KiwiGal77 Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Just wondering what people have in their 115ish litre / 30ish gallon tanks? Trying to get some ideas Thinking.. That seems like a lot of fish, definitely more than the inch of fish per gallon rule, but according to the advisor it's only 80% so should be about right?? Also not sure if I should give the cochu blue tetras a go or not. They are absolutely beautiful, but have a bad rep - hoping a school of 10 in that sized tank would keep them happy and out of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Whats your filter? and how planted is it? Mine is in the set up stage too but was looking for around the same amount of fish. What's the stocking level if you remove the Pleco? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjansss Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I find the blues are very hardly once neary every thing in my tank died from an electric surge and they where some of the few fish that suvived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Filter will be an AquaOne CF1200. Designed for tanks up to 250L, so should be well sufficient. Will be fairly densely planted with low-light & low-tech plants. If I remove the BN it drops stocking level to 67 %, so he's taking up a fair amount. Did you have issues with the blue tetras getting aggressive and/or nippy towards your other fish? Some people have found them total prats, bullying anything and everything - but it also seems like people don't keep them in big enough schools or tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Haha, AqAdvisor really hates BNs in my experience - though they are terrible poop machines. I tend to recommend going for one large shoal rather than multiple smaller ones, as the fish show stunning behaviours when shoaling in large groups. Others however do prefer the different species. I would probably recommend adding 1-3 more cories, however. With good planting you should be alright - if worst comes to worst you could remove the smaller shoal of fish and/or the BN. I find AqAdvisor is pretty conservative with stocking levels, so typically if they're saying your stocking level is low, you're doing pretty good ime My current 120L is supposed to have: 11x Glowlight danios (hope to eventually increase that shoal to 30) 2x Thicklipped gourami pair (+ a female who's currently in another tank) 1x Indian banded gourami female (possible temporary resident) 7x Pangio anguillaris kuhlis (plus however many I find in store again eventually) However... at the moment it also has 7x Common (?) whiptails 1x "Black" whiptail 3x Red whiptails 1x Royal whiptail 1x Female American flagfish All of which are /supposed/ to be temporary in my SE-A biotope. + It used to have a female Rio BN My aquarium stocking level is 147% according to AqAdvisor (with a lot of angry red text) - excluding the red whiptails as they're not on the list (also P oblonga instead of P anguillaris, which they have 3 entires for). Anyway, with heavy planting + emersed plants, the Nitrates tend to climb to about 15ppm weekly (with 50-60% weekly WCs). With lower planting levels, I'd be greatly reducing that whiptail population. It really does depend on the individual tank, WC schedules and planting levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjansss Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 My blues where quite peaceful and spent most of their time with the neons and glowlights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 My blues where quite peaceful and spent most of their time with the neons and glowlights. That's good to hear! Maybe the Kiwi ones are a bit more laid back than their overseas cousins If I can comfortably add a few more fish, then I think I will up the school of Harlequins to 10 as well to make them happier and look better. The rams are a maybe - I want some sort of centerpiece fish, preferably in a pair, which is around the 10cm max mark. Haven't really looked into what's available at that size for a community tank. Any other ideas?? Oh... and I just bought a 130L tank :happy1: Hopefully pick it up this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Well the 130L tank I bought fell through, BUT I have just ordered a brand new 150 Litre / 40 Gallon one 8) (funny how the size keeps increasing isn't it?!) Decided against the blue tetras due to possible fin-nipping limiting my options for other fish, and I wanted smaller fish in larger schools. I've decided on 10 harlequin rasbora and 15 dwarf spotted danios as the schooling fish to go with 1 bristlenose, 5 julii cory, 2 female german blue rams and a dwarf gourami. AqAdvisor reckons I'm sitting at 95% with that, so hopefully that is ok for the planted tank with a CF1200 filter? Obviously stocking to get to that final goal will be over about 3 months to spread the loading out. The filter is already up and running in my current tank due to the other one failing last week and killing one of my cories over the weekend, I didn't realise the fault soon enough I put all the media from my old filter into the new one to help seed it, so far so good *touch wood*. Expecting to get the new tank up and running next weekend. Now instead of doing my uni work I am busy doing aquascaping designs (I'm an arts student). Think it could be something I really get into! And I'm going to fit this in with what spare time I do not know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Where did you find the dwarf spotted danios (Brachydanio nigrofasciata)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Where did you find the dwarf spotted danios (Brachydanio nigrofasciata)? Both Hollywood stores have them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Sounds excellent :thup: The filter should be fine, just don't go too heavy on the stocking. Once the tank matures you'll have beneficial bacteria in places like the substrate also, but if you decide to go for heavy stocking you might just want to add a second filter (HOBs are always handy). Love the dwarf spotted danios - I considered them before I got the glowlights (wanted something similar in colour to CPDs but in warmer temps) - would love to own a shoal of them one day (despite not being a big danio fan). Only recommendation is to maybe add 2 more cories You will definitely get cooler behaviours as the shoal gets larger, and you'll likely see them out more too. Just be careful in that if you decide to get a male GBR, you might have issues with the dwarf gourami - but I see you're only getting females so it should be fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Will keep in mind about the second filter thanks Yea I really like the dwarf spotted danios, saw them for the first time last week. Albany had them in the cold water section and Mt Roskill had them in a tropical tank, so I am a little confused about that. Websites seem to say they are tropical (24-28), so if I was to buy from Albany would they cope ok with the temp change? Not sure what their cold water tanks are set up as, but they have a lot of guppies, cories and danios in them so can't be too far off 25C? I've heard GBR's can be aggressive towards cories (and other tank mates) if they are breeding, so figured it would be best to get two females as to avoid those issues. Assume a pair of females is ok, or does it have to be 1 male & 1 female? Could probably up my cory school to 6, but would be worried about over-stocking with any more. 6 of them together would be pretty cute! My two remaining ones would appreciate the extra company I'm sure, although they are both rather