New To Hobby And Need Some Advice...

[lee.barros]

What about Dwarf Gouramis? Or 2 Bettas?

I prefer the look of neon tetras, would a shoal of about 8-10 be sufficient along with 6 panda corys?

Im getting excited about this now lol

 

[arobinson1984]

Bettas cant be mixed together and they dont make a good community fish. 2 males will fight until the death, same with male/female. The only way bettas can be mixed is by getting 6+ female bettas to spread out aggression.

Neon tetras prefer a mature tank of at least 6 months old, they are sometimes ok in new tanks but its not advised as they quite often seem to drop like flies. Endlers are nice bright colourful fish. Harlequins are hardy.

Panda corys also are one of the most sensitive of the cory species.

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

This is getting harder lol

Since you said the neon tetras prefer a mature tank, would it be better to start off with 6-8 copper harlequins? Then once the tank has matured I can change them or add in some neon tetras. When you say the harlequins are hardy, is that a good thing?

I will look more into the corys and see what other species there are.

What websites are there that you can buy fish from and get delivered to your door within the uk?

Cheers

 

[arobinson1984]

I personally havent bought online because I have a great store just 20 mins away so you'd be best using the search function on this forum as online stores have been discussed many times. Unless you are buying large quantities of fish or fish that are quite rare then I dont think online shopping would be worth it as most online stores tend to charge around £10-£15 for delivery.

Yes copper harlequins would be better, in about 6 months time when the tank has fully matured you can normally increase the stocking level of a tank providing the filtration is decent so at that point you should be ok to add a small shoal of neons (6-8) into the tank as well as the harlequins.

Hardy means that the fish is less sensitive to changing conditions and can live happily in a wider range of conditions as in new tanks conditions tend to fluctuate a bit until the tak gains maturity which is normally around 4-6 months. Don't confuse a mature tank to a cycled tank, they are different. A tank will normally complete a cycle in around 6-8 weeks but that doesnt class the tank as mature. There are quite a few delicate fish that require specific conditions and water parameters so its always advised for a newbie to try stick to the hardier types until they gain more knowledge about the hobby, their tank, filtration etc etc.

There are absolutely loads of different types of corys, as mentioned before, I like the sterbai cories, they look stunning in a little group but do tend to be a bit more expensive than most cory species, I paid £5 per sterbai cory whereas other corys can usually be picked up for around £2.50-£3 per fish all depeding on where you go for them.

Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, very much like your choice of the rasboras (my group continues to look beautiful and are entertaining) and neons (have a group of those too!) I've decided rasboras are even more hardy than zebra danios and are a great fish for beginners and also a great first introduction to a tank right after the fishless cycle. The neons can be hardy fish too, its just a very true observation that you will have a much higher percentage of them -get- to that hardy stage if you simply wait 6 months before introducing them -- for them, there's something else going on in a new tank and they need that. But their electric color is well worth the wait!

I also like lots of other tetras.. penguins and scissors (as you mention) (but check if you have enough stocking space on your list as I can't remember the mature lengths they get too and what their minimum shoal sizes are. Note that these two things, final mature size and minimum shoaling size are the two pieces of data you have to be constantly seeking as part of your homework on your stocking list. Glowlight and head&taillight tetras are also nice. Panda corys are sensitive I believe, so you might want to study up on this and decide if they're not the best choice for your first year, not sure. Agree with Andy, there are a ton of other cory types out there. Don't worry about losing the barbs off your list, lots of beginners have tigers, for instance, on their list because they are so strikingly colored, but the are fast, rough and mean, sometimes even when you've met the minimum shoal (and if you do meet that minimum you've got a potentially too active tank. What barbs really need is to be among the smaller sized fish in a huge tank that has plenty of fish bigger than they are! Agree, tank too small for angels.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

I have had another look at the serbai corys and I actually like the look of them. I have had a look over the potential stocking list and have came up with the following:

6-8 Copper Harlequins, 6/7 Serbai Corys and still to decide on a "Centrepiece Fish". What makes a centrepiece fish? I would like something bigger than the other fish that stands out from the crowd...

