Stocking Questions 40 Gal (fish Info Updated) (20 Gal Options Included

[Nevergone815]

i know a lot of you "older" (as in experience) keepers are upset at the whole "what fish should i put into my tank?" questions. i have been researching a lot of fish recently and i have been wanting to set up a 40 gal planted with moss and such. also will have a sand substrate. the demensions would be 36" L x 15" W x 16" H. i would have a Penguin 350 powerfilter (so i can use it when i upgrade my tank later instead of buying a new filter), a EHEIM Jager 150 Watt Aquarium Heater (same idea here for a bigger tank). i don't know what i should do for aeration (i don't know if the filter will do enough of it for me), i plan on having a hood that i can switch over to moonlights and be able to control the brightness.

well i just want to make sure that all of my fish are compatible and that they will all fit without overstocking the tank. i know that all of these fish can/should be able to live in similar water conditions

i will post the fish i want to get and the strata, time of day preferred and "potential" size that they can get :

added: ph, temp, hardness, dietary prefference

freshwater/vietnamese blenny: bottom (belly on gravel), activity unknown (comes out when senses food), 2", pH 7.0-8.2, 73-82F, 10-25 dH, carnivore (want to get him badly, i think he's cool)

3 green swordtails (1m, 2f):all strata, diurnal, 4.7", pH 7.0-8.3, 64-81F, 9-20 dH, herbivore

3 glowlight tetras: middle, diurnal, 2", pH 6.0-8.0, 75-82F, 5-12 dH, omnivore

3 "glowfish" zebra danios: middle, diurnal, 2.5", pH 6.0-8.0, 64-77F, 5-20 dH, carnivore (hopefully a variety of colors)

3 otto cats: bottom (glass mostly), nocturnal, 2", pH 6.0-8.0, 68-79F, 5-19dH, omnivore

panda cory: bottom, diurnal, 2", pH 6.0-7.5, 66-82F, 2-25 dH, omnivore [all of these cories i would

bandit cory: bottom, diurnal, 2", pH 6.5-7.8, 73-82F, 2-25 dH, omnivore like to have just

skunk cory: bottom, diurnal, 2", pH 6.5-8.0, 72-79F, 2-25 dH, omnivore one of each. would

adolfo's cory: bottom, diurnal, 2", pH 5.7-7.5, 66-79F, 4-19 dH, omnivore they school together?]

natterer's cory: bottom, diurnal, 2.6", pH 6.5-7.8, 68-75F, 5-16 dH, omnivore

salt and pepper cory: bottom, diurnal, 1.4", pH 6.2-7.5, 72-79F, 2-25 dH

albino cory: bottom, diurnal, 3", pH 6.0-8.0, 72-81F, 5-18 dH, omnivore

Amano Shrimp & Ghost Shrimp (3 of each) : all strata, nocturnal, 2", pH 6.5-7.7, 59-80F, 5-20 dH, omnivore? *they don't add to bioload*

stats of tank will be: pH 7.0-7.5, 75-78F, 10-12 dH

total length/bioload in inches= 36.6"

i have decided to do a seperate tank for these:

glass knifefish: middle-bottom, nocturnal, 7.1", pH 6.7-7.4, 75-86F, 2-18 dH, carnivore (i know they school, but can they be kept single? if not i don't really need to get)

i would prefer to get 2 dojo/weather loaches and base my tank around them (one M. anguillicaudatus and one M. fossilis): bottom, diurnal, but tends to be more nocturnal, 9.8", pH 6.0-8.0, 50-77F, ?-? dH, omnivore (putting them in a seperate tank by themselves or a couple buddies is an option)

dwarf puffer: middle-bottom, diurnal, 1.4", pH 7.0-8.5, 72-82F, ?-? dH, carnivore (probably now going to get 5 gal for him- thanks for replies)

is there any hope of combining any of these fish or even some of them? i think i might have too many bottom dwellers or not enough top dwellers. well, please respond quickly. those are my fish/invert choices that i want ot get eventually. this is my first time setting up a tank that big and have experience with cories, ottos, swordtails, "smaller" tetras and danios.

please help. i might be getting the tank this summer and cycle it until next summer or so or only have a couple fish in there until then. i do plan on doing a fishless cycle so that won't be a problem. i know the rule of thumb is 1" per 1 gal but i don't want to cramp the tank either. slightly understocking or overstocking by a few inches or so isn't a problem for me. i can deal with that. i would prefer to have the best scenario.

any other suggestions would be appreciated...

the tank would have all the stats of a "normal" tropical community tank. i will gladly alter to fit the fish better (ph, alkalinity aka buffering capacity aka kh,hardness aka gh, temperature). i just don't want to set up the tank and purchase fish that will give me a headache later on.

*i may also post an outline of a 20 gal setup that looks good to me. when i do please post feedback on that also*

sorry for such a long post but i needed to give you all of the info i can think of giving you to make your life easier.

mods... if i put this in the wrong place or a place that i might not get good info, can you please move it to the appropriate location for me?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Don't apologise- I love stocking vicarious tanks! Seeing as my family won't let me fill all the tanks I need in my house....

Let's just run through that stocking list:

glass fish- do you mean the Indian glassfish (chanda ranga) or the glass catfish? The Indian glassfish I think is brackish (but check with the brackish people). The glass catfish is said to be so schooling that it will actually die if it is kept singly.

freshwater blenny: don't know these- are you sure they are happy in tropical temperatures?

