Stocking Rethink - 120 Litres. Help!

[Maedhros]

My 120l is now fully cycled, but I'm having a dither about what to put in it.

Originally I wanted guppies, a small shoaling or schooling species (I like celestial pearl danios, chili rasboras and pencil fish), maybe endlers, a pearl gourami as a centrepiece and a small plec, but now I'm thinking the gourami might look odd in there - it's a big fish, especially compared to the guppies and shoalers.

I wondered about a honey gourami but I've heard that they do better in trios; I also (briefly) toyed with having my fighter as the centrepiece of the new tank, but he's pretty stroppy and I wouldn't like to chance it. I'm also thinking about scrapping the pleco and going for a school of small cories and/or some pretty shrimp for some interest at the lower levels.

Basically I'm going back to the drawing board and asking for new suggestions! I like plenty of colour (hence the attachment to guppies/endlers) and would prefer something going on at all levels in the tank. In an ideal world I'd like to find a peaceful, slightly larger fish to act a focal point, but if that's not possible then never mind.

What would you guys recommend?

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Your tank is a bit too small for a pearl gourami and if you get the wrong Plec it will be too big as well. Corys sound a better idea anyway. I think your tank is quite small so if you don't want a Betta then you might have to make do with one or two groups of a shoaling fish rather than a centre piece.

A rule of thumb says you can have around 60-65cm of fish in your tank when fully grown so you have a little to play with. I'd stick to something like the endlers and guppies if it were me, then a few corys.

 

[Gidge]

I would certainly choose the cory's over the plec. They are so much more fun to watch! Chilli Rasbora's would look pretty neat too. Especially with a decent number of them. 
If you were heading in the guppy direction, what about platies/swordtails??

 

[AlbertShipman]

120 Litre...

How about a school of 18-20 chilli rasboras, and maybe 8-10 cardinal tetras. Colours may work well together? With 3-4 shrimps in there as well?...

Although don't know your water stats to see if those fish are suited, or if your cycled tank is planted.

 

[Gidge]

120 Litre...

How about a school of 18-20 chilli rasboras, and maybe 8-10 cardinal tetras. Colours may work well together? With 3-4 shrimps in there as well?...

Although don't know your water stats to see if those fish are suited, or if your cycled tank is planted.

Great idea! But with Cory's

 

[Maedhros]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. OT, but Gidge, the rabbit in your avatar is adorable

@Lunar, yeah, I know some plecos get huge - I was thinking a King Tiger/Scribble if I could find one, I understand they get to four or five inches? But cories are cute, and I could get more of them...

It's not exactly that I don't want a betta, just that I'm pretty sure the one I have wouldn't be suitable - like I said, he's moody. I could get another, but ideally I'd like to try something new

@Albert, my tap water has 0ppm ammonia and a natural pH of 6.5. The tank isn't planted; I had a bad experience with plants in my betta tank, they died off very swiftly! I have a lot of silk plants in there, though, plus caves and wood for extra hiding places, and pale sandy substrate. I'm currently using my work computer, otherwise I'd post pics; must get round to that at some stage.

@Gidge, yeah, I'm leaning towards cories - my LFS has a good selection. I really like pandas and pygmies, have you kept either of them?

Re: shrimps, can you mix species or is it best to stick to just one?

ETA - I suppose a focal point wouldn't necessarily *have* to be just one fish...just to chuck another idea into the mix, could I do a trio of honey gouramis plus a shoal of something, with cories and/or shrimps at the bottom?

 

[Gidge]

That's Charrlie, he is rather handsome isn't he! I had him for 8 years  
 
Back to Cory's! I haven't kept either of them, I've only kept Sterbai's. Absolutely love these guys, remind me of little leopard soldiers. Leopard's because of their spots, and soldiers because they seem to camouflage among my wood and plants and then just POP OUT! 
They really are so much fun to watch. 
 
Here's a pic just in case you hadn't seen Sterbai's before! (Not the best photo)

 

[Maedhros]

He's gorgeous! Sorry you lost him

I have a six-year-old French lop, I'm mad about him.

Those sterbais are lovely. They look like they'd stand out a bit more than the pygmies or the pandas. Would a group of six to eight do OK in a tank the size I have, with other fish in the upper levels?

