Initial Stocking Questions

[TimTheToolman]

Hi all, new aquarium owner here (newbie to the fish-owning hobby) with questions about introducing fish to my new tank.  I bought a 37gal setup locally, which was holding healthy fish the day before I bought it and was owned by an aquarium-smart couple who ran a tight ship.  I transported it with a small amount of water still in the gravel and with a wet filter rig...from all appearances, it has a good intact bacteria colony.  It's been filled with dechlorinated water for 3 days and the water quality looks very clear and spot on from the samples I've taken.
 
A few questions about stocking:
 
1. My plan is to populate it with 7-8 zebra danios, 6 platies, 6 guppies and (eventually) a mystery snail.  My research indicates that this should be a good mix and they should get along well, but I'd like some additional opinions.  Any issues with this population, either in species compatibility, numbers of specific species, or overall headcount? 
 
2. I'm not trying to breed anything but don't I mind if something is producing fry which get gobbled up.  Should I just go for all males or all females, or will the livebearers be happier if they can breed away?  (If the latter, I'll go 2:1 female to male.)
 
3. Should I introduce them slowly (i.e. put the danios in first, wait some number of days then introduce another species, etc.), or is it fine to just plop the whole lot of them in at once?  Again, I'm assuming that I can treat it as a "mature" tank....if this is not a good assumption, I'd like to hear your recommendations.
 
4. Should I consider any other species?  Priorities are easy care (beginner), fairly peaceful community, and plenty of interesting color/patterns.  I did consider tiger barbs but it appears they might be a little more aggressive than desired.  I also considered a four-ship of cory cats or a small pleco to clean up (instead of the mystery snail) but that looks like it might be too heavy of a bioload.  Again, opinions appreciated.
 
Thanks!

 

[wet44]

It sounds like you have a good plan set out. If you were to introduce fish I would do it sooner than later so that the bacteria doesn't die out from nothing to feed on in the tank. When you do introduce your fish, I would recommend that you are completely sure that they do not have illness (and if you aren't sure then quarantine them for a month or two.) If this is the case, you would have to give the bacteria in your main tank a source of ammonia and do water changes as if it were a regular tank. Whenever the fish are quarantined you would need to introduce them slowly so you don't overload the current bacteria.
 
If anyone else has better answers and more answers please feel free to expound upon what I said!

 

[Bubbelzzz]

1) For this question do we actually need more information. Like water temperature, GH. pH etc. However, at a first glance it looks like a good setup. Note, however that zebra fish do like some current in the water.
 
2) That's entirely up to you. The guppies and platies will breed if males and females are kept together. When they breed, probably some of the fry will survive. So it's up to you if you want this to happen or not. 
If you don't want any more guppies or platies, you should only buy males. Females can hold on sperm and therefore can give bearth a lot of times when they are separated from the males. So only holding females is (how strange it might sound), not a good insurance against having no fry.
 
3) I would recommend to do it slowly, one specie at the time. In this case your bacteria can readjust to the extra bio load in the tank. Try to avoid, adding the same species a number of times. Every time you add new fish of a specie you all ready own, they will set up a new hierarchy in the group. So for instance, first buy the zebra's, some time later add the guppies etc.
 
4) As 37 gallon is about 140 liter. (I guess the tank would be about 80cm in lenght, 31 inch) You could add some one of the smaller Corydoras spiecies as these will stay at the bottom. 

 

[TimTheToolman]

Thank you for the replies!  I'll plan on populating the danios tonight, then give it a week before adding some of the other fellas.
 
Other info about the tank, if it matters.  I have 3 live plants (Anubis, 2x Java Fern) and an assortment of artificial decorations.  Bubbler will be installed tomorrow to add some air -- I'm trying to overcome the limitations of a relatively tall tank with its smaller surface area compared to a long tank.  My filter is creating a moderate current at the surface and introducing a pretty nice swirl of small air bubbles.
 
This morning's numbers:
 
Temp: 78 degrees F
pH: 7.5
KH: 100
Chlorine: 0
GH: 130
Ammonia: 0.4  (I dropped in a few food flakes last night, hoping they'll break down and feed the bacteria a touch...ammonia was about 0.1 yesterday afternoon)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

 

[hobby5]

Welcome Tim!
 
If you got a tall tank I would advice against the zebra fish. They are very active swimmers. What are the exact measurements of your tank?  Otherwise I would follow the recommendations given above: start stocking rather sooner and do it species wise.

 

[Byron]

I am assuming the GH measurement unit is ppm (parts per million), or it may be mg/l (milligram per litre) which is the same thing for our purposes.  This equates to 7 dGH, which is at the lowest end of the range for livebearers (platy, guppy, also swordtail) but you should manage.  The danio will be fine, but as noted by hobby5, these are active swimmers and length is important.
 
I also concur with having males only for the platy and guppy.  If you do want fry, the male/female ration is best at 2-3 females per male.  But this will result in dozens and soon hundreds of fry each month.
 
Byron.