My Journey - Fish Keeping

[I Love my fishies]

Ok so my I set up my 200L (3 foot) tank (with stand and hood) got a filter, heater gravel and started the cycle process a little while ago …….my200L tank finally cycled 4 days ago so I added my 6 Tiger Barbs (who were living in another tank)

I then put a blue background at the back of the tank, and installed light fittings and got two high wattage bulbs suitable for plants, I only have one plant in there at the moment (waiting for some central American Plants)

I then pondered to myself how many more Barbs should I get .... I went to the LFS and had a look around…… then I thought I have learnt all I can about Barbs and it is a pity they aren't really a community fish

someone suggested to me I should re home the barbs to a good home and start a community tank……. now at first I thought no way I love my Barbs they all have names and I would really miss Big Red especially….. plus I would feel like a bad parent ……

then the more I thought about it I realised I wanted to grow and learn with my hobby and fish keeping is not about just keeping one species it about having fish who interact etc. and learning more about other species.

So I have decided that I am going to re-home my Barbs to a good home (their original tank I had them in I now have my Goldfish in so I can put them back in have to re-home them) and move into a new level of fish keeping

I am going to make my 200L a community tank and after having aggressive little Barbs it is time for a peaceful tank

I am going to have a South American Biotype: with South American Cichlids (and a couple of other suited soft water loving tank mates)


So I was thinking of stocking:


- Bolivian butterfly Ram x 4
- Blue Ram x 4
- Discus (only 2)
- Rummy nose Tetra x 8
- Dwarf Gourami x 4
- Pleco of some sort x 2
- Neon x 8

I was thinking of adding some Angel fish but I think they may stress the Discus out during feeding time so it will be best if I leave them out.


so what do you think out this stocking?

is it over stocked? will everything get along? what changes would you make?

 

[I Love my fishies]

Comment please ...

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Discus aren't going to be any good in that tank. Go for angelfish instead.

Discus need to be in groups of 5+


If you are keeping the tiger barbs in that tank, stocking should be:

6 tiger barbs
2 Ram (m+f) as they will fight plus 8 Ram in a 3 foot long is going to be bad
4 Dwarf gourami (1 m 3 f)
2 clown pleco
4 angelfish no long fin variety


Thats pretty good. About 68 inches of fish per gallon, so keep it heavily filtered, and make sure you keep up on water changes.


Even without Tiger Barbs, the tank is good. You really don't need to re-home them though.

 

[I Love my fishies]

Hi Discus Lover thankyou for your response

I wont keep the tiger barbs with Angels I have heard many times of them tearing apart angels before (in other peoples tanks) and I just don't want to take the chance because I would be very upset by a blood bath.

I have a friend whom is a professional Fish keeping hobbiest (and also a LFS owner) and he has a planted tank with a similar stock (not as many Rams he just has a pair of blue Rams and a pair of Bolivian Butterflys) and his two Discus whom are very happy and healthy in the tank just the two of them.

Do you perhapse think it could work having just the two I really have my heart on getting some discus.

p.s I spoke to my friend today (about 2mins ago) about the set up and he said the same thing ... don't have too many Rams or you will have probs so I will have only 2 Rams

 

[tetraqueen]

You probably know discus and angels would eat neons so if you want something like that cardinals??

Just a thought.

So if what your having I maybe have cichlids withe gouramis? You are having dwarf with blue rams or is this because the dwarf casn match that cichlids temperment?

Sorry I have read bits on cichlids but they are new territory to me .

PS I do love your Betta so so cute

 

[I Love my fishies]

Thanks Tetra Queen he is a cutie

Gouramis are lovers of soft water also and are from the same biotype as the Blue Rams I was thinking Dwarf Gouramis rather than the larger Gouramis such as 3 spot, blue, golden etc. because the bigger Gouramis are of semi-agressive nature and Blue Rams are classed as peaceful fish and so are Dwarf Gouramis.

My BF did mention he wanted to get the cardinals..... thanks for the advice I will make sure I get the cardinals rather than the smaller Neon we don't want them becomeing lunch

 

[madgap]

I also looked into discus,too
My findings were this...
They can not be kept with pleco due to a coating on the skin which pleco's would eat.
They need to be in a shoal of no less than 6 in a 400 litre tank.
They need a more active and less timid shoal such as cardinals or neons to encourage them from their nervous disposition.

I'd love some discus but the first reason was the one that put me off.

I'd encourage gourami any day. Mine are peacful and very interactive with me. Totally not shy.

 

[tetraqueen]

Dwarf gouramis are not peaceful they are shy but they are very agressive and fin nip badly.
They are also prone to disease and need a very mature planted tank.

They are so beautiful colours too but I can't say I founsd them ever peaceful/

 

[jakeroberts]

your stocking sounds good also i second that ur betta is very cute

 

[Spooky76]

lol - thats pretty much what I started with in my 200L tank. The Rams are fantastic fish - love em.
You could put some clowns in too - they are always fun to watch and seem to get along with everything.

