My Stocking Ideas

[mishka83]

Hiya,

Juwel 180 Vision.

* Corydoras Sterbei
* Bronze or Green Corydoras
* Cherry Shrimp
* Guppies
* Platys
* Angels
* Dwarf Gouramis
* Siamese Fighter
* Khuli Loaches
* Bristlenoses
* Banjo Catfish
* Bolivian Rams
* Clown Loaches

These are my ideas for when my tank is finished cycling. Would love to have all of them but know that probably isn't possible!!

Please give comments and how many of each i should have etc etc.

Thanks.

 

[Fish Guy]

I wouldn't go with the Clown Loaches as they like to be in groups and get too big for a 180L. I don't think I would go with a Betta ( Siamese Figther ) in a community tank, they will be aggressive towards the gouramis and guppies espcailly, and not to mention other fish will love to nip at the Bettas long fins.
I would go with 2 Angels, 3 Rams( 1M, 2F ) , 6-7 Platies or Swordtails, 8 Cories, and 1 BN.

 

[Gvilleguy]

No to the Betta (Siamese) and no to the Cherry Shrimp. I tried a Dwarf Gourami with Cherry Shrimp, and the shrimp came out on the losing end. That combined with the Angels and Bolivian Rams would not be good. I think they would all try to make a meal of the shrimp.

Plan to provide flakes for the top feeders and some type of sinking pellets for the bottom dwellers (Rams, Corys, catfish, etc.).

 

[mishka83]

ok, no shrimp then thats ok.

would 3 angels be ok, or do they need to be in pairs?

It doesn't matter about the clown loach sizes, they can be re-homed if they get too big.

 

[Westwood]

I would keep 4 angels. As 3 is a disaster if 2 pair up, as they will fight the last angel.

 

[fluttermoth]

Personally, in a tank that size, I'd keep just the one angel.

That'll save you from having aggression problems (and some angels can be veryaggressive, especially at breeding time) and give you space for some of your other choices, as angels do grow large and a group of them (they need to be either single specimens, mated pairs or groups of 6+ IMO) would take up a lot of your space.

I think it does matter about the clown loach size. Keeping fish in too small a tank will result in them being stunted and you won't know until it's too late. I very strongly believe that you should not get fish unless you can comfortably house them for their whole lives in the tanks you have now.
Imagine people living in tiny flats getting Great Dane puppies and saying, "oh, I'll re-home it when it grows too big." Would anyone condone that kind of attitude? But people do it with fish all the time

All the rest of your choices sound absolutely fine; you'll just have to make a choice between the gourami/guppies or the Siamese fighter. You could have the gourami and the guppies, or the fighter; you can't have them all as the fighter will attack the guppies and gourami

 

[marieukxx]

No to the Betta (Fighter) with those other fish.

 

[OldMan47]

The clown loaches get too big too fast for such a small tank. I have seen some very nice clown loach stockings in a tank that was 6 feet long and over 2 feet in each of the other dimensions. (I am guessing it was about 700 litres or a bit more.) I would suggest that a single species of cories would be better than 2 different species in minimal numbers. If you planned on 6 of each, why not use 9 or 10 of a single species instead. Cories in large numbers are a real delight to watch. Angels are skilled predators that will quickly remove any small fish or fry. They do not belong in a tank with little fish like neons and will definitely prevent any fry survival from your livebearers. They are also quite hard to sex so with angels the most common approach is to place 5 or 6 together as juveniles and watch for them to pair off. After that, all other angels, aside from the pair, are removed.
I really like the large variety of fish you have chosen but I am afraid it will look like a bit of a mish-mash. For a striking display, a few large groups of individual fish species seems to work better. Maybe a choice of one kind of catfish, one kind of livebearer and a choice of angels or gouramis or rams would work. Each fish would exist in enough numbers to be noticed by a casual observer and the ones that shoal would give large scale movement to the tank. I think the most stunning display I have ever seen was one my uncle did with a dozen neons in a 10 gallon tank with lots of plants. I had seen many community tanks before that but the shoaling of the neons and their movements in near unison made them stand out as a beautiful tank.

 

[mishka83]

Thanks for the further input

Ok, no fighter and no angels.

I will be happy with:

Platies
Guppies
Gouramis (dwarf and one other)
Corydoras Sterbei (6)
Green or Bronze Corydoras (6)
Bristlenose Catfish
Banjo Catfish
Bolivian Rams (3)

Can someone tell me what number i'd be looking at for each please?

Is it ok just to keep male guppies?

Which gourami would live happily with dwarf, i was hoping for 2 species.

I know my tank will be a bit mix & match but i like that!! I don't have visitors so just me to enjoy it

 

[KittyKat]

Platies - ok, males only or 2+ females per male.. so 3, 6, 9, 12 are good numbers
Guppies - ok, males only or 2+ females per male.. so 3, 6, 9, 12 are good numbers
Gouramis (dwarf and one other) - recommend 1 male and 2 females of dwarfs, it is not a good idea to mix species due to aggression (look at honey gouramis instead)
Corydoras Sterbei (6) - ok, personally prefer only one species
Green or Bronze Corydoras (6) - ok, ^
Bristlenose Catfish - if your tank is 3ft: 1 or 1m 1f
Banjo Catfish - someone else can comment here
Bolivian Rams (3) - same problem as angels, keep only 2.. personally, I would want at least a 4ft tank for the species due to their potential adult size, in a 3ft tank, I would go for Apistogramma (1m 3f)

It would be better if you kept either males only of all livebearers or mixed sex groups of all.

