Stock List Help

[Uriel]

Water parameters
pH 7.4
Temp 25
Hardness 2.6

Below is the stock list i was thinking of for my 500l tank and i just had a few questions.

1. Is running the heaters at 25c at the top of the tank ok for this stock or should i go for 24c.

2. Since the Dwarf gourami's need quarentining is it ok to add them 1 pair at a time.(small Q tank)

3. Does this list look ok.

4. I know the bioload is a little high by the 1cm-1litre rule but i think most of these fish should be pretty low bioload.

5. Is there anything you would do differently.

Slight mistake the green/orange lasers should have same ph stats and Corydoras duplicareus should be 6.4-7.4.

 

[Aqua Tom]

I wouldnt bother with the dwarf gourami. Go with dwarf cockatoo cichlids 1 male & three females. Apart from that I think that tank is going to look awsome.

 

[Uriel]

dwarf cockatoo cichlids are reccomended for 26-28c though which would be to warm for my corydoras.

 

[Aqua Tom]

dwarf cockatoo cichlids are reccomended for 26-28c though which would be to warm for my corydoras.

i am no expert so i have just grabed two books at random from my shelfs.

The Perfect Aquarium says they should live in 24-26c

What Fish says it should be 26-27c


Gouaramis are lovely, I just have a soft spot for the lil cockatoo guys

 

[waterdrop]

List looks pretty good to me. WD

 

[Carlovel1]

Nice list. I'd be tempted to replace the *boring* Glowlight Tetras with a massive shoal of Espei Rasbora

 

[birdhouse]

while i am very fond of our dwarf gourami's now i would get a different type over them again - either the croaking our honey's if you want something of that size. we had to take one male back as he was hyper aggressive towards out two females and his replacement is still a bit grumpy.

 

[Uriel]

I'm on day 2 of my qualifying week and keeping my fingers crossed. Would you stock these fish in any particular order. It may come down to what the lfs has in stock when i go in but given a choice is there anything you would stock first or leave till later. I was aiming at doing a 70-75% stock to start off then using a 3 week quarantine and then add method.

Also since my tank will have algea from the fishless cycle i was thinking of not cleaning the algea off for the first week to give the otto's a good head start. As apparently they can come from the lfs starving and this is part of the reason for large losses(that and the methods used to catch them.)

 

[Aqua Tom]

Also since my tank will have algea from the fishless cycle i was thinking of not cleaning the algea off for the first week to give the otto's a good head start. As apparently they can come from the lfs starving and this is part of the reason for large losses(that and the methods used to catch them.)

Cant hurt, its only algea & if they dont eat it all you can always clean it later.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

i think the temp ranges stated on sites / books are just a rough guideline. As AT has already displaid, they usually vary between source.

So long as you dont go too far from the 'optimum temperature' i think you will be fine.

I would also agree with Carlovel1 and have bigger schools and less varieties of Tetra - i think they always look better in huge groups

 

[Uriel]

Isn't 20 quite a large shoal of tetra. I know books/internet are only a guide for temp ph ect. I just want to make sure that my fishes are thriving and not just surviving if that makes sense.

 

[karin]

Start your stocking with large groups of your favorite tetras and corys. Don't do all the different varieties at first so if you choose you can up the schools of fewer varieties if you think that looks good. I'm not a fan of the dwarf gourami and would definitely go with dwarf cichlids if you want to stay on the smaller side. They just have more character. Oh and my dwarfs are at 25 C with corys.

Please post pictures. Looks like it will be a fantastic tank.

 

[Doc7]

What did you use to create that spreadsheet? I have very high pH water (8.2) and about to start a fishless cycle when I get home from work tonight on my 20 gallon, essentially my first "real" fish tank attempt.

 

[Uriel]

The spreadsheet is off excel and i print screened it and then used photoshop to crop the image.

 

[Doc7]

I meant where did you get the data?