I didn't even know existed!! maybe a good thing we didn't come to your MA if you was having a bad day then!

Some fish that stood out were the electric blue rams, electric blue jack dempsey (which sadly grows to 20cm, so doubt it'll fit in my tank), black kuhli loaches were beautiful, agassiz's corydoras were so beautiful! It's definitely been an eye-opener looking at so many fish, and have decided to definitely go down the community route. The red phantom tetras that you reccomended looked awesome, and I'm happy to say you've got me hooked on getting about 8-10 of those guys for my small shoaling species

Substrate and filter wise, I've opted for the sand, which I purchased from the Japanese Koi trading company, along with some real nice bog wood, of which one peice just won't sink!! Was about £20 worth of sand to have a decent amount that plants would do well in. I picked up an AquaManta EFX 1000, with a smaller internal filter, which are both running nicely now and have started my fishless cycle
 
Another thing that's thrown me is how taken I was with shrimp, they're lovely little fellows that I'll definitely be wanting to add to the tank, what are the pro's and con's of shrimp? and which species is best suited to the peaceful community?
 
- Any other show piece or attractive larger fish that aren't angels or gourami's? As I'm concerned the Red phantoms can get a little nippy, especially with long-finned fish!
 
Apologies for the lengthy post, but thankyou so much for all the feedback and advice so far it's been so helpful!

 

[Aviici]

Right, after a lot of thought and consideration I have decided on the stock for this tank, with a little help from an aquarium stocking calculator. The stock is as follows:
 
1X BN Pleco
6X Albino Cory
5X Black Kuhli Loach
15X Cherry Barb
 
According to the stocking calculator this will make the tank 75% stocked, allowing me to possibly add a Gourami or two later down the line, however another BN pleco that's a male this time to accompany my female could be added; a few rams, or even some otto's. But that's months and months away!

What do you think of this stocking list? are there any problems that could arise with these fish?

 

[Electric Warrior]

That is kind of a lot of bottom dwelling fish, no? 12 BN, kuhli's, and cories all competing in a tank with that footprint seems a bit much, but just my opinion.

 

[techen]

1X BN Pleco
6X Albino Cory
5X Black Kuhli Loach
15X Cherry Barb
 
The kulis and corys will fight for space at the bottom. So I suggest only picking one not both. Can increase the corys or kuhlis numbers for whatever you pick. Bristlenose is fine and barbs are fine.

 

[Aviici]

Ah I see what you mean, I think I'll have to go for cories then because I already have 3 in a smaller tank and will be putting them in the 200 when it's cycled. Would 6/7 cories be a good amount?
Also with the cherry barbs apparently I need some overhead cover for them... What's a good floating plant that can provide shelter and shade for them?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Ah I see what you mean, I think I'll have to go for cories then because I already have 3 in a smaller tank and will be putting them in the 200 when it's cycled. Would 6/7 cories be a good amount?
Also with the cherry barbs apparently I need some overhead cover for them... What's a good floating plant that can provide shelter and shade for them?

You wont need any floating plants for the Cherry Barbs..they are inquisitive, lively little characters and prefer exploring in and around any plants and/or decorations you may have...very, very rare did i ever see my Cherry Barbs on or around the water surface.
 
Terry.

 

[techen]

6/7 Corys are a good start. You could get up to 12 corys with the bristlenose in there.
 
I don't do floating plants, Don't like them at all

 

[Aviici]

Thanks Terry, hopefully they'll be very well suited for the jungle I have planned for them!
 
Techen; Would that be a little much for cories having up to 12 though with the cherry barbs school, what options do I have for another top/mid water dwelling fish? I know gouramis are an option.. however they really don't appeal to me And I can see why with the floating plants, they all seem to be sort of pest plants, and not very compatible with moving water surface.

 

[techen]

You have to remember, Barbs are mid swimmers and corys are lower swimmers so no. It's not that much, so long as you have a solid filter I see no issues with this.
 
Also barbs are nippy or at least as I hear so it's hard to get something that works with them.

 

[Aviici]

I think Cherry Barbs are the more passive and peaceful members of the barb family, and keeping them in a large group with plants makes them even more docile, as well as any chasing and harassing is kept amongst themselves. My mrs dad keeps cherry barbs in a Biorb tank with a siamese fighter and rummynose tetras so they should be compatible with anything, just have no idea really what type of fish can be peaceful and top/mid, solitary and passive

 

[sadguppy]

For cover get some amazon frogbit. Mine has gone crazy in my 240 and I love the look of the dangling roots! The fish love the cover. I just uploaded more recent pics to my journal which is in my sig if you want to see the effect.

 

[Aviici]

That 240 really looks incredible, exactly what I'm going for with the plants! I'm going to be using root tabs, and the lighting is two T8 tubes so would that be enough to get a planted set up as beautiful as that? Sorry to trouble you but could you name some of those plants you've used in the 240? Browsed the photos in your journal, I'm jealous!