New Fluval 66.5g Shaker Tank Needs Stocking!

[JayLB]

Hey Folks,

I just acquired a new 66.5g tank, and am looking for some stocking ideas. If you are familiar with the Fluval Shakers, they are a 66.5g tank, with 407 canister, 300w heather, and aquasky lights.

I will be getting myself some (about 6) pea puffers in the coming months for the tank, but Im looking for some awesome community members for the tank, as well as plants and natural decor.

Its a beautiful setup, but lets be honest the fish are what makes it a real beaut.

 

[Wills]

Hi this sounds good! What’s your water hardness like - always a good place to start. Pea puffers are a shopping species so I’d go for a much bigger group than 6 - 12-15 would be better.

They are also a hard water species so maybe stick to harder water shoaling species like emerald rasboras, rummy nose rasboras and dwarf red rasboras. Some medium sized barbs might be good too like gold barbs?

Wills

 

[JayLB]

Hi this sounds good! What’s your water hardness like - always a good place to start. Pea puffers are a shopping species so I’d go for a much bigger group than 6 - 12-15 would be better.

They are also a hard water species so maybe stick to harder water shoaling species like emerald rasboras, rummy nose rasboras and dwarf red rasboras. Some medium sized barbs might be good too like gold barbs?

Wills

When you check hardness, is that before or after its water treated and in tank, or after.

 

[Wills]

When you check hardness, is that before or after its water treated and in tank, or after.

Check your tap water first but if you have fluctuations in your tank would be good to understand why

 

[JayLB]

Check your tap water first but if you have fluctuations in your tank would be good to understand why

will do, but if there are fluctuations, what COULD cause it?

 

[Wills]

will do, but if there are fluctuations, what COULD cause it?

Some planted substrates can lower hardness, and sometimes tap water will have a low kh which affects the stability of overall hardness but both are manageable

Its good to start with your hardness though as it will ensure the healthiest fish in your tank - keeping them in the wrong hardness, temperature or to a lesser degree ph can shorten their lifespan quite significantly.

In your situation, if you have hard water the dwarf puffers are great if you have soft water you should look at red eye red tail puffers I am a bit of a hypocrite as I have red eye red tails in slightly too hard water for them but I have a planted substrate that does soften it a bit for them, but still wish I'd gone with Dwarfs.

Wills

 

[Essjay]

Hardness should be the same in the tank and tap water unless something in the tank is altering it. Besides plant substrates, some substrates or decor can increase hardness - substrate made of crushed coral or coral sand, limestone rocks, pieces of coral etc.

 

[JayLB]

When you check hardness, is that before or after its water treated and in tank, or after.

So my GH and KH are 2 or 35.8ppm

So what does that mean for the setup?

 

[Essjay]

It means you need to keep soft water fish and avoid any species which need hard water, or even middling hardness water. The pea puffers you mentioned need harder water than this.

Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Dwarf Puffer) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[JayLB]

It means you need to keep soft water fish and avoid any species which need hard water, or even middling hardness water. The pea puffers you mentioned need harder water than this.

Carinotetraodon travancoricus (Dwarf Puffer) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

I can increase hardness with Crushed Coral. I do in other tanks for my snails. That should be ok?

 

[Essjay]

As long as the other fish in there also need harder water.


About the puffers, Seriously Fish does comment
"Not usually recommended for the community tank, as it tends to nip the fins of slow-moving or long-finned fish. It’s small size also means it doesn’t compete well for food with more active, vigorous species and could easily end up on the menu of larger companions. Tankmates must therefore be chosen with care. Smaller Loricariids (particularly Otocinclus spp.) tend to be a decent choice. There are also reports (with varying degrees of success) of cohabitation with some of the freshwater shrimp species that have become so popular in the hobby in recent years."

 

[JayLB]

As long as the other fish in there also need harder water.


About the puffers, Seriously Fish does comment
"Not usually recommended for the community tank, as it tends to nip the fins of slow-moving or long-finned fish. It’s small size also means it doesn’t compete well for food with more active, vigorous species and could easily end up on the menu of larger companions. Tankmates must therefore be chosen with care. Smaller Loricariids (particularly Otocinclus spp.) tend to be a decent choice. There are also reports (with varying degrees of success) of cohabitation with some of the freshwater shrimp species that have become so popular in the hobby in recent years."

I’m looking at some tetras and kuhli loaches.

 

[Wills]

I don't love the Seriously Fish puffer profiles, they are quite out of date.

Since you have soft water I'd for a group of Red Eye Red Tail Puffers. I have a group of 5 in my 100 litre tank (1 male and 5 females) great little fish really interactive and easier to keep with other fish than Dwarf Puffers. I keep mine with Glowlight Danios and Amano Shrimp, but have also kept them with Blue Neon Stiphodon Gobies and Green Neon Rasboras. Fast short-finned Tetras will likely be viable options as well but not sure about Kuhli Loaches - the Gobies have a bit of fight in them so we're never an issue with the Puffers where as the Kuhlis might just flop about.

The thing with puffer tanks is they have to be the centrepiece and everything you add revolves around them so it's not the same as maybe a Gourami or a Cichlid as a centrepiece where you have lots of options.

Some other loach species might work but I'm not sure. Neale Monks used to keep them and documented his experience quite a lot under his account Nmonks might be worth digging out.

This is the profile he wrote for us quite a few years ago. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/irrubesco-puffer.290892/

Wills

 

[JayLB]

I don't love the Seriously Fish puffer profiles, they are quite out of date.

Since you have soft water I'd for a group of Red Eye Red Tail Puffers. I have a group of 5 in my 100 litre tank (1 male and 5 females) great little fish really interactive and easier to keep with other fish than Dwarf Puffers. I keep mine with Glowlight Danios and Amano Shrimp, but have also kept them with Blue Neon Stiphodon Gobies and Green Neon Rasboras. Fast short-finned Tetras will likely be viable options as well but not sure about Kuhli Loaches - the Gobies have a bit of fight in them so we're never an issue with the Puffers where as the Kuhlis might just flop about.

The thing with puffer tanks is they have to be the centrepiece and everything you add revolves around them so it's not the same as maybe a Gourami or a Cichlid as a centrepiece where you have lots of options.

Some other loach species might work but I'm not sure. Neale Monks used to keep them and documented his experience quite a lot under his account Nmonks might be worth digging out.

This is the profile he wrote for us quite a few years ago. https://www.fishforums.net/threads/irrubesco-puffer.290892/

Wills

The puffers are to be the centerpiece fish, and to add a few to compliment them.