After the tank has matured I will look into adding some neon tetras. Once I have the stock list sorted I can start to sort out what types of plants I need.

I know I keep asking questions but I appreciate your replies everytime.

Cheers guys!

 

[waterdrop]

I don't believe there's any special "fishkeeping" meaning to the term "centerpiece fish." Its just people trying to express that perhaps a couple of fish in their tank are larger or more expensive and likely to draw the first attention as people cross the room to examine the tank. A pair of angelfish in a taller medium to largish tank would be an example, or a pair or more of other beautiful cichlids. In a smaller 20g like yours, a pair of Honey Gouramis would be a common suggestion, but there are probably plenty of others.

Although I agree there is plenty of significance to having a tropical tank attract attention from across the room, one of the things I've always loved about the hobby, ever since I was little, was the quiet simple pleasure of putting your face up close to a tank and becoming absorbed in the beauty of the water, of some particular little fish, of the plants... There are many ways that a tank is attractive! Last night I finally installed a hydor nano powerhead in my tank to create more water movement at different levels of the tank. I knew it would be a big deal to the fish and I was not disappointed: my rasbora group quickly went to investigate the source of the powerful jet of water movement and began lining up to be shot across the tank, only to come right back for more! I was laughing so loud that my family had to come to see what the commotion was all about.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

So basically any fish that is compatible with the other ones that I have mentioned and is bigger than those would be fine as the main attraction to the tank? Gouramis are nice looking fish. I am still a while away from getting any fish so there's plenty of time to choose but I will be going for the Copper Harlequins (then Neon Tetras once the tank has matured) along with Sterbai Cory. I was looking at the facts about Sterbai Corys and it says the require a minimum tank size of 100l?

 

[arobinson1984]

Some websites will give a larger minimum tank size because sterbai corys tend to look better and thrive better in larger groups. If the tank was large enough then a group of 20+ sterbais would look amazing.

I think you'd be fine with 6 sterbai in the tank.

If you are worried about the size, have a look at pygmy corys, they are one of the smallest cories you can buy and could prob have more like 8-10 in your tank

Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, there are 3 types of little ones. I'm forever forgetting the details but seems like one species were bottom swimmers whereas one or both of the other species were middle depth swimmers.. perhaps one species was less distinctive in markings/colors or activity. In fact I'm wanting to remember it was "Habrosus"(?) that were the most interesting? Andy, do you remember any of these details? I know OM knows it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Yea, I like the look of the sterbai corys. 5-6 would look good I hope. What about male / female mixing? Or would it be better to add just males or just females?

Also, in what order would you add the fish and what ones would be best to get first / how many etc?

I can't wait to get started lol

 

[arobinson1984]

Sterbai corys cannot be sexed so its a case of lucky dip lol

If you are planning on doing a fishless cycle then you can fully stock up to about 90% of the tanks limit straight away once the cycles finished, so you could put your centrepiece fish, harlequins and corys all in together and then look at adding the neons in about 6 months time once the tank has matured

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

Ah right, I suppose that could be an interesting thing to find out what happens

So the stocking list for the Rekord 600 (63L) reads as follows:

Pair of Dwarf Gouramis, 6 Copper Harlequins, 6 Sterbai Corys and once the tank has matured 6 Neon Tetras.

Im gona start reading up on substrates for these type of fish and find out what the best is. I was reading something about Corys prefering smooth substrate - sand?

 

[arobinson1984]

Yes definately sand for cory's, I have just changed mine from gravel to sand last weekend and the corys are much happier now.

Sand is a lot cheaper. Go to your local argos and they sell bags of childrens play sand for £2.99 a bag which is fine to use as long as it is cleaned well, for that sized tank you'd only need half a bag as I used 1 full bag on my 125L

To clean the sand you fill up a bucket about 3/4 full of sand and put a hosepipe into it, fill the bucket with water and keep the hosepipe running so the water overflows the bucket, stir up the sand with your hand and keep the water running until the water overflowing the bucket is clear.

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

Can you have a mixture of sand and smooth gravel to add dynamics to the looks of the tank?

Is it the same process for cleaning the sand during the weekly water change using a syphon/gravel cleaner?