Stocking ideas for this aquarium?

[Lucidahandwriting]

Heya, new to the forum. I'm pretty advanced in aquarium stuff, but i'm making a tank for a friend and i was looking for the right fish for his vibes. I'll give you guys some info on the tank:

Tank is 60L, with the hardscape in the photo, it's alder wood, some rocks and super-fine sand (like a tenth of a mm) taken from a well, and some leaf litter on the bottom. Considering the wood and the leaves, the water will be slightly yellowish, but we may revert that with some activated carbon.
The tank has an open top.
Sand and rocks are slightly calcareous and water here is hard, so for simplicity we're going to make a hardwater tank.
The tank will be heavily planted, mostly with epiphytes like anubias, bucephalandra, christmas moss on the wood, some dense background plant and a lot of emersed growth on the tank sides and on top of the tree stumps.
Temperature is also a factor: no heater is planned, but his house is pretty well-insulated, not going below 18°C in winter and not above 28° in summer.
Friend has time to feed the fish regularly.
Fish with a high reproduction rate may be a problem: in such an intricate setup it would be impossible to catch the extra fish, and giving them away would be pretty stressful for my fren.
Other preference on the fish would be: interesting color, small size and a curious, active and "Exploring" behavior, like that of corydoras or poecilids (which we sadly can't keep due to tank size/coldwater/hardwater and reproduction rates respectively).

Do you guys have some ideas?
Thanks and sorry for the bible lol

 

[Morganna]

Try using Seriously Fish. com, I have found it to be really helpful coming up with ideas!
If it were a soft water tank, I would have said pygmy cories.

 

[Lucidahandwriting]

Try using Seriously Fish. com, I have found it to be really helpful coming up with ideas!
If it were a soft water tank, I would have said pygmy cories.

It lacks many fish species sadly... the best candidate i can find on seriouslyfish is Danio margaritatus, which may be an idea
I'd also love Corydoras pygmaeus but this tank looks a bit small for them (and they also cost a lot)

 

[Aqua67]

Hard water, mosses and no heater? Sounds like a good shrimp tank to me. They come in all colors (red, blue, yellow, orange, etc) You could add a few colorful male guppies or endlers (no females). They stay smaller than females and can’t multiply on their own. The tank is a little small but you may be able to enjoy one paradise fish or other dwarf gourami, especially if you can toss in some floating plants. They also do fine in unheated aquariums with harder water. I wouldn’t mix shrimp with the paradise fish though, it would be one or the other.

 

[Aqua67]

Oh, geez, how could I forget….the white cloud minnow is another little favorite for a small hard water unheated aquarium. These fish like temps to stay in the 60s though.

Perhaps a dwarf African frog, as long as temps can stay in the 70s.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Danio margaritatus would be a good choice. Endlers or mosquito fish could work, but you'd have to figure out what to do with the fry. (Makes friends with a cichlid keeper, perhaps! ) Asian stone catfish (Hara jerdoni) and amano shrimp would work for bottom dwellers. There are some interesting nano species from Lake Inle in Myanmar; it might be worth investigating.

You can get a cheapo 100w heater if you go with warm-water species.

 

[Lucidahandwriting]

Thanks for the replies! Well, he doesn't want to get a heater to save on electricity, heaters are pretty power-hungry... but it's a warm house, so anything that fares well in the winter above 18°C (64°F) would be better
White cloud minnows are also a good idea! I had a friend who kept them outside in the winter and they did pretty good even with freezing temperatures, but i think that such a fish would look better in a different setup... maybe with a larger tank and stronger water flow
Same with the dwarf frogs: it's going to be a very "Aquascapish" layout with clear water and some water flow, and these would look way better in a more natural setup
Asian stone catfish looks very promising! The tank would also be pretty adequate, with ultra fine sand and a lot of dark hiding places under the roots, i will check it out since i don't know anything about how it lives
Shrimp are already considered! I'll probably give the fren some red cherries i have to start populating the tank after it cycles, but it depends on the fish we're gonna put in it

 

[Lucidahandwriting]

Ok, Hara jerdoni really looks like an interesting species, the only problem is that i've researched its habitat a bit and in nature it lives in clean, oxygen rich flowing waters, 18-23°C... our aquarium won't have much water movement in the bottom part of the tank, and in the summer it will inevitably get to at least 26°C further decreasing oxygen... also it's often wild caught... would be super cool but probably no, i'll keep this guy in mind when i'll make that 3m long stream aquarium i had in mind since i was 15

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Good on you for doing your research! Don't white clouds like a little more room? I could be wrong as I haven't kept them for a LONG time, but I seem to remember them liking a lot of swimming space.

I think a school of D. margaritatus would look amazing in a scaped tank like that. Not sure how they'd do with the lower temps. A 100w heater would keep it warm enough and not use much electricity...

 

[ClownLurch]

Oh, geez, how could I forget….the white cloud minnow is another little favorite for a small hard water unheated aquarium. These fish like temps to stay in the 60s though.

Perhaps a dwarf African frog, as long as temps can stay in the 70s.

60L is way too small in my opinion. I’ve had them for years on and off but I’m phasing them out now as I’ve only got a 120L tank.

 

[ClownLurch]

Male Endlers fit the bill.

 

[Naughts]

I wouldn't put endlers in an unheated tank.

 

[ClownLurch]

I wouldn't put endlers in an unheated tank.

In Italy?

 

[Naughts]

In Italy?

OP states it goes down t o 18°C/64F°. Endlers are very much Tropical temperature fish.

 

[dhjaksu]

Heya, new to the forum. I'm pretty advanced in aquarium stuff, but i'm making a tank for a friend and i was looking for the right fish for his vibes. I'll give you guys some info on the tank:

View attachment 306647
Tank is 60L, with the hardscape in the photo, it's alder wood, some rocks and super-fine sand (like a tenth of a mm) taken from a well, and some leaf litter on the bottom. Considering the wood and the leaves, the water will be slightly yellowish, but we may revert that with some activated carbon.
The tank has an open top.
Sand and rocks are slightly calcareous and water here is hard, so for simplicity we're going to make a hardwater tank.
Temperature is also a factor: no heater is planned, but his house is pretty well-insulated, not going below 18°C in winter and not above 28° in summer.
Friend has time to feed the fish regularly.
Fish with a high reproduction rate may be a problem: in such an intricate setup it would be impossible to catch the extra fish, and giving them away would be pretty stressful for my fren.
Other preference on the fish would be: interesting color, small size and a curious, active and "Exploring" behavior, like that of corydoras or poecilids (which we sadly can't keep due to tank size/coldwater/hardwater and reproduction rates respectively).

would be so so much easier to give you stocking suggestions if it was heated soft water. you rarely see small cold water hard water set ups with tannins. in general there arent many cold water fish. and theres very few small cold water fish. and most don't have much colour. whereas I could go on forever with stocking suggestions for a small tropical soft water tank.