Only thing I did find was with 4 gouramis they never settled down, once I got down to 2 they did alot better.

Just my opinion but I wouldnt put a discus in with them, they might get pecked

 

[GRJ]

I have apair of dwarf gourami's in my community tank and have had no problems with them mixing with other fish. I think if you have fancy tailed fish you may get a little aggresion but i have had none. Platys make great tank mates and are very, very cute and playfull, as well as colourfull. On the pleco, i wouldnt get a common plec as they grow very large, try a bristlenose pleco, they dont get too big. I have two types of tetra, i didnt want to go for the neons as, no offence, everyone goes for them so i had Black Widow/Skirt Tetras and Black Phantom Tetras and they have been a brilliant addition to my tank. I also have a couple of purple apple snails in my tank which are very cute. They were in my malawi tank but the cichlids thought they may make a nice lunch so i moved them to the peacefull confines of the community tank. Whatever you choose, good luck with your new tank! GRJ

 

[Tobigara]

i've always read the discus need a larger group than 2 and that they can get up to dinner plate size. it's just my opinion but i'd replace the discus with angels.

i started out my tank with 2 dwarf gourami's and they terrorized each other and most of the other fish in there until i brought them back. my experience with gouramis hasn't been good but others have had great luck. i'm not suggesting you take them of your list but i'd keep an eye on them if you do decide to get them.

i hope everything works out...good luck

 

[divisible by zero]

I keep 10 Tiger Barbs in my community tank with Gaurami's, tetras and 2 peacock eels. Increasing the number of barbs made them less aggressive.

 

[madgap]

Dwarf gouramis are not peaceful they are shy but they are very agressive and fin nip badly.
They are also prone to disease and need a very mature planted tank.

They are so beautiful colours too but I can't say I founsd them ever peaceful/

It seems to me that each of us have different experiences with different fish types. This is my second time round that I've kept dwarf gourami and I now have ten of them. I watch all my fish regularly, and have never witnessed any ill behaviour with any of them.

Going by your post, TetraQueen, if it is from personal experiance that you make these claims. In comparison to my post it would seem that fish do indeed have somesort of a personal personallity.
Another thought might be to compare the food we feed them. Much like processed food has an advese effect on some childrens behaviour.
Or perhaps it is the set up?
Water type?
Tank mates, their influence?

This is by no means meant to be any slight on you comment, TetraQueen. But you have raised some quesions for me.

 

[I Love my fishies]

your stocking sounds good also i second that ur betta is very cute

Thanks jake

I also looked into discus,tooMy findings were this...They can not be kept with pleco due to a coating on the skin which pleco's would eat.They need to be in a shoal of no less than 6 in a 400 litre tank.They need a more active and less timid shoal such as cardinals or neons to encourage them from their nervous disposition.I'd love some discus but the first reason was the one that put me off.I'd encourage gourami any day. Mine are peacful and very interactive with me. Totally not shy.

What type of gourami do you have?

Dwarf gouramis are not peaceful they are shy but they are very agressive and fin nip badly. They are also prone to disease and need a very mature planted tank.They are so beautiful colours too but I can't say I founsd them ever peaceful/

What type of gourami would you suggest?

lol - thats pretty much what I started with in my 200L tank. The Rams are fantastic fish - love em.You could put some clowns in too - they are always fun to watch and seem to get along with everything.Only thing I did find was with 4 gouramis they never settled down, once I got down to 2 they did alot better.Just my opinion but I wouldnt put a discus in with them, they might get pecked

Hi Spooky do you think the bolivian butterflys will get along with the blue rams if I have a m & f of each?

I have apair of dwarf gourami's in my community tank and have had no problems with them mixing with other fish. I think if you have fancy tailed fish you may get a little aggresion but i have had none. Platys make great tank mates and are very, very cute and playfull, as well as colourfull. On the pleco, i wouldnt get a common plec as they grow very large, try a bristlenose pleco, they dont get too big. I have two types of tetra, i didnt want to go for the neons as, no offence, everyone goes for them so i had Black Widow/Skirt Tetras and Black Phantom Tetras and they have been a brilliant addition to my tank. I also have a couple of purple apple snails in my tank which are very cute. They were in my malawi tank but the cichlids thought they may make a nice lunch so i moved them to the peacefull confines of the community tank. Whatever you choose, good luck with your new tank! GRJ

Thanks GRJ I know everyone goes for neons and for that reason I would never have a tank with just neons and another fish that would be very boring but I think the flecks of blue and red will look great in a well planted tank I was thinking bout bristlenose but I really like the spotted ones I think they may me called peppers how big do they get? and another question have your gourami's had babies?

i've always read the discus need a larger group than 2 and that they can get up to dinner plate size. it's just my opinion but i'd replace the discus with angels. i started out my tank with 2 dwarf gourami's and they terrorized each other and most of the other fish in there until i brought them back. my experience with gouramis hasn't been good but others have had great luck. i'm not suggesting you take them of your list but i'd keep an eye on them if you do decide to get them. i hope everything works out...good luck

Thanks Tobigara