Stocking Advice

[snowmeow]

Hi All,
 
I need some advice on some new fish for my current well established 60 litre aquarium. I currently have around 15 platies of various colours (some of these are babies born in the tank), 3 WCMMs and 3 Sterbai Corys.
 
I really love watching corys and I used to have more, but a few months ago I lost a couple to white spot (dont worry, it cleared up months ago after treating the tank and lots of partial water changes). Anyway, my LFS no longer stocks Sterbai, but they do have a few other species including Bronze Corys and Corydoras julii. I was wondering if either of these species would go well with my sterbai? My sterbai are very skittish (dash around to the back of the tank whenever I get close) so I'm hoping with some friends it will mean they will chill out and be happy with new tank mates

 

[Khalil]

I love Sterbai, excellent choice! In my experience all Cories will generally get along well and sometimes even shoal together. What I would recommend doing is making sure there are plenty of caves and hiding places for your catfish, that way they have plenty of places to retreat to if they are startled. You could also ask your LFS if they plan on stocking Sterbai any time soon if you don't mind waiting.  

 

[EthanF]

Hmmm Maybe your Tank is close to its limit

I am cycling a 60L and im only putting around 17 fish inside of it ?
also im sure cories prefer to be in groups of 5-6+ as they are shoaling fish so you will need to add more, so maybe get rid of some platies or your tank may not handle the bio load...

 

[Noahsfish]

That sounds very stocked! 15 platys by itself is a bit much don't you think? Well I guess if you keep up with constant water changes and what not you'll be OK. I have sterbai as well in my 20g. By far my favorite Cory, but they are on the large end for dwarf corys.. I'd go with juli rather than bronze if those are your only two options. Excuse me if I'm wrong, but don't white clouds like a bit cooler temperatures? And I know for a fact sterbais love hot water at around 82-84 farenheight. I'd really not get any more fish if I were you, but just a word of advice, if you were to say get 3 julis I would do water changes every other day of 25%.

 

[snowmeow]

Yeah I thought it would be fine to mix species, but just wanted to check . I've been soaking a nice big piece of drift wood in warm water for the last week or so and will be adding it to the tank in the next few days. Its shaped so that there are plenty of hiding places for the corys. After that I think I'll get 4 bronze corys and see how well they do with my sterbai.

 

[Khalil]

Awesome! Driftwood adds so much to an aquarium. Just keep an eye on the water with all those fish, its amazing how active cories can be when you do water changes on a consistent basis. Good luck!

 

[Noahsfish]

Yeah I thought it would be fine to mix species, but just wanted to check . I've been soaking a nice big piece of drift wood in warm water for the last week or so and will be adding it to the tank in the next few days. Its shaped so that there are plenty of hiding places for the corys. After that I think I'll get 4 bronze corys and see how well they do with my sterbai.

Uhhm ok but just as a heads up those corys will most likely not school together...if it was julis there'd probably be a better chance as they look somewhat similar, or at least more so than bronze and sterbais....good luck!

 

[attibones]

Don't get anymore fish. You are way too cramped.

The platies by themselves require about double the space you have. They are active fish which require a fair bit of room. Plus, you are going to be absolutely overrun with fry if you have even a single female in there.

WCMM are temperate not tropical fish. They do well with the likes of goldfish.

Your cories are not suitable for this tank either as they require larger numbers of the same species. They typically don't school with other species. If you cut back the number of platies to maybe six, then you could safely have six cories. You need to rehome the WCMM.

 

[Noahsfish]

Don't get anymore fish. You are way too cramped.
The platies by themselves require about double the space you have. They are active fish which require a fair bit of room. Plus, you are going to be absolutely overrun with fry if you have even a single female in there.
WCMM are temperate not tropical fish. They do well with the likes of goldfish.
Your cories are not suitable for this tank either as they require larger numbers of the same species. They typically don't school with other species. If you cut back the number of platies to maybe six, then you could safely have six cories. You need to rehome the WCMM.

+1 on that, anything with the word "minnow" on it shouldn't be with sterbai corycats...as for the 15 platys I hope that's temporary...plus if they do have fry what's going to stop them from surviving? I hope you're ready for lots of platys! With your stocking of 15 platys, soon 6 corys, and 3 white clouds I'd say a nice 30g would be minimum! Not to mention those white clouds will be burnt to death....(overly dramatic)

 

[Nik00117]

DO NOT GET ANY MORE FISH AND GET A LARGER TANK.
 
Your tank is WAY OVER STOCKED NOW. Adding anything more will just make the situation worse.

 

[snowmeow]

Hey guys, thanks for all your replies. Don't panic, I'm going to be re-homing a lot of the platies to make more space. I'm going to call up my LFS to see if they accept them. As for the corys I decided to go for 4 small peppered corys and they are having great fun swimming around together and they are now mingling with the sterbai who seem a lot less scared now they have friends
 
In regards to my platy birth control, after I have re-homed a number of the platies I am thinking about getting a fish that then keeps their numbers under control. I don't mind a few fry surviving, but having a fish that actively seeks out and eats fry as well would be great if you can suggest such a fish. It needs to go well with the rest of my fish and accept flakes and bloods worms which is what I always feed the rest of the guys (corys get pellets btw).

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

WCMM could live in a 60l for life, but they are social fish and as such, should be in a 6+ group. They are "temperate" and do well typically in a heaterless tank that sits between ~18C and 22C through the seasons, keeping them in warmer conditions will knock chunks off their lifespan.
 
Platties are pretty active livebearers, they reach ~5cm SL (excluding tail fin) as adults, I would not put Platties in anything less than a 90x30x30cm for life. There are species that are "temperate" and "mainstream tropical."
 
Peppered Corydoras are not small as adults, they are chunky 6-7cm SL catfish, a suitable group (at least 6, far better as 10+) deserve at least a 90x30cm tank footprint IMO (at this size tank, they would be a vast majority of the tank stocking). They are "temperate" fish, doing well in a heaterless tank that changes through the seasons, from a winter period in the 16-18C ballpark to a summer period ~24C.
 
Sterbai Corydoras are a little smaller than Peppered as adults, typically ~5cm SL, but a suitable group (again 6+, ideally 10+) deserves at least a 75x30cm tank footprint IMO (at this size tank, they would be a vast majority of the tank stocking). Unlike Peppered, these catfish are "high-end tropical" and need at least 24C and are good upto ~30C, hence why they are a common choice with the likes of German Blue Rams.
 
15 Platties; 3 WCMM; 3 Corydoras sterbai is ~110cm of adult fish, if they were compatable (which they are not), a 3-foot 180+ litre tank would be in order as a minimum, a 4-foot 200+l would be better.
 
~60cm tanks are difficult to stock responsibly with fish that can live in them for life, I have three (60x30x30cm 54l;  ~65x40x30cm ~80l; ~62x39x55cm 130l), they are used for quarantining new fish; growing on fry; quarantining sick/injured fish. Species put in them permanently need to be sedate and the stocking should not be much more than 30cm of adult-sized fish.