Halszka's new 150L tank

[Halszka]

Heya!

I'm so excited! I just bought a new 150L tank, well, second hand but it might as well be new, the stand was still in its plastic wrapping. At the moment I'm still looking for a filter, gravel, etc but I figure there's no harm in doing some research into what would look nice in it once it's all set up and going.

Disclaimer: I do know about the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank and not to buy all the fish at once

So, moving on.

What would you suggest for a 150L, 3' tank?

At some point (if I can ever find them) I would like to have a few chocolate gouramis so any fish suggested need to be compatible.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

Well if your getting choco gouramis perhaps a pleco, and err other fish

 

[modernhamlet]

First and foremost...

Chocholate gourami are exceptionally difficult fish to keep, with VERY strict water, decor, and feeding requirements to keep them happy and healthy. They're also best kept in a species only tank. If you plan to keep them, do a LOT of research beforehand. I consider myself a pretty knowledgable fishkeeper and would still not consider chocolate gourami yet. It's a fish best left to experts.

Ok, that issue aside...

What are the dimensions of the tank? I'm guessing around 90x45x40cm? It actually makes quite a difference in what fish are best suited.

What fish you stock is of course much a matter of personal taste. Have you given thought to what you're looking for overall? Peaceful? Active? Aggressive? Rocky? Planted? Having an aesthetic goal is often a good place to start and may help people give you more appropriate suggestions.

 

[Halszka]

Thanks for the help modernhamlet

Yeah, I do know that chocolate gouramis are rather delicate fish and have been reading all I can find (offline and online) about them. I wouldn't purchase them until my tank had been running for a while (at least a few months if not more) and all parameters were stable. I _do_ want to plan my tank around them though, and add species that will be compatible with the chocolate gouramis in the event that I do find some in a few months time.

It's a 3' tank, I don't have the exact measurements on me but that (90x45x40) sounds about right. I've decided I'd like a peaceful, planted tank - perhaps some schooling species?

One of my LFS has pygmy cories and they'd hold some for me if I asked. Would those be suitable? Say five or six?

Other fish I've seen that I like are:
Black widow tetra
Diamond tetras
Congo tetras
Khuli loaches
Black Phantom tetra
Harlequin Rasbora
Angelfish

What fish should I add first (and how many) to help me start cycling my tank?

 

[houndour]

If you're basing this around the chocolate gouramis as being a centre piece, I would go for the pygmy cories, 5 or 6 is a good number and a shoal of tetras.

A quick search tells me chocolate gouramis grow to 2 inches. x 2 = 4
Pygmy cories grow to 1.5 inches x 6 = 9
which based on a 40 US gallon tank, leaves approximately 27 inches of fish.

So you could have a lovely shoal of 12 2 inch tetras. But you may want more species of fish, but remember the tetras and harlequins would prefer groups and imo look so much better in larger groups.

And I would do a fishless cycle if I were you.

 

[Halszka]

The fishless cycle is something I thought of, but the cost factor creeps in. Why buy the ammonia and other bacteria to seed the tank when I can buy the fish and have them pee and poop it out? I do have another freshwater tank and I can use some of the filter media to speed things along.

I was thinking of buying 6 tetras to start of with, either diamond or black phantom. Then once the tank finishes cycling, buy more bit by bit. Does anyone have any of these tetras? From what I've read they're meant to be peaceful.

What sort of substrate would be the best for the pygmy cory cats? And khuli loaches? I can't seem to find any small pea gravel - or at least not in the amounts that I would need. Would sand be better? How do you clean a sand substrate with a gravel vacuum? Or don't you?

Thanks for all the help

 

[modernhamlet]

The cost of a small bottle of ammonia (which is WAY more than enough to cycle your tank) should be well under $2 AUS. Seriously. Losing a single fish would probably cost you more. Not to mention the suffering and long term damage. You can cycle with fish if you want, but cost is not a reason to do so.

Both of those tetras are among the more peaceful and would be a fine choice, though I wouldn't cycle with either of them. They're both reasonably hardy, but not "cycle fish" hardy...

Sand or very fine gravel would be best for both the corys and the loaches. If you go with sand, get the coarser, heavier silica sand (sold as pool filter sand or sand blasting sand) over play sand. Play sand is really annoying to clean and tends to get sucked into your gravel vacuum much, much easier. I have no problems vacuuming the pool filter sand in my 75g with a Python.

 

[Halszka]

I understand where you're coming from about doing the fishless cycle and, I checked, the stuff needed to seed the tank with bacteria isn't expensive. However, would 6 little fishes really suffer in a 150L tank that is cycling? It's not as if it would be cycling from scratch. I have media from my current 35L tank that I will use to transfer the bacteria to the new tank.

Would any other of the tetras I listed be more 'cycle hardy' or are they pretty much all the same in that regard?

And thanks for the info about sand. One of the local hardware shops sells pool filter sand. Is it alright to plant plants right in the sand or should I have a layer of gravel underneath the sand?

 

[modernhamlet]

I understand where you're coming from about doing the fishless cycle and, I checked, the stuff needed to seed the tank with bacteria isn't expensive. However, would 6 little fishes really suffer in a 150L tank that is cycling? It's not as if it would be cycling from scratch. I have media from my current 35L tank that I will use to transfer the bacteria to the new tank.

Would any other of the tetras I listed be more 'cycle hardy' or are they pretty much all the same in that regard?

And thanks for the info about sand. One of the local hardware shops sells pool filter sand. Is it alright to plant plants right in the sand or should I have a layer of gravel underneath the sand?

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That's a different story. If you've got even a small amount of mature filter media with which to seed, you should be able to add fish slowly without too bad a bump. I always push people towards fishless though, regardless. No offense intended, I do tend to preach a bit. That said... with fishless you'd likely be able to fully stock in about 2 weeks, no additional bacteria necessary. Via the adding fish method... you're looking at maybe 6-8 weeks of build up before you're stocked.

Most of your schooling fish fall into the "not delicate, but..." category. Not any major differences. Maybe start with the rasboras if you're going to get them. They're also the fish most like to get along with any gourami later on. I kept them with pearls and everyone was quite happy with the arrangement.

Whatever you do, sounds like you'll take good care of the fish.

I can't say I have an answer on the substrate question. I'd ask over in the Planted Tank forum what solution is best for the plants and the corys. They're a great TFF subforum group, friendly and helpful.

Happy to help!

 

[Halszka]

I can't afford to buy my fishies all at once anyway So using my mature filter media and adding fish slowly is probably the best option for me. I was leaning towards having two schools of different tetras - one of black phantom tetras and one of the diamond tetras, plus the six pygmy cories and a few khuli loaches.

Thanks for your help, I'll have a snoop at the Planted Tank forum