More help stocking

[Fishkeeper123]

Can I have some ideas of what I can put in my 180l(1m long,45cm wide, 50cm high.) My current stocking is a pair of Bolivian rams, a Bristlenose pleco, 4 assassin snails and 8 leopard danios. My ph is 7.9, hardness is 8.36 and temperature is set at 24degrees. The filter isn’t great( easy cf3 filter) however has been changed so no longer a cartridge filter but is no like a hang on the back filter. I might add in my tetra tec 400+( after quarantine) for any new fish I get.

 

[Naughts]

The Bolivian rams will not welcome any more bottom dwellers. The danios are too busy for most surface dwellers as they are usually relatively passive.
However IMO you could have another group of mid-upper level shoaling fish. As your danios will be very active you shouldn't choose anything slow or timid. I estimate that you have space for about 8 fish if they are around 5cm adult size. Your GH and temperature are mid-range and suitable for a lot of fish.

Research cherry barbs, ruby barbs, melon barbs, black neon tetra, pristella tetra, lemon tetra, glowlight tetra (hemigrammus-erythrozonus), rummy nose tetra etc.

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/ is a good site for research.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Would blue emperor tetras count as “slow and timid” as I think they are my favourite looking tetra but not sure if they would work with the danios. Also I think the melon barbs, cherry barbs and the rummynose. I’ve seen the Asian rummynose would they be good tank mates? Is my stocking that full, aquadvisor says it’s 59 percent full or as my filters aren’t the best does that severely reduce my stocking?

 

[Naughts]

Hopefully others will comment on the suitability of the blue emperors and Asian rummy nose - I haven’t kept them.

Aquadvisor is a good starting point but not necessarily the full picture.
Is it saying 59% for the current stock or when you add another group as well?
Is your tank planted - a photo to show how full any plants are would help?
What is your water change schedule and how well do you stick to it?

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Since I have had the tank I do 30-40 percent daily but when it was just my 80l with 2 garras and 8 danios I did 40 percent every 2 weeks as everything(ammonia, nitrite ,nitrate stayed low). I got some plants a few days ago so they are small but hoping for them to grow. I will also add 2 pieces of Anubis attached to driftwood. With everything I have now( the old stocking used to have 2 panda garras) it’s 49 percent. Water changes will always get done but I do prefer a bigger water change every other week, but as I’m happy to do them more often or bigger. All the bigger plants are fake but think I will remove them, all the smaller ones and all but one are on the right side are real. These are the list of new plants:echinoderms ozelot red, lilaeopsis novea-zealandia, cryptocoryne wendtii green, lobelia cardinalis dwarf.

 

[Naughts]

That filter looks better than you described - it moves the surface water and is a good size, is it filled with sponge now?

The plants will help with the water quality as they grow but are not going to have any great impact yet. I always recommend adding floating plants.

Daily water changes suggest the tank is not cycled yet so don’t add any fish until it is stable.
When cycled, one large weekly change should suffice.

I have a tank this size and now stock it roughly as we discussed but have had more fish at some stages. You could fill it more if you desire. I like bigger shoals so maybe 12-16 of the leopard danios then 12-16 of the second shoal? Or I have had 20 rummynose when my other shoal (praecox rainbow at that time) were dying out.

But I do recommend sticking to a aquadvisor stocking of 75% maximum. Crowded tanks easily spread disease and a heavily stocked tank is unforgiving if you need to miss a water change or two (maybe due to illness or injury, or huge responsibilities at work or as a caregiver for example).

I’m tagging @MattW as I think he has the Asian rummynose; and @CassCats who has the blue emperors that you are interested in.

 

[Naughts]

BTW are your leopard danios long finned? This makes a difference to how fast they move around the tank.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

BTW are your leopard danios long finned? This makes a difference to how fast they move around the tank.

Yes

 

[Fishkeeper123]

That filter looks better than you described - it moves the surface water and is a good size, is it filled with sponge now?

The plants will help with the water quality as they grow but are not going to have any great impact yet. I always recommend adding floating plants.

Daily water changes suggest the tank is not cycled yet so don’t add any fish until it is stable.
When cycled, one large weekly change should suffice.

I have a tank this size and now stock it roughly as we discussed but have had more fish at some stages. You could fill it more if you desire. I like bigger shoals so maybe 12-16 of the leopard danios then 12-16 of the second shoal? Or I have had 20 rummynose when my other shoal (praecox rainbow at that time) were dying out.

