New Tank Need Stocking Help.

[adam12345]

i am starting my new job on thursday and will be getting paid more, so i thought it was time to upgrade my 2 small tanks to a bigger one. at the moment i have 2 30 liter tanks. i am thinking about getting a 95 liter or a 120 liter. not sure yet. so just in case i get the smaller one lets keep the idea's to a 95 liter tank. at the moment i have 5 zebra danios in one tank and 2 female and one male guppy in the other.

not sure weather im keeping the guppys yet im not over keen on them anymore but i might do. so in addition to these 8 fish i wanted to get 5 neon tetras? or 5 cardinal tetras? which one would you recommend? or recommend another type of tetra? also i want to add a bristlenose plec? i hear its one of the smallest growing plecs and ive always wanted one is it possible? will the tank be overstocked? or can i add more if so what?

thanks for your help

 

[mattlee]

do you know the footprint of the tank, measurements?

if its a 95L but tall instead of wide then this may decrease stocking levels due to less surface areas. i have a 100L tank that is 3ft long and a 90L that is only 2ft long. so stocking can be slighlty higher in the 3ft as it will have greater surface area.

if you can afford it then go for the bigger of the 2 as even 25L difference can make a big difference.

there are many plecos that stay small it just depends on why you want one and what temp the tank will be ran at.... also dont forget that they are pretty much all big waste producers so will effect stocking especially when fully grown.

i personally would do cardinals over neons as they have more colour and get slightly bigger and dont carry the neon tetra disease. there are many nice tetras to choose from pristella, lemon, diamond, black neon, flame.... etc etc but they all prefer to be in as big a group as possible usually 6+ is recommended.

cardinals do prefer higher temps than most other tetras so this may well be worth looking into.

 

[adam12345]

do you know the footprint of the tank, measurements?

if its a 95L but tall instead of wide then this may decrease stocking levels due to less surface areas. i have a 100L tank that is 3ft long and a 90L that is only 2ft long. so stocking can be slighlty higher in the 3ft as it will have greater surface area.

if you can afford it then go for the bigger of the 2 as even 25L difference can make a big difference.

there are many plecos that stay small it just depends on why you want one and what temp the tank will be ran at.... also dont forget that they are pretty much all big waste producers so will effect stocking especially when fully grown.

i personally would do cardinals over neons as they have more colour and get slightly bigger and dont carry the neon tetra disease. there are many nice tetras to choose from pristella, lemon, diamond, black neon, flame.... etc etc but they all prefer to be in as big a group as possible usually 6+ is recommended.

cardinals do prefer higher temps than most other tetras so this may well be worth looking into.

cheers for your reply mate. not sure on the mesurements sorry. it is longer then it is height wise. so proberly not the best idea to go with the plec? ive always wanted one but ive only been keeping fish for about 4 months so still quite new to it all and dont want to make it hard for my self with messy fish. i think i will go for the cardinal tetras then. are they hardy fish? not want anything too hard to keep? can you recomend any fish that are hardy and will go with the fish i already have?

thanks

 

[mattlee]

there are smaller plecs out there, pitbull plec, bulldog plec ive just got a group of L333's that get to about 6-7 inches.

hardy fish..... well tetras basically do better in an established tank thats mature etc this is why many many neon tetras have a very short life in new aquariums as they just dont like fluctuations in water chenistry.
guppys, platys, swordtails are supposedly hardy but if the tanks filter is cycled and the tank is stable then i shouldnt see why most fish cant be added. there are fish that need more care than others but if you keep on top of your water changes and dont add too many new fish at once then all will be good.

if you dont have a liquid based test kit then i would get one, cheapest API i found was on ebay, and everytime you add new fish 2 or 3 at a time test the water daily for a week or so everyday and look for any ammonia or nitrite spikes due to the extra bioload in the tank.

you can use your old tank as a quarentine tank too so no bugs etc get into the new tank