New Juwel 96 Tank - Fish/Plants/Cycle Log

[bushbrother]

OK, after many weeks of not being able to collect the tank I finally got it home I then went to LFS and got myself 8KG of sand, a nice piece of bogwood and a couple of white pebbles. Got home set it all up and started to wash all the sand ...

3 hours later ! ... yup took me ages! ... the sand was finally clear, man there is alot of silt in that stuff, or maybe I'm just unlucky Anyway, filled it up with water and added the pebbles, fired up the filter and after an hour switched on the heater, all good so far. Now my bogwood is soaking in the bath

A quick picture (sorry for low quality, its from my phone) to show how its looking now ... got a "bubble bar" thrown in there too, not sure if I will use that or an air stone hidden in pebbles

 

[crazychris]

Hi OP. When you've cycled your tank you could include a small shoal of Pristella Tetras (also called X-Ray Tetras) They're very hardy so suitable for a beginner, pretty, peaceful and don't grow too big. Frankly I'd avoid neons or cardinals as they're not as hardy as they used to be, are rather delicate and need excellent water quality.

Here are the Pristellas:

<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=214236" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=214236</a>

 

[bushbrother]

Hi all, hoping you can help me out again. So I have started cycling the tank (on day 1) and have been to the LFS to see what is available and I have made a list of all the fish I liked the look of and seemed to be community fish with adult size around 5-8cm (2-3in). Here is the list, can you let me know what would be suitable etc and the numbers i should be looking at ... I know its a long list

Narrow Wedge Harlequin
Odessa Barb
Albino Tiger Barb
Pentazone Barb
Columbian Tetra
Blue Emperor Tetra
X-Ray Tetra
Diamond Neon
Red Honey Gourami (and Honey Gourami)
Lamp Eye
Neon Tetra
Corydoras Sterbai
Botia Sidthimunki
Marble Hatchetfish
Pigmy Corydoras
Corydoras Panda
Adolfois Corydoras
Rummy Nose Tetra
Glass Catfish
Threadfin Rainbow
Ember Tetra
Julii Corydoras

So I am guessing that you cannot mix and match the tetra/barb/corydoras species as they would know they are different, right? If so which are the most suitable to get to go with the other fish on the list. I like the Glass Catfish as a centrepiece and the pygmy corydoras, honey gourami, ember tetra and the Threadfin rainbow ... too many to choose from! HELP!

Updated Pic:

 

[rabbut]

Long list of fish there, but I'll try give to run-down on as many as possible...

Narrow Wedge Harlequin - Harlequins are small and well behaved. Mix with anything that won't eat them pretty much...

Odessa Barb - A pieceful barb that gets to about 2-3". Will mix with most things

Albino Tiger Barb - A prolific fin nipper that can get large-ish, 3-4". Though not as bad as their reputation, they should not be added if you are going to add stock with long fins later

Pentazone Barb - Well behaved and tough as old boots. Will mix fine with most things

Columbian Tetra - An agresssive fin nipper. Treat like slightly smaller tiger barbs and you won't go far wrong

Blue Emperor Tetra - Mild fin-nipper, but generally well behaved. Need to excersise care when mixing with stuff with long fins

X-Ray Tetra - As for Prestilla tetras really. Well behaved and hardy, mixing with anything that won't eat them.

Diamond Neon - Treat like neon's. Need a mature tank of at least 6 months old to do well, but otherwise fine in any tank where the tankmates won't eat them

Red Honey Gourami (and Honey Gourami) - Delicate little fish, needing a mature tank and placid tankmates. Not an ideal beginner fish for these reasons, but they do OK if given the correct care

Lamp Eye - One of only two species of fish I've had to give up trying to keep. They seem to just melt in my tanks. Stay small and are well behaved, but seamingly sencitive to anything and everything...

Neon Tetra - Same as Diamond Neon's

Corydoras Sterbai - A small, well behaved, bottom dweller that stays te average size for a corry

Botia Sidthimunki - going to have to pass here I'm afraid, don't know which they are...

Marble Hatchetfish - need a tight fitting lid as they are a jumper. Get larger than you'd esxpect at 3", but well behaved and fairly hardy.

Pigmy Corydoras - A dwarf corry that's sencitive. Give it a mature tank.

Corydoras Panda - A smaller corry that needs a mature tank

Adolfois Corydoras - A larger corry that prefers warmer conditions

Rummy Nose Tetra - Treat like Neons

Glass Catfish - Get large at 6". While captive bred stock is fine, Wild caugt stock often needs to be fed live/frozen foods to feed properly, so excersize care and give wild caught ones a mature tank

Threadfin Rainbow - Well behaved little rainbowfish.