But I do recommend sticking to a aquadvisor stocking of 75% maximum. Crowded tanks easily spread disease and a heavily stocked tank is unforgiving if you need to miss a water change or two (maybe due to illness or injury, or huge responsibilities at work or as a caregiver for example).

I’m tagging @MattW as I think he has the Asian rummynose; and @CassCats who has the blue emperors that you are interested in.

I bought the tank second hand and it said it would be fine to add fish straight away, I added the danios and garras, one garra died from being caught in the filter and the other just died. After doing some water tests it had no ammonia but high nitrites and nitrates. This was all a week and a half ago. Now the nitrates have been high 10-20 but the nitrites have gradually been decreasing. Yesterday it was 0.5. I’ll find a video on what I have done to the filter.

 

[MattW]

Sawbwa (Asian Rummynose) are a great fish to keep. But I have found that, in the last 2+ years, they prefer certain parameters to be present at all times. Firstly Males will spar for dominance over females which has caused me to even loose one or two fish. You should maintain 1 male to every 4 females ideally (minimal group size of 8). This will be a pain as females seem to be available in limited numbers in the UK. Secondly, I do not see them being compatible with longfin varieties of fish. This species is very inquisitive IME, I have had multiple fish attempt to attack pieces of gravel in my gravel vac thinking it was food. I have had even one male in particular, follow my tweezers around the aquarium thinking there was food on the end of them . So a fish with long fins may be seen as something to nibble on by the Rummynose. They can also be timid with other species present especially those that are a larger species. Your water parameters do fit keeping Sawbwa but Ideally, I think this species should be kept in a single-species heavily planted aquarium.

The plants will help with the water quality as they grow but are not going to have any great impact yet. I always recommend adding floating plants.

I also agree with this 100%. Floating plants will help a lot. Even if it's just loose stems floating.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Ok I will rule out sawbwas for this tank but will add them to the list of fish I want to try in the future. What floating plants could I get? Also, I won’t be able to get these for a few weeks as my LFS ran out of all floating plants apart from duckweed which I don’t want in my aquarium.

 

[MattW]

I would recommend Water lettuce and frogbit. There are a few sellers of water lettuce on Etsy and eBay. Just watch out for duckweed though. I got some water lettuce off eBay that had duckweed on them.

 

[CassCats]

That filter looks better than you described - it moves the surface water and is a good size, is it filled with sponge now?

The plants will help with the water quality as they grow but are not going to have any great impact yet. I always recommend adding floating plants.

Daily water changes suggest the tank is not cycled yet so don’t add any fish until it is stable.
When cycled, one large weekly change should suffice.

I have a tank this size and now stock it roughly as we discussed but have had more fish at some stages. You could fill it more if you desire. I like bigger shoals so maybe 12-16 of the leopard danios then 12-16 of the second shoal? Or I have had 20 rummynose when my other shoal (praecox rainbow at that time) were dying out.

But I do recommend sticking to a aquadvisor stocking of 75% maximum. Crowded tanks easily spread disease and a heavily stocked tank is unforgiving if you need to miss a water change or two (maybe due to illness or injury, or huge responsibilities at work or as a caregiver for example).

I’m tagging @MattW as I think he has the Asian rummynose; and @CassCats who has the blue emperors that you are interested in.

I've got regular emperors, Nematobrycon palmeri, not blue emperors, Inpaichthys kerri. I had I. Kerri in quarantine at one point but didn't make it out so didn't go for them again. I. Kerri prefers warmer temperatures, as do the N. Palmeri, so I would not recommend them for this setup. Nor glowlight tetras who also prefer warm water.

Melon barbs will also target the fins of the Bolivian rams, they're boisterous and have a jerk streak towards bottom dwelling fish. Have had them in the past, stunning fish but holy terrors to bottom dwellers in their space.

Cherry barbs are a fantastic option though, they're not as boisterous or bossy.

 

[Fishkeeper123]

What about male swordtails or phantom tetras would they be okay? Are rummynose tetras still an option? I’ll do some research on cherry barbs. Are rainbowfish or killifish an option?

 

[Innesfan]

Definitely not killifish. The various Aphyosemion, Fundulopanchax, Nothobranchius and the like are generally not candidates for community settings. Male swordtaila are likely to quarrel with each other, sometimes lethally. I love Black Phantoms and their allies but have found that the rhomboid shaped tetras are more likely to fin nip than the torpedo shaped tetras so I'd be concerned about your Bolivian.