Help Picking Plants And Fish For Amazon Set Up

[BigTom]

I find Mongabay pretty good for this sort of thing... a list of biotypes with water paramaters, substrates, plants and fish lists with further info on many of the fish species. There are several South American biotypes listed:

http/fish.mongabay.com/data/ecosystem_index.htm

 

[kbod]

thanks soooo much to look at x

 

[kbod]

my cycles doing well ..

my brains not

so far ive decided on

2x bolivian ram ....... or german blue ram ( do i get 1m + 1fm ? , whats the ratio or can i have more ?
1x apisto
x panda corys or sterbai corys
x rummynose tetras
x cardinal tetras
x panaque maccus ............or bristlenose plec
x zebra oto

x marbled hatchets ? possible

whats the thoughts on that so far

 

[fishncan]

Cardinals and rummynoses should be deferred until later. The tank should be up and running for 3-6 months for those fish IMO

 

[Davo86]

my cycles doing well ..

my brains not

so far ive decided on

2x bolivian ram ....... or german blue ram ( do i get 1m + 1fm ? , whats the ratio or can i have more ?
1x apisto
x panda corys or sterbai corys
x rummynose tetras
x cardinal tetras
x panaque maccus ............or bristlenose plec
x zebra oto

x marbled hatchets ? possible

whats the thoughts on that so far

your new stocking sounds fine, although numbers and the timing of introduction can be critical in getting everything right when setting up a new tank,
Rummynose, german Rams, panda corys and in some cases otocinclus are very sensitive so it is best to add them last after the tank has been set up with fish for around 6-8 weeks

I think this would be a good starting point:

Centrepiece
2x bolivian ram (1M1F) (these are much hardier than the german rams)
OR 2 or 3 x apisto (1M with 1 or 2 females)

Dithers

top - 10 x marbled hatchets
mid - 10 x cardinal tetras
bottom - 10 x rummynose tetras

catfish / bottom feeders
6 x sterbai corys
5 x zebra oto
1 x bristlenose plec or spotted bulldog pleco

 

[kbod]

wow thats looking good can i really have that much

2 bolivian rams then it is .

hadnt seen a bulldog plec will google ...

not 100% sure on the hatchets what could i have if i dont go with them as tanks lidless and bit worried

 

[kbod]

been looking at some fish in lfs

found some strebai at lfs today £6. each bronze,peppered,albinos corys £2. each. but very tiny.

cant seem to get my plants anywhere all i got was some vallis and i went to 4 lfs .
talk about shocking a pet shop in skeg has had a sign up for weeks saying they will be starting to sell fish ..been watching the tanks go up..called in today omg .. its like noahs arc everything in twos all crammed in a few tanks ..

in 1 tank 2,peppered corys,2glass catfish,2angel fish ,2 sharks,2 gouramis,2 tetras,2platys,2plecs,2 rams and so on seemed everything bunged together ..only biggest shoal they had was 5 guppies and 5neon tetras, ive never seen anything like it and not one plant or thing to hide behind ,fish were fighting and some just up against glass ..

they said they had limited space so try to plz everyone by getting mixed fish in ...guess this is one lfs not gonna be on my list ..

 

[kbod]

told if i went with the amount stated prev im seriously over stocking ....
this is what lfs said
2x rams,
6x corys,
4x otos,
1x bn or panaque,
10x rummy,
10x cardinal.....

whats best ?

 

[Davo86]

which list previously stated? was it the one i suggested?

 

[Rediahs]

oh no, not another thinkfish ref...

I'm curious now, I used thinkfish to try to plan out my tank and noticed they allow a lot more fish than the 1"/gallon rule. It said I could fit 12 cardinals, 12 otos, 12 harlequin rasboras, 12 shrimp, and 8 panda corys in my 29 gallon. That's a lot different than what I thought earlier, around 10 cardinals, 6 otos, 6 shrimp, and an african dwarf frog. I have a feeling the right answer is something in between those?

What's wrong with thinkfish? I read their reasoning and didn't really understand it.

 

[kbod]

which list previously stated? was it the one i suggested?

yeh thats what i was told but then im not really appreciating advice from that lfs ,.......... i went back to check some plants and ended up in a major discussion well more of a mud sling from the lfs manager who when i stated id done a fishless cycle as advised on forum ,he said "so you think your a fish keeper now when all youve done is learn chemistry" he stood in front of full shop and stated how he hated fish forums and theyre advice ..so let him had his say then preceeded to tell him about how id lost many fish after doing my first fish-in-cycles as advised by him after buying tanks from him and telling me to stock them with fish 1week later,then i explained how his panda corys had never even reached home before dying and when i came back there were many dead in tanks in shop, my hubby also pointed over his shoulder at the dead fish in the shops tanks saying "i think these people here can see the kind of stock and advise you have here isnt doing too well"...and i explained that unlike him the people on forums wernt in it for money and many are more experianced than him...i also said thats why id only come for plants as his fish arnt healthy ...

well i nearly had to pull hubby from shop before he really lost it ..needless to say pets at home grimsby isnt the best place to shop ....