Stocking

[scottca]

Hi All,

I have an established 180litre, quite heavy planted tank with a sand substrate. Currently its home to 2 BN's, 5 Pantazona Barbs, 5 Red and 5 Black Phantom Tetras and 3 Sterbai Corys

They have been the only residents since cycling (about 7 months ago now) I havnt got round to finish stocking because I have been really busy with work etc and havnt had the time to fully investigate the fish I want before buying - Now that work has calmed down I really want to finish stocking, I just cant decide - All the fish I currrently have tends to stick around the bottom half of the tank so ideally want a few top swimmers to even it out, then the rest can be just anywhere...

Can anyone suggest any stocking ideas? I know its personal preference at the end of the day but would love to hear your opinions =)

Thanks,

Craig

 

[Arimus]

Some pearl gourami's?

Some scissor tail rasbora's?

 

[Esfa]

I would get 3 more cories to begin with.

And then some danios for the top? zebra or leopard.

 

[monica]

Guppies, or White Cloud Mountain Minnows. And I have Found that Platies Dwell all around your tank. Wheareas gups are mainly at the top. White Clouds stay around the top half, sometimes veturing to the middle. But that is about as far as they go.

 

[scottca]

Thanks for the quick replies - I do like gups etc but just the breeding like rabbits gets a bit much lol !

Was thinking of just stocking loads of neons or something, but I heard they are quite sensative now due to breeding etc, can anyone confirm this?

I think I have realised my problem, I like all the fish suggested! in fact... I just like too many fish! - just cant have them all!

 

[monica]

As for guppies, you can just et all males to stop them from breeding XD

 

[scottca]

Well, Purchased today 10 White Mountain Minnows and 3 Bolivian Rams - All settled in well! Im having a few problems with MTS's at the minute, loads in my tank and Im trying the method of pulling them out via a piece of lettuce / cucumber however its not denting the population at all, Want to avoid adding any chemicals into my tank so wondered what the best snail eating fishes are?

Can anyone make any suggestions, I know Clowns are supposed to be good however as my tank is only 180 litres I cant really keep them.. any other suggestions, I was looking at pakistani / yoyo loaches but my lfs said they can be quite aggresive?

 

[monica]

I have the same Problem.
I am not too sure how to get them out other than by hand.
Glad to see you got some Mountian Minnows! They are under-rated, and very hardy fish. Good luck with them.

And a tip for keeping the population low.
For the snails I suggest keeping the temp sort of low, around 70-72. They can't breed in those temperatures. So they populate far less. As long as your fish can stand cooler temperatures.

 

[RedRobin]

Your tank must look lovely! I have three yo yo/Pakistani loaches (and no snails any more!). They are not aggressive towards my other fish, only sometimes having spats among themselves usually just pushing each other around at feeding time. But they are very lively and active all the time, so might stress out small or very peaceful fish. There's a smaller, striped loach which our lfs calls candy striped loach which are supposed to be more peaceful and also avid snail eaters. Hope this helps.