 

[Gidge]

It was pretty heart breaking Ahh a fellow rabbit lover!! 
 
As for the cory's, I personally would be comfortable with doing that. I have 7 in my 165L and they are very spaced out.
Someone may disagree with me though. That's the thing about fish keeping, a fair bit of it is personal preference!
 
Just remember to keep away from any barbs (tigers etc), they'll pick on the corys and shred their fins. I made that mistake, but I upped the group of tigers and they leave them alone now, but I still wouldn't recommend it!

 

[Maedhros]

Yeah, love bunnies - just the one at the moment, he's a bit of an oddball and hates his own kind, though loves his humans!

I wasn't planning on barbs, so no worries there

how are cories with shrimp, if I decided to go that route?

 

[Gidge]

I've had loads of bunnies. Absolutely love them. I can't have them now because of my dog  
 
I have no experience what so ever with shrimp! Hopefully someone will come along and give you some info on that.
Looking forward to seeing some pictures of this too. 

 

[Maedhros]

Bit of an update...

Been browsing at my LFS today and having a play with various fish combinations on Aq Advisor. I still like the idea of my tank having a centrepiece and my LFS had some very lovely dwarf gouramis, which I've heard are happy enough kept singly (though I have heard things about them dying mysteriously). I do also love honeys and I think a trio of them would work nicely as a focal point against a large group of something smaller. They had some lovely fighters as well; I got very attached to a royal blue crowntail, I had to exercise some serious self discipline not to take him home!

In terms of smaller fish, I reckon a big group of one type looks better than a few small groups, so I'm going to skip on the guppies (and possibly even the endlers). I have a soft spot for tiny fish, and LFS had ember tetras and chili rasboras (adorable!); no CPDs, but I suppose if I went that route I could order some.

They also had some lovely cories, but I'm still attached to small fancy plecos, if I can find one anywhere.

Basically, then, I'm looking at one selection out of each of the following "boxes":

Box 1:

1 x dwarf gourami OR 1 x betta splendens OR 3 x honey gourami

Box 2:

Large group of chili rasboras OR celestial pearl danios OR ember tetras

Box 3:

6 x small cories OR 1 x small fancy pleco (open to species suggestions!)

Box 4 (maybe):

Small group of endlers

What would you do? Any accidents waiting to happen in there? Thoughts, advice and suggestions welcome!

 

[Gidge]

What about;
 
1x Dwarf Gourami
Chili Rasbora's
Cories

 

[leighton_87]

Any of them would work - pick your favourite and enjoy.

People on here can warn of compatability issues and suggest other ideas but ultimately every fishkeeper is different and needs to make their own decisions. You'll regret taking the advice of others over yourself if your bit 100% happy with your final choices (if your anything like me once you've got one to you'll wish you had the other anyway!)

 

[RCA]

my LFS had some very lovely dwarf gouramis, which I've heard are happy enough kept singly (though I have heard things about them dying mysteriously).

Ask where your LFS got the dwarf Gouramis from, if they will tell you?  I believe MA is now stocking them from a (German?) breeder, who worked on eradicating the problems with them.  It should tell you more on MA's site in the News section.  If I can find it I will let you know more.

Check out the Rasboras Espei's, I have recommended them a lot on here, as I have a school of them and find them very attractive.

Chilli Rasboras are cute, but you would want quite a lot of them to make an impact as they are very, very small if I recall.

I love Corys and would highly recommend them for the bottom of your tank.  I recently got some Pandas, they are gorgeous, busy little things and do not grow too large.  They apparently are also fairly easy to breed, check the forum a few people on here have had some surprises latterly with them.

As recommended by Gidge, Sterbai's are lovely and one I was always keen to get, but they are one of the larger Cory's.

For a small Pleco check out the Pitbull Pleco, does not live after its name sake the dog, is fairly peaceful by all accounts, and does not get much bigger than an Otto.  I have been quite keen on getting one or more but my LFS does not stock them, and have not pushed them that hard to be honest.
Steer away from the Crown Pleco, as although they stay quite small my friends got one and it does not eat algae, but poops for England!  They are apparently known to be high waste machines, and non-algae eaters from the research I have done on them.  Oh, and they do not really come out of their hiding places very often!

Good advice from Leighton_87 too
 
Looking forward to pics too.