Stocking options tropical 100l

[Fishboy_Max]

Hello, I recently got a 100l cubed and was thinking what to put in it. And I think after a decent amount of research that this might be viable stocking (have in mind this is a planted scape with lots of hiding spots}:
as centrepiece a Rainbow Dwarf Gourami, as a schooling fish 10 or so Ember Tetras, and as bottom dwellers 5 Kuhli Loaches and perhaps some blue cherry shrimp around .
I would love to hear you ideas and thought's, I don't mind changing the list if it is for the fishes wellbeing since longevity is the goal.

 

[AmyKieran]

Hello, I recently got a 100l cubed and was thinking what to put in it. And I think after a decent amount of research that this might be viable stocking (have in mind this is a planted scape with lots of hiding spots}:
as centrepiece a Rainbow Dwarf Gourami, as a schooling fish 10 or so Ember Tetras, and as bottom dwellers 5 Kuhli Loaches and perhaps some blue cherry shrimp around .
I would love to hear you ideas and thought's, I don't mind changing the list if it is for the fishes wellbeing since longevity is the goal.

Well all of this will be highly dependent on your water hardness. Do you know your gh (general hardness) and kh (calcium hardness) of your water?

This can often be found on your water companies website

 

[Fishboy_Max]

I see, I have a water test for gh and kh so I will check it out once I get home.
I have checked it but I don't know what it means, sorry:

Hardness Information: Total Hardness level of 11 mg/l Ca
Your water is classified as Soft

28 parts per million
2 Clarke degrees
3 French degrees
2 German degrees

 

[AmyKieran]

I see, I have a water test for gh and kh so I will check it out once I get home.
I have checked it but I don't know what it means, sorry:

Hardness Information: Total Hardness level of 11 mg/l Ca
Your water is classified as Soft

28 parts per million
2 Clarke degrees
3 French degrees
2 German degrees

Yeah your water is pretty soft, which is fine for all of the fish above

 

[Fishboy_Max]

Excellent, thank you very much.

 

[Essjay]

Fishkeeping uses two hardness units, fish profiles will use one or other of them. These units are ppm, also called mg/l calcium carbonate, and dH aka German degrees. The numbers you need to remember when researching fish are:
dH 2
ppm 28


You have very soft water, and all the fish on your list are soft water fish. But I will make 2 observations.
Dwarf gouramis are often infected by one or two incurable diseases by the time they reach the shop (dwarf gourami disease and fish TB). Honey gouramis are a safer option.
Get more kuhlis. With small numbers you'll never see them but they are more likely to come out with more of them.

 

[AmyKieran]

Fishkeeping uses two hardness units, fish profiles will use one or other of them. These units are ppm, also called mg/l calcium carbonate, and dH aka German degrees. The numbers you need to remember when researching fish are:
dH 2
ppm 28


You have very soft water, and all the fish on your list are soft water fish. But I will make 2 observations.
Dwarf gouramis are often infected by one or two incurable diseases by the time they reach the shop (dwarf gourami disease and fish TB). Honey gouramis are a safer option.
Get more kuhlis. With small numbers you'll never see them but they are more likely to come out with more of them.

I’m not questioning your answer I’m just asking for myself

In soft water tanks that are suitable for dwarf gouramis, are honey gouramis always a better alternative? (Do they not grow bigger or anything)

 

[Fishboy_Max]

I see, I will have that in mind, again thanks

 

[Essjay]

In soft water tanks that are suitable for dwarf gouramis, are honey gouramis always a better alternative? (Do they not grow bigger or anything)

Honey gouramis are slightly smaller than dwarfs and they don't seem to come with the same health problems. Most other gouramis (pearls, the variants of three spot etc) are a lot bigger than dwarfs which is why I usually suggest honeys as a substitute for dwarfs.
If the tank had been bigger than 100 litres, and more particularly longer (cube tanks have less swimming length than rectangular tanks of the same volume) then pearls would have been an option, but the three spots are quite aggressive fish so stocking has to be carefully thought out with them.

 

[AmyKieran]

Honey gouramis are slightly smaller than dwarfs and they don't seem to come with the same health problems. Most other gouramis (pearls, the variants of three spot etc) are a lot bigger than dwarfs which is why I usually suggest honeys as a substitute for dwarfs.
If the tank had been bigger than 100 litres, and more particularly longer (cube tanks have less swimming length than rectangular tanks of the same volume) then pearls would have been an option, but the three spots are quite aggressive fish so stocking has to be carefully thought out with them.

Ahh okay thanks

Always good to keep learning on this forum