3 green swordtails - yes no probs, right sex ratio, that makes 14 "

dwarf puffer: ah, I'm afraid these are not community fish, bitey little things, best in a species tank

5 glolight tetras- yes, fine, that's another 10"

5 "glofish" danios- right, another 10"

3 otto cats- yes, might want to wait actually adding them until tank is more mature, 6"

panda cory, bandit cory, albino cory- all cories are schooling fish, so you would need a group of at least 3, preferably 6 of one kind

Amano Shrimp & Ghost Shrimp- don't think there are many rules here, I'd get 3 or 4

assorted snails (to breed so my puffer can have snails to keep his beak worn down. or would giving him 1 average sized snail work? would he eat the bigger snails?)

2 dojo/weather loaches- these I believe prefer cooler water

If you go for 3 swordtails, 5-6 glowlights, 5 danios, a number of shrimps and a small group of cories, that should stock your tank nicely. And after the tank was mature you could probably add 3 otos without disaster.

Or you could arrange a cool water tank around the weather loaches- but you'd have to ask somebody else about that, I've never kept anything cooler than 22C.

If you want that dwarf puffer, a species tank is best: 5 gallons per puffer, you could set up a small tank for him alone.

Hope this helps.

 

[clareriley]

Wow nice one, good luck, I see your question has been answered but I was gonna say yes they should all be fine except the puffer as they are horrible little things with other fish.. lovely fish though. I want one.. the one is a fs i went to was so friendly, it was in the plant tank haha.
errrm what else.. may want to lower the number of fish a little as less is more when you are setting up a takn and they grow. I made this mistake one good luck

 

[Nevergone815]

sorry about the confusion. "glass fish" was suppost to be a glass knife fish. i corrected this problem. i really wanna get a dwarf puffer so i might buy a 5 gal just for him. i am going to update the entire list to show ph preference and temp preferences also and any other preference i can.

thanks for the quick replies and help.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

Glass Knife fish? Is that another species of Knife fish as in Clown Knife fish. Because if they are predatory fish and will eat anything smaller than them. Mine, Clown Knife, is currently either going into a pond or trying to find a tank big enough to house it because its gonna grow up to a meter! Im not sure how long the Glass Knife fish will grow but just warnin. They are amazin tho! The rest sounds pretty good.

 

[Nevergone815]

Glass Knife fish? Is that another species of Knife fish as in Clown Knife fish. Because if they are predatory fish and will eat anything smaller than them. Mine, Clown Knife, is currently either going into a pond or trying to find a tank big enough to house it because its gonna grow up to a meter! Im not sure how long the Glass Knife fish will grow but just warnin. They are amazin tho! The rest sounds pretty good.

yes they are another species of knife fish, i know they get around 7" long. its if not the smallest but close to it kind of knife fish there is. i am probably going to get it a 10-15 gal just for himself or something (if i get one). i fear that it might eat my shrimp and smaller schooling fish. thats my fear. i don't know if 7" is long enough to eat a fish that is 2" in length.

 

[Nevergone815]

i know a lot of you "older" (as in experience) keepers are upset at the whole "what fish should i put into my tank?" questions. i have been researching a lot of fish recently and i have been wanting to set up a 20 gal along with my 40 gal, well planted with moss and such. also it will have a sand substrate like the other one. the demensions would be ?" L x ?" W x ?" H (will get measurements asap). i would have a Penguin 200 powerfilter (so i can use it when i upgrade my tank later instead of buying a new filter), a EHEIM Jager 100 Watt Aquarium Heater (same idea here for a bigger tank). i don't know what i should do for aeration (i don't know if the filter will do enough of it for me), i plan on having a hood that i can switch over to moonlights and be able to control the brightness.

well i just want to make sure that all of my fish are compatible and that they will all fit without overstocking the tank. i know that all of these fish can/should be able to live in similar water conditions

i will post the fish i want to get and the strata, time of day preferred and "potential" size that they can get, ph, temp, hardness, dietary prefference:

7 endler livebearers (2m, 5f):all strata, diurnal, 0.7", pH 6.4-7.8, 75-86F, 5-25 dH, omnivore

3 Variatus Platies (1m, 2f): all strata, diurnal, 2.4", pH 7.0-8.0, 64-77F, 10-20 dH, omnivore

3 otto cats: bottom (glass mostly), nocturnal, 2", pH 6.0-8.0, 68-79F, 5-19dH, omnivore

dragon goby: bottom (belly on gravel), diurnal, 2", pH 6.8-8.0, 59-77F, 4-16 dH, carnivore (want to get him badly, i think he's cool)

Amano Shrimp & Ghost Shrimp (3 of each) : all strata, nocturnal, 2", pH 6.5-7.7, 59-80F, 5-20 dH, omnivore? *they don't add to bioload*


stats of tank will be: pH 7.0-7.5, 75-78F, 10-12 dH as well

total length/bioload in inches = 20.1" i'm a hair over but i'm sure it won't hurt!

is there any hope of combining any of these fish or even some of them? i think i might have too many bottom dwellers or not enough top dwellers. well, please respond quickly. those are my fish/invert choices that i want ot get eventually. this is my first time setting up a tank that big and have experience with ottos, platties, guppies (not endler's but fancy-which will NOT be in this tank).

please help. i might be getting the tank this summer and cycle it until next summer or so or only have a couple fish in there until then. i do plan on doing a fishless cycle so that won't be a problem. i know the rule of thumb is 1" per 1 gal but i don't want to cramp the tank either. slightly understocking or overstocking by a few inches or so isn't a problem for me. i can deal with that. i would prefer to have the best scenario.

any other suggestions would be appreciated...

the tank would have all the stats of a "normal" tropical community tank. i will gladly alter to fit the fish better (ph, alkalinity aka buffering capacity aka kh,hardness aka gh, temperature). i just don't want to set up the tank and purchase fish that will give me a headache later on.

sorry for such a long post but i needed to give you all of the info i can think of giving you to make your life easier.

mods... if i put this in the wrong place or a place that i might not get good info, can you please move it to the appropriate location for me?