Help me stock my empty 66g

[JayLB]

Hey all,

Just got a 66.5g Shaker. I was convinced I was going to do Pea Puffers and a few compatible mates. BUT that seems like a bit of a waste of space?

Here is my specs:
66.5 g, freshwater. Black gravel bottom. Running at Fluval 407 canister and a 300w heater.
Currently using mopani wood, and dragon stone for decor. As well as some java fern, anubias and crypt. There are only few right now, but I am hoping to pick up some more wood and lots more plants.
Fully cycled as I used media from another tank, so:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate -10ppm
Ph is 6.6-6.8 (but I can buffer with crushed coral as I have in other tanks)

GH and KH are both - 2 (35.8ppm), of course this can also be buffered with crushed coral.



I would love some great ideas, of not just one fish but perhaps a centerpiece species, secondary and cleanup. BUT any and all help is appreciated. Just wanna make this bad boy tank shine.

 

[Wills]

I think the Dwarf Puffers could have been cool but I can see why you are moving away from it.

For me in a tank this size with such soft water I'd for a South American tank everytime, some nice cichlids, interesting characins and catfish its going to be awesome!

How about something like

Pair of Red Cheek Krobia
10 Red Tailed Hemiodus
15 Red Pencil Fish
8 Spotted Headstanders
10 Smudge Spot Cories (any cory really)
4 Red Lizard Whiptails

Wills

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Ooohh! Fun!
If it were mine, I'd be building it around a nice sized group of yoyo or dwarf chain loaches, maybe zebra loaches.

 

[JayLB]

I think the Dwarf Puffers could have been cool but I can see why you are moving away from it.

For me in a tank this size with such soft water I'd for a South American tank everytime, some nice cichlids, interesting characins and catfish its going to be awesome!

How about something like

Pair of Red Cheek Krobia
10 Red Tailed Hemiodus
15 Red Pencil Fish
8 Spotted Headstanders
10 Smudge Spot Cories (any cory really)
4 Red Lizard Whiptails

Wills

I should have cited, that getting fish isn't terribly easy with where Im from in the world. lol

 

[Wills]

I should have cited, that getting fish isn't terribly easy with where Im from in the world. lol

Fair enough! Do any of the American dealers get orders out to Canada like Cichlids of the Americas or Tangled Up In Cichlids?

@Byron perhaps you might be able to point Jay into any insider Canadian dealings? (Though I am realising as I type this its not like the UK where you might be an hour apart haha...)

Wills

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

@Byron perhaps you might be able to point Jay into any insider Canadian dealings? (Though I am realising as I type this its not like the UK where you might be an hour apart haha...)

I just said to @GaryE (who is also in Canadialand and might be able to help) that it's hard for those of from this teeny tiny island to grasp just how huge Canada is! We can't wrap our brains around not being able to reach the other end within a days driving!

 

[Byron]

I have never come across mail-order fish suppliers in Canada, with the exception of Oliver Lucanus in Montreal. I conversed with Oliver some years back, he is extraordinarily well versed in South American fish and imports many species that are not available anywhere else locally. But unfortunately he is wholesale. I had once thought of trying to get a local fish store to order fish from him, but they have their regular suppliers (mostly SE Asian) so this didn't go anywhere.

American imports are very risky with delays at the border. Some good US suppliers like Wet Spot in Portland will not even do exports to Canada because of the red tape.

On the fish listed and being suggested...can you change from gravel to sand? I would not subject cories to gravel. They cannot filter feed which they expect to be able to do, and gravel does present serious bacterial issues that sand does not. Quikrete Play Sand from Lowe's or Home Depot is ideal, I had it in all my tanks for 10+ years. Now before you get any fish is the time to do this. With plants you will not have any cycling issues doing this.

 

[GaryE]

The big issue in Canada is distance and cost. There are a few relatively new sellers online, but as an example, the cheapest rate I can get from Montreal to NB is around $170 for any size box from UPS.

La Maison du Poisson in Montreal is excellent. There is a really good guy in Cornwall Ontario, and Angelfins in Ontario. Further west and the shipping would probably get brutal. I suspect that for you, in the land of my ancestors, they might even charge more. Maybe not, but $170 is enough...

it isn't the sellers that are a problem. It's the shippers.

I used to send killies to a guy in St John's, but that was years ago.

 

[JayLB]

Fair enough! Do any of the American dealers get orders out to Canada like Cichlids of the Americas or Tangled Up In Cichlids?

@Byron perhaps you might be able to point Jay into any insider Canadian dealings? (Though I am realising as I type this its not like the UK where you might be an hour apart haha...)

Wills

I am in the farthest eastern part of Canada, where we get very little!