Many fish will live better if the tank is not mix&match, but closer to how they live in the wild.

 

[mishka83]

Platies - ok, males only or 2+ females per male.. so 3, 6, 9, 12 are good numbers
Guppies - ok, males only or 2+ females per male.. so 3, 6, 9, 12 are good numbers
Gouramis (dwarf and one other) - recommend 1 male and 2 females of dwarfs, it is not a good idea to mix species due to aggression (look at honey gouramis instead)
Corydoras Sterbei (6) - ok, personally prefer only one species
Green or Bronze Corydoras (6) - ok, ^
Bristlenose Catfish - if your tank is 3ft: 1 or 1m 1f
Banjo Catfish - someone else can comment here
Bolivian Rams (3) - same problem as angels, keep only 2.. personally, I would want at least a 4ft tank for the species due to their potential adult size, in a 3ft tank, I would go for Apistogramma (1m 3f)

It would be better if you kept either males only of all livebearers or mixed sex groups of all.

Many fish will live better if the tank is not mix&match, but closer to how they live in the wild.

Thanks. I think i'll go for male only guppies, and a mix of platies at the ratio of 1 male to 3 females.
Gouramis i'll stick to the dwarfs, are all males ok, or do you need females?
I'll go for 1 bristlenose, continue research into the Banjo.
Rams i won't bother with.
Almost sorted

 

[KittyKat]

It would be better if you kept either males only of all livebearers or mixed sex groups of all.

Thanks. I think i'll go for male only guppies, and a mix of platies at the ratio of 1 male to 3 females.

That would work if you have say.. 4m 12f platys and 2-3m guppies (which gives you about 1m:2f ratio). The male guppies are very likely to harass the female platys in the absence of females of their own kind. It does depend on individual fish, so I would recommend stocking guppies slowly and seeing how the platy females deal with them.

Gouramis i'll stick to the dwarfs, are all males ok, or do you need females?

Most males will fight to death in a tank that size, which is why I said 1 male and 2 females.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree. Dwarf Gourami males can get quite feisty with each other if they don't have enough of their own territory and females. Anyone out there ever studied their natural habitat? I wonder what manner of separation and behavior is seen in the field.. ah, probably just another of the wide areas of ignorance for us - when you get to the occasional conference and hear the stories and see the slides of the adventurers you realize how few scientists (and little money) there are/is to go around for all the interesting questions out there. Are there any shots of dwarf gouramis in nature on youtube or such?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[KittyKat]

Anyone out there ever studied their natural habitat? I wonder what manner of separation and behavior is seen in the field.. ah, probably just another of the wide areas of ignorance for us - when you get to the occasional conference and hear the stories and see the slides of the adventurers you realize how few scientists (and little money) there are/is to go around for all the interesting questions out there. Are there any shots of dwarf gouramis in nature on youtube or such?

I had a quick look...

The species of trichopodus [now known as Colisa], which I have seen, are all very beautiful, and are common in the ponds, marshes, and ditches of the Gangetic provinces; but they are all small, are no where found in great quantity

..which I would take to imply that as with Bettas, they live in very low concentrations, thereby avoiding most contact with their own kind. I suspect that in nature, males are highly territorial, so do not move far from their chosen breeding spot and so do not encounter each other very often.

If you are interested in the rest:

The Bengalese give to all the species the generic name Colisa, (Kholisha but the first, being considered as the prototype of the genus, receives this name without addition, while each of the others receives a specific appellation prefixed to the generic name.

[...]

4th Species.—Trichopodus Lalius. [aka C. lalia, the dwarf gourami]
A trichopodus with the fin of the tail fan-shaped, and with transverse red bars on the sides.
This most beautiful fish is no larger than the third species, and is of a green colour, with many transverse red bars on the sides, and with a silver-coloured gloss on the breast and gillcovers. The hinder fins are spotted with red. The eyes are red with a dusky transverse bar.
The head is blunt and unarmed, and the edges of the cheekbones are not indented. There are no teeth, except a roughness on the jaws. The eyes are of a moderate size. The edge of the foremost plate in each gill-cover is indented. The membranes are concealed, each containing about four rays.
There is no lateral line.
The back fin contains sixteen prickles and eight branched rays. The pectoral fins are low, and each contains nine rays. The ventral fins reach to near the end of the fin behind the vent, which contains eighteen prickles and fifteen branched rays. In the tail fin there are sixteen distinct rays, with some short compacted ones on each side.

 

[Davo86]

I will be happy with:

Platies
Guppies
Gouramis (dwarf and one other)
Corydoras Sterbei (6)
Green or Bronze Corydoras (6)
Bristlenose Catfish
Banjo Catfish
Bolivian Rams (3)

Platies - 6 Males
Guppies - 6 Males
Gouramis - trio of Colisa labiosa (thicklip) and trio of colisia chuna (Honey)
Corydoras Sterbei - 6
Green or Bronze Corydoras - 6
Bristlenose Catfish - 1
Bolivian Rams - 2

personally would scratch Banjo Catfish from the list simply because you never see them,