Stocking advice for my 63G (240L) community tank

[lukesfishies]

I'd like some advice on stocking for my new 240L tank, I currently have 2 male guppies and 2 yoyo loaches. My previous 120L had 3 loaches, 6 guppies and 12 cardinal tetra but unfortunately after getting new fish an infection killed off nearly the entire tank and I've been left with only a few.

I'm definitely planning on getting more guppies, and some other male livebearers, probably some mollies (possibly some sailfin mollies) and some swordtails. I know the loaches are supposed to do better in groups however the two I have get along really well and are very healthy and active. I've heard that the loaches can be a bit aggressive amongst each other in small groups and that is why it is better to have a larger group, but ours get along great so I'm not sure whether it is better to get more or to just keep these two since they seem so happy as it is.
As well as the livebearers, I was thinking about getting a few pearl gourami, or other kinds of gourami, a small pleco and maybe a pair of electric blue rams.
I also had a look at torpedo barbs but it seems like they might be too large for our tank or too sensitive, as there are a lot of reports of them suddenly dying. They seem very cool though.

The water conditions are kept consistently good (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and low nitrate), I will wait until the new tank has been running for a good while before adding new fish, but ideally I would like fish that aren't too sensitive and won't die easily due to stress.

Think I could get some help on numbers, or if you have any other suggestions for fish that would do well with guppies and yoyo loaches in this size of a tank?

 

[utahfish]

Id get more loaches. Keeping them in groups can decrease aggression and loaches areca shoaling species and are super social. They will form a hierarchy usually matriarch or female being the top in the group. At least six make a good shoal. Mind you they also get around 5 inches so 6 of them is 30 inches of fish so keep that in mind while stocking. Good luck!

 

[lukesfishies]

Id get more loaches. Keeping them in groups can decrease aggression and loaches areca shoaling species and are super social. They will form a hierarchy usually matriarch or female being the top in the group. At least six make a good shoal. Mind you they also get around 5 inches so 6 of them is 30 inches of fish so keep that in mind while stocking. Good luck!

Thanks I just thought since they show absolutely no aggression now and seem very happy and active I might have just got lucky and it might be better to keep them as a pair, but if it is much better for them I would obviously like to get more.

 

[Essjay]

Can you look on your water company's website for your hardness, please. It will give a number in degrees Clark which we will need to convert to the units used in fish keeping.
Looking at a random postcode in Lancaster gives very soft water (2 dH) so livebearers are not an option unless you make the water harder, which would restrict your fish choice to other hard water fish so no tetras, loaches etc.

 

[lukesfishies]

Can you look on your water company's website for your hardness, please. It will give a number in degrees Clark which we will need to convert to the units used in fish keeping.
Looking at a random postcode in Lancaster gives very soft water (2 dH) so livebearers are not an option unless you make the water harder, which would restrict your fish choice to other hard water fish so no tetras, loaches etc.

My harness Clarke is 2.52, and on the data sheet it says moderately soft, how would that be converted?

 

[lukesfishies]

Okay so that is 2.02dH so very soft but the pH is a constant 7.4 so should it matter about the hardness? I had thought until now water hardness was just important for altering pH levels.

 

[Essjay]

It's KH (carbonate hardness) which stabilises pH and 'hardness' refers to GH. Hardness is more important for fish than pH.

Hardness, or GH, is a measure of the amount of mainly calcium and some magnesium in the water. Hard water fish have evolved so their bodies excrete all the excess calcium they take in from the water; put them in soft water and they continue excreting it but as there is so little in soft water they suffer from calcium depletion. This stresses their bodies, and stressed fish get sick easier. Soft water fish have evolved to hang on to calcium as there's not much in soft water. Put them in hard water and they still hang onto it so they get calcium deposits in their kidneys which reduces their lifespan.

Livebearers are usually said to need hardness over 11 dH with mollies needing over 14. Even if that minimum can be a bit lower, livebearers will not do well long term in a GH of ~ 2 dH I'm afraid.
But tetras and loaches will be very happy in that GH.

 

[lukesfishies]

It's KH (carbonate hardness) which stabilises pH and 'hardness' refers to GH. Hardness is more important for fish than pH.

Hardness, or GH, is a measure of the amount of mainly calcium and some magnesium in the water. Hard water fish have evolved so their bodies excrete all the excess calcium they take in from the water; put them in soft water and they continue excreting it but as there is so little in soft water they suffer from calcium depletion. This stresses their bodies, and stressed fish get sick easier. Soft water fish have evolved to hang on to calcium as there's not much in soft water. Put them in hard water and they still hang onto it so they get calcium deposits in their kidneys which reduces their lifespan.

Livebearers are usually said to need hardness over 11 dH with mollies needing over 14. Even if that minimum can be a bit lower, livebearers will not do well long term in a GH of ~ 2 dH I'm afraid.
But tetras and loaches will be very happy in that GH.

Thanks a lot for explaining that. I will probably avoid getting mollies then if they need very hard water. I have 2 loaches and 2 guppies at the moment, so what would you suggest as a compromise so that they can both do okay? Is it possible to increase the hardness a bit without also increasing the pH, since the pH is at the higher end of neutral now at 7.4?

 

[ClownLurch]

Awwwh man I’d love to have water that soft. Round here it’s livebearers or messing around with RO water.
If I was the OP I’d be skipping and dancing those guppies back to the LFS tomorrow morning and embracing the myriad of opportunities that soft water brings.