Upgrading From Standard 3Ft To A 4 X 2 X 2...

[SouthernCross]

Hi all,

After having my three foot, approximately 150 litre tank for about six years I have finally found a great bargain on eBay and am upgrading to a 4 x 2 x 2 foot - by my calculations that will triple my volume to about 450 litres!

I am trying to think about how I want to expand on my stocking once its established (will be transferring existing filters over (two Aquaclear 50's) and adding a canister).

I would like to increase my numbers for some of my existing species and then there's a few other fish I have always been interested in but never had the room for, so I am interested in your thoughts!

Existing stock:

2 x Angels
2 x orange thicklipped gourami (1M 1F)
1 x Female blue ram (had a pair but the male recently died)
1 x Bristlenose
1 x Rainbow shark
4 x Bronze/Albino Cories (These are my old-timers - first fish bought six years ago and still going strong!)
6 x Kuhli loaches
10 x guppies (4 male 6 female)
3 x Neon tetra
2 x Albino black skirt tetra

Now in terms of the existing stock -

Black skirt tetras -I inherited the skirt tetras from my brother and really don't like them all that much, so am just leaving them be. I know normally people would suggest increasing their school but I don't want to keep that species beyond seeing out the lives of these two.
Neons Once these guys die (I had a school of 16 but all seemed to get weird little growths - neon tetra disease I believe - I want to replace them with a school of cardinals - dont get NTD and are bigger (although I have NEVER seen my angels 'hunt' any neons).
Guppies - I keep these mainly for the constant live food source for the cichlids, probably won't increase their numbers.
Kuhlis - Love these guys they are great - could possibly increase numbers?
Cories - Love my bronze cories but I would probably like to get another four of a different kind - perhaps Julii's?
Shark and bristlenose - Will keep these guys as solitary.
Angels I would consider adding more angels but I am concerned by the fact that the two I have get along very well, but don't seem to be a breeding pair (they often square up, flare and 'shake' at each other - not sure if this is pre-breeding behaviour or not?). They are really beautiful angels and I am worried adding more would upset the balance of the tank. And also you have to buy them so tiny! My two are about the size of my hand and are probably about 9 months old. What are peoples thoughts there?
Rams My female ram I have had for a long time but I have had two males die on her. She always looks very depressed and dull when alone though. I was considering getting a bigger group of rams, say five or six (say 2 males, 3 more females) as I have read Rams are a very social fish and will do better in a bigger group (but a trio is bad). Thoughts?
Gourami My male is not interested in the female whatsoever so I thought of tracking down another female to make a trio. Or I have also had pearls in the past which I loved, but I am worried introducing another gourami species might cause fighting.

Other fish
Other fish I have never had before due to limitations of tank size but are interested in:
Blue Acara - I think they are beautiful and I believe a 4 x 2 would be big enough now. I have read they can turn nasty when breeding so would I be better off keeping one as a loner? I do love watching breeding behaviour in the tank though so just wondering what people's experiences are. I know to watch out and make sure I am not sold a GT by mistake!
Rummynose Tetra - I think these guys can look great in a big school (like cardinals) just wondering if I would be better just choosing one tetra to have a bigger school.
Kribensis - Would be interested in getting a pair however am concerned about how they might beat up on the rams and other bottom dwellers like cories?
Festivum - Think they are lovely but worried they might not get along with angels.

As you can see I am interested in introducing another bigger cichlid now I have the space and just aren't sure about what would go best with my existing stock. And also whether upping numbers of others (like angels) is going to cause problems.

What do people think and do you have any other suggestions for me that I might not have considered?

Cheers

 

[SouthernCross]

Anyone?

 

[samorkel]

As far as I know most cichlids are aggressive and won't get on with your current stock and will kill much of it. Rummynoses and cardinals will be cool and you could have two schools one rummy one cardinal say of about 10 each

should compliment the tank nicely. Look into Dwarf Neon Rainbows or maybe even some full sized rainbow fish but be careful not to overstock. Possibly upping the number of cories and Khuli's would be a good idea and the guppies should be fine with the numbers they are in.

[font="Verdana]2 x Angels [/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2 x orange thicklipped gourami (1M 1F)[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]1 x Female blue ram (had a pair but the male recently died) [b](Try get another male for her)[/b][/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]1 x Bristlenose[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]1 x Rainbow shark[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]4 x Bronze/Albino Cories (These are my old-timers - first fish bought six years ago and still going strong!) [b](I'd say four more cories)[/b][/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]6 x Kuhli loaches [b](4 more Khuli's)[/b][/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]10 x guppies (4 male 6 female)[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]3 x Neon tetra[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]2 x Albino black skirt tetra[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]10 x Dwarf Neon Rainbows?? 5m + 5f[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]10 x Rummynose tetra's??[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]10 x Cardinals[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]I would say only 2 of the schools I suggested[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]I am not sure if this is overstocking you may have to lose the guppies and try get them a smaller tank where they can go mad and breed for you.[/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Verdana]Good Luck [/font]

edit: What is the temperament of your rainbow shark as I know they can be aggressive?

 

[NeonNeptune]

That sounds pretty good but I would stay away from ciclids since they can be aggressive. And the guppy population probably wouldn't grow to quickly because the fry would probably be a nutritious little snack for a lot of those fish. sama:

 

[SouthernCross]

My rainbow shark is fairly docile. He gives a half hearted chase to the skirt tetras on occasion but he seems to 'know his place'. For now, at least. The hubby was hell bent on getting a shark and initially wanted a Bala or a red-tail, and fortunately was able to talk him out of it and the rainbow was a compromise (least of many evils, lol).

I have done quite a bit of cichlid research and am trying to not go for the real nasties (e.g. GT's, red devils, dempseys, severums etc) so I might take my more specific questions to the cichlid forum, [partularly about the ram numbers and whether an acara is a good idea or not.

I really am genuinely interested in trying to get a larger fish now that I have more tank volume/space.

If anyone else has any ideas I would love to hear from you.

 

[samorkel]

As far as cichlids are concerned I would say stick to rams and angels in community tanks, you should try getting 4 Bolivians at first to increase the odds of a pair forming and then sell on the other 2

Since your shark is docile you I would say get 2 schools 10 dwarf neon rainbows and 10 x rummynose tetra's (possibly cardinals but I just prefer the rummynoses) they really compliment each other. You could possibly look into more more angels since your tank is nice and big

but make sure they are of a similar age and size and possibly also a breeding pair. (They would probably end up choosing one side of the tank each) Good Luck looking forward to seeing the progress

A bigger fish will see guppies and tetra's as food and would not be helpful in trying to set up a good community environment. Some larger fish are also very territorial and would most likely harass your angels to the point of death I can't think of any larger fish than your angels (in the cichlid family) that would be suitable for the community environment

edit: I also just set up a tank the same size so I know what its like similar stocking aswell

 

[onidrase]

Keyhole cichlids, cupids, festivums, apistogrammas, and rainbow cichlids will also work. There are plenty of peaceful species out there.