New to this Hobby - Looking for advice on stocking a 60L (15ish Gal) Planted Tank

[HDPlantedTank]

Hello!

I am looking for advice on stocking a 60L (15Gal) planted tank. Stocking won't be happening for a little while as I am cycling the tank (with some shrimp and our plants).

I'll say that this tank is for my two children, but let's be honest, I'm totally into this and am loving researching anything and everything to do with Planted Tanks.

I've been onto AqAdvisor to have a look roughly at how many fish this tank could hold. The dimensions are approx 60cm length, 30cm depth, and 34cm high.

I'm thinking (and am completely open to suggestions as I have very little idea!) of stocking with something like the following:
Top Dweller: Dwarf Neon/Blue Gourami x2
Top: Guppies x3
Mid: Neon Tetra x7
Mid/Bottom: Pygmy Corydoras x5
Bottom: Cherry/Ghost Shrimp x5 (at the moment)

This puts us at 98% stocked according to AqAdvisor. Happy to take any and all the advice! I would like to have a couple of 'showy' fish (thus the gourami), so my boys can easily see them, but not necessarily attached to the Gourami if there are other ideas!

In the tank, along with plants we also have driftwood, a couple of rocks, and some novelty hideouts like a submarine and a bridge.

Thanks in advance,
Hannah

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?

This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

-------------------
Don't get dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) or any of their colour forms because they are regularly infected with the gourami iridovirus (not that common on fish imported into Australia but still a risk) and they can have Fish Tuberculosis (TB). Neither disease can be treated or cured and you don't want them in the tank.

Guppies and neons need different water chemistry (see above for GH).

If you want guppies, go for all males or all females and have a group of 5-6 to reduce bullying. If you get female guppies, they will probably be gravid (pregnant) and you will probably end up with a few babies.

Guppies are also regularly infested with intestinal worms and external protozoan parasites. They can be easily treated if caught in time but avoid buying fish from tanks where any fish has a cream, white or grey patch on the body or fins, and avoid fish that are gasping (breathing heavily) near the filter outlet or surface. If in doubt, don't get fish from that tank.

Try to avoid buying fish if they have just come in or if the shop has done a water change that day. if possible, get fish the day before they do a water change, and get them a week after they have come into the shop. this gives the fish a chance to settle in to the shop tank and then get caught and moved to your tank.

 

[HDPlantedTank]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?

This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

-------------------
Don't get dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) or any of their colour forms because they are regularly infected with the gourami iridovirus (not that common on fish imported into Australia but still a risk) and they can have Fish Tuberculosis (TB). Neither disease can be treated or cured and you don't want them in the tank.

Guppies and neons need different water chemistry (see above for GH).

If you want guppies, go for all males or all females and have a group of 5-6 to reduce bullying. If you get female guppies, they will probably be gravid (pregnant) and you will probably end up with a few babies.

Guppies are also regularly infested with intestinal worms and external protozoan parasites. They can be easily treated if caught in time but avoid buying fish from tanks where any fish has a cream, white or grey patch on the body or fins, and avoid fish that are gasping (breathing heavily) near the filter outlet or surface. If in doubt, don't get fish from that tank.

Try to avoid buying fish if they have just come in or if the shop has done a water change that day. if possible, get fish the day before they do a water change, and get them a week after they have come into the shop. this gives the fish a chance to settle in to the shop tank and then get caught and moved to your tank.

Hi Colin,

Thank you so much for the information! Looks like I might need to go back to the drawing board!

Hannah

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Personally I would not go more than 70% on a 16 gallon, especially if you can (according to your water chemistry) go with Guppies....no matter how careful the supplier is, on occasions a female can accidently be included in your batch and they are breeding machines (they store sperm for months then you get population explosions which will burst the stocking capacity overnight)

The same really applies to Cories...all types have a bit of a tendency to get comfy and breed prolifically. So again you might want to consider that when deciding what to keep

Tbh a 16 gallon is not an easy aquarium to stock (I have had a few in the past), they "look" a decent size but that can be deceiving when choosing stock....even moreso when you visit the store and see small fish, buy them and realise that they get quite a bit longer and fatter than you anticipated and much of the time, the online "guides" on potential stock can lead you down a very fraught pathway where that 98% ends up well over the 100% and you have to go out and get a 20 gallon sharpish

For a first aquarium or one specifically with children in mind, I wouldn't go over 70% capacity on stocking. As you gain experience with different species and figure out your water chemistry, you can be more adventurous.

When choosing your fish not only is it important to get ones that can live and thrive in the space that you are giving them but that you are not forcing them to live in water chemistry that is unsuited.....any fish added to any water will not work well, you need to take the time to carefully analyse the water in your aquarium and get fish that would naturally thrive in it.....for example hard water fish in soft water and vice versa, avoid that situation...yes you can chemically alter water but tbh its alot of fuss and is prone to errors if you miss the sweet spot when doing water changes.

 

[HDPlantedTank]

Personally I would not go more than 70% on a 16 gallon, especially if you can (according to your water chemistry) go with Guppies....no matter how careful the supplier is, on occasions a female can accidently be included in your batch and they are breeding machines (they store sperm for months then you get population explosions which will burst the stocking capacity overnight)

The same really applies to Cories...all types have a bit of a tendency to get comfy and breed prolifically. So again you might want to consider that when deciding what to keep

Tbh a 16 gallon is not an easy aquarium to stock (I have had a few in the past), they "look" a decent size but that can be deceiving when choosing stock....even moreso when you visit the store and see small fish, buy them and realise that they get quite a bit longer and fatter than you anticipated and much of the time, the online "guides" on potential stock can lead you down a very fraught pathway where that 98% ends up well over the 100% and you have to go out and get a 20 gallon sharpish

For a first aquarium or one specifically with children in mind, I wouldn't go over 70% capacity on stocking. As you gain experience with different species and figure out your water chemistry, you can be more adventurous.

When choosing your fish not only is it important to get ones that can live and thrive in the space that you are giving them but that you are not forcing them to live in water chemistry that is unsuited.....any fish added to any water will not work well, you need to take the time to carefully analyse the water in your aquarium and get fish that would naturally thrive in it.....for example hard water fish in soft water and vice versa, avoid that situation...yes you can chemically alter water but tbh its alot of fuss and is prone to errors if you miss the sweet spot when doing water changes.

Thanks! Yes the size is certainly deceiving. Our pH is around the 6.5-7 mark from what I can tell, and the hardness is in the soft to moderately hard. I'll definitely go and get a sample tested at my LFS.

 

[Essjay]

Make sure you get a number and the unit of measurement for hardness (GH). Words are misleading, for example my water provider says mine is 'slightly hard' when it is actually considered soft for fish. And you need the unit as there are half a dozen they could use.