Ember Tetra - Treat like Neons.

Julii Corydoras - Treat like Sterbai

All the fish you want need a minimum group of 4, with 6 being better. They will all mix OK, wich is a rarety for a first list of fish you'd like

All the best
rabbut

 

[craig855s]

i recomend a school of 8 harlequins, 6 sterbai corys (expensive mind) and something else to be a centrepiece,like bolivian rams maybe...but only once ur tank has matured for a few months

 

[bushbrother]

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate the efforts So I guess I will need to select 4 from that list and then re-post with some numbers ... The Glass Catfish look like they get too big so will not get those

I forgot to add that I wanted to add a couple of shrimp too to keep the plants clean (when I plant it up) will any fish cause problems with the shrimp? Also my LFS only seems to have the "regular" colour shrimp, what about the cherry shrimp? Are they freshwater?

 

[OldMan47]

Cherry shrimp are not only a different color, they are much smaller than the typical "ghost shrimp" that you often see in a LFS.

 

[bushbrother]

OK so I have to now make a decision on fish, but just to clarify before I make my mind up, how many can I have in my tank ... this is what I am thinking ...

Tank is 96 litres -> 25 USG which means around 25" of fish. Now most of the fish I like are small, say an average of 2" so that would mean 12-14 fish if you removed their tail right?

So would that mean I could do:

4 x species X Tetra
4 x species Y Barb
4 x species Z Cory
2 x Gourami

And finally would adding 2-3 Amano shrimp in there class as inches of fish? or would they be ok too?

Thanks again for all the help ...

BTW: I started my cycling, added the ammonia to bring to 5ppm as per calculator, but when I tested the same evening it was showing somewhere between 5-8ppm, I guess I need to reduce a little, will this affect anything? I will probably start a cycling thread soon too

 

[indigoj]

4 x species X Tetra
4 x species Y Barb
4 x species Z Cory
2 x Gourami


Ok, tetras, cories and barbs are all better kept in a group of 6 or more - if you have good filtration and chose smaller types then that is possible (I'd def. recommend an external filter at some point) If you only have the built in filter that comes with the tank I'd go with 7 of either the barbs or tetras and 5 cories.

Which gouramis? Some get too big, others like 'dwarf gouramis' tend not to be the most robust of fish. Have a look at pearl gouramis and thick-lipped gouramis.

 

[bushbrother]

Thanks for the reply, I am using the internal filter. I did not really want to go external, this is my first go at this so wanted an "all-in-one" solution that looked neat It has a Juwel 400 impeller in it.

I was looking at the Honey Gourami, but the LFS had the pearl ones and red honey too ...

 

[indigoj]

LOL if you get hooked you'll want to go external - they are so much better.

Honeys are perfect - go for the natural coloured ones as chances are they will be hardier. If you go for honeys you could go for the 6 each of a smaller tetra, smaller barb and something like panda cories.

 

[bushbrother]

LOL if you get hooked you'll want to go external - they are so much better.

Honeys are perfect - go for the natural coloured ones as chances are they will be hardier. If you go for honeys you could go for the 6 each of a smaller tetra, smaller barb and something like panda cories.

so 6 x small cories, 6 x small tetra, 6 x small barb and 2 x honey gourami would be ok?

and the shrimp, do they add alot to the bioload? Thanks

 

[indigoj]

I don't know much about shrimp sorry but I don't think they add significantly to bioloads.

remember to think in adult sizes when looking at fish too

 

[bushbrother]

So a little update on both cycling and plants ... I placed an order from plantsalive.co.uk and they arrived today, I did not know what to expect so opted for the 18" collection for £5.95 plus £2.95 delivery. I have added pictures of the package and the results, they looked a little sad at first but look much better in the tank.

Day 3 of my cycle and no change in Ammonia, still at 4-5ppm, Tomorrow I will add a squeeze from my goldfish tank ...

So The pix, here are the plants on arrival, in a plastic bag with descriptions, also included was some lead strips and 9 "growth tabs" to place at the base of the plants ...

Here is the results, I would love to know peoples comments, I just planted how I thought it looked best No idea if i followed the back, middle, foreground rules ....

 

[tropic_john]

Very nice, try and get some moss of some sort on that front section of the bogwood and maybe a bit on the top of it. And with that internal. can you get a knife and just cut the excess piping off. And maybe, when you need to cut the plants, put some tall plants to cover the internal.

And very very nice btw.