Order Of Stocking

[JDs4me]

My 5' nears cycled; so what order to add fish?

My thoughts are to start with 2 bichir, 3 reedfish, 10 upside-down cats; then 6 leopard and 6 congo bushfish and lastly the 5 african butterflies...

I realise I need to be aware that small will be eaten by large if I'm not careful; do any of these have a relatively rapid growth rate when compared to each other, that I need to be wary about e.g. do the upside-downs need to be larger initially if the growth rate of the bichir is relatively rapid....or am I putting too much thought into this!?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Bichirs grow fast, add them last. Upside-down cats grow fairly slow as do the butterflies. I would add them first, then the ctenopoma, followed by the reeds and finally after everyone has settled in and gained some size the bichirs.

 

[JDs4me]

Glad I asked! Thanks

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Synodontis nigriventris are very slow growers and are often sold as 3cm youngsters that will easily be eaten (or at least attempted) by typically sold 5cm ABF and almost certainly by ~6cm Ctenopoma acutirostre (typically 2-3cm in shops which will take at least 6 months to reach 6cm if not more [3 of my 4 have grown 2-10cm in 2 years], but these often come back to fish stores by fishkeepers who were oblivious to their predatory nature).

To try and perhaps give you a bit of perspective, I've been wanting to setup a mainly African oddball tank for a while with my exisitng fish, but I'm still a bit hesitant about whether the S. nigriventris would all be safe... Some have grown so slowly in almost two years!

Are you tempted by Congo Tetras, the classic tried and tested ditherfish for these sort of stockings, because of their pootling swim motion and not so fiesty eating tendencies?

I'd buy in the following order based on typical size of youngsters sold: the Syno group; Congo Tetras (if integrated into plan, but could equally be first purchase, or even bought same time as synos as they will not bother each other); Ctenopoma and ABF groups bought together when catfish have bulked out a little; Reedfish; finish with Birchirs when the catfish are >6cm (which may take some time)

 

[JDs4me]

Thanks NOTG...hesitant with the congo tetra only because I don't want to overstock; would a small group of say 4-5 be good? Will look for the syno group first then; in no hurry to stock so a group of ten or so to start; I would let them grow out before adding the ABF's and bushfish which I would add when the same size as the synos and each other ideally; I figure an overall 5-6cm before adding the second bunch. Reedfish and bichirs after that then...

When measuring the length of fish selling in the online retail outlets, are they giving the length including the caudal fin, or just the body length?

I want to give this a go; gradually adding the stock is not a problem! I assume that reedfish and bichirs will have to be an equivalent length (6-8cm) before being added so that they are not predated upon by the C.acutirostre and M.congicum?

Excited about trying this out as I think the stock would look great together; planning plenty of anubias for the mopani - will get from WOW Romsey as they have some beauties in there at the moment! May get those this week...

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Congo Tetras would need 6 minimum with two lovely coloured males.

Reedfish seem to typically be sold at ~15cm, they do have a kamikaze escape tendancy, I don't think they have such a big mouth and are not as much of a threat as mixing mature Birchirs with young fish... But I don't know that much about Reedfish.

Sizes quoted online tend to vary, some go by TL (including tail fin) while other SL (excluding).

Microctenopoma spp. do not come around into stock anywhere near as often as Ctenopom acutirostre, so if you see some snap them up quick!

Hmm, any idea when you might be going to WOW? If it is Thursday or Friday, any chance I could come along for some petrol money?

 

[thereverendturtle]

reed fish have very small mouths compared to bichirs, no need to worry about them with anything larger than a platy.

 

[JDs4me]

NOTG... PM'd you re. WOW; and please, no worries re. petrol money!
Quite like the idea of the CT's now; will be no more than 6, and yes the males do look lovely!

Thanks thereverendturtle dude, the reeds are a defo then! I am going to try to rig up some kind of blockage between the rear of the tank and the wall to prevent escaping reedfish falling behind which would probably be terminal...I think I read these guys can survive a couple of hours out of water? Not sure my reedmat cover will be sufficient so might have to improvise further there; it should stop the jumpers at least...

Just giving the tank another week or so - NH3 gone in 12hrs NO2 taking 24hrs at the moment...also need to buy the lighting; bartering with an ebay seller at the mo!