Need Stocking Ideas

[mr130gallon]

ok i know no one reads stocking threads unless you make it seem dramatic so thats why the title was changed, please help with ideas.

Currently in my 130 gallon i have: Fish: 1 Rosy Barb, 2 Bristlenose Catfish, 2 SAE's, ~20 Neon Tetras, 6 Cherry Barbs, 4 Bolivian Rams, 4 Black Neon Tetras, 6 Bronze Cories

but i will most likely be taking the rosy barb out today, because im doing a 60-80% waterchange today and it will be easy to catch him.
i will be adding 2 more bolivian rams so i can get at least 1 pair, and i will then be returning 2 of them so ill be at 4 again

i want to add 2 or 3 gold gouramis, what would be a good amount?

i want to add 2 or 4 angelfish (i know they eat neons but it will be a long time before they are big enough to eat them and i should have my tank quite well planted by that time) unless someone can show me a fish that can take the spot of them that looks just as stunning and is mid level swimmer.

im thinking of bumping my cory school up to 10, if i got 4 albino bronze cories would the school with the regular bronze cories?

i want a few khulis too and since they have a small bioload i will probably get around 7-10.

the ph is at 7.6 and temp at ~78 i currently only have a eheim 2217 on it but im also getting a penn plax 1500 and probably a HOB filter just for extra filtration (i should have done a sump)

and ideas?

 

[OldMan47]

If the new albinos are the same species as your current bronze cories they will shoal together. Fish do not notice the color difference the way you might think. I have no idea how they determine species since the only way I can usually tell cories apart is by the color patterns. The angels will indeed eat the neons and any similar sized fish, but it might take them a year or more to get big enough to do that. I don't see why you would remove the rosy except that it is probably lonely with no others of its kind. If you have a filter big enough fr your tank, more filters do not allow more fish, they merely make it possible to survive a single filter failure without endangering the fish. I like the idea of some gouramis but am far from expert on the various species of gourami. I like the way they look and may again add some gouramis to my 120 community some day. There is something about the look of khulis that just doesn't appeal to me. There are tons of folks who like them so don't let me influence you there. It looks to me like you have a nice light fish load in that tank and could add several more if you wanted to up the water change amounts or frequency to accommodate the nitrate build up.

 

[mr130gallon]

yeah, thats why i want to get rid of the rosy, and its cool that the albinos will go with the regulars, do you know of other fish that could take the place of the angels? i like that eel like look of the khulis, but if they hide all the time like they do in my friends tank then i will be very dissapointed, i need another filter because the filter i currently have apparently isnt big enough for my tank.

 

[mr130gallon]

does anybody have ideas for a fish i could put in there instead of angels? im really open to ideas right now, if i dont get a few good ideas soon ill probably end up just buying some angels

 

[mr130gallon]

would swordtails or platies work?

 

[OldMan47]

A trio of swordtails might work. Swords tend to be more aggressive than many of the other livebearers and you have a semi-aggressive assortment in the tank already. Something that is not clear to me is the water that you are working with. Many of your present fish are reputed to be "soft water" fish which often also means relatively lower pH. At a pH of 7.6, the water would probably be fine for the swords but The typical high mineral content of higher pH water would not be a great idea with the rest of that stocking. It just seemed a strange mix to me given the tank's present pH and I thought I would at least let you know. In your shoes, I would do a hardness test and see what the mineral content of the water really is like.

 

[indigoj]

School of Red Rainbows?

Leopard Ctenopoma? (I keep 4 together no problem and they would be quite visible in a planted tank.)

Reedfish?

 

[mr130gallon]

A trio of swordtails might work. Swords tend to be more aggressive than many of the other livebearers and you have a semi-aggressive assortment in the tank already. Something that is not clear to me is the water that you are working with. Many of your present fish are reputed to be "soft water" fish which often also means relatively lower pH. At a pH of 7.6, the water would probably be fine for the swords but The typical high mineral content of higher pH water would not be a great idea with the rest of that stocking. It just seemed a strange mix to me given the tank's present pH and I thought I would at least let you know. In your shoes, I would do a hardness test and see what the mineral content of the water really is like.

i know i have hard water, i can taste it lol, i went with fish that people said would do ok, i people said i should take neons instead of cardinals, bolivians instead of german blues and the rest i just bought, what fish are harder water fish?

School of Red Rainbows?

Leopard Ctenopoma? (I keep 4 together no problem and they would be quite visible in a planted tank.)

Reedfish?

would reedfish not eat the neons or something? i saw one for sale at my lfs and it looks awesome how big do they get?

 

[drobbyb]

As stated, a nice sized group of rainbows would look stunning. Some of the more common types are boesemani, turquoise, iran red, praecox (these are dwarf sized.) With a tank that size, you could keep any of the rainbow species, possibly a few groups.

 

[OldMan47]

The African rift lake fish and most of the common livebearers do very well in hard water with a high pH. Many of the Central American cichlids also thrive in water like that. You have already compromised somewhat on your choices because of the water so my guess is that it is no surprise to you that there are limits to what will thrive.

 

[indigoj]

I keep my group of reedfish with praecox rainbows and glass cats with no trouble, although they are a ittle larger that neons. Personally I'd give it a go in a well planted aquarium as long as the reedfish were well fed and the neons in a decent group.

 

[mr130gallon]

As stated, a nice sized group of rainbows would look stunning. Some of the more common types are boesemani, turquoise, iran red, praecox (these are dwarf sized.) With a tank that size, you could keep any of the rainbow species, possibly a few groups.

i was thinking of buying some rainbowfish, how many do you need in a group?


what do reedfish eat? i really would like to have one.

 

[indigoj]

Rainbows I'd say 5 or 6 for a group as a minimum for the schooling types.

Reedfish Diet? Mine eat anything from bloodworm, prawns and other meaty foods to pellets, algae wafers (broken up) and tetra prima. I wouldn't recommend just one though as they are social and do much better in a small group - even 2 - I've seen a noticable difference in activity between having 2 and having 5, the bigger the group the bolder they are. When I kept just 1 it hid a lot.

 

[drobbyb]

6 or more rainbows to a group. 4 females 2 males in a group of 6 if you are going to be keeping both sexes.

 

[mr130gallon]

ok, ill try to find a few reedfish, and ill get 6 rainbows, do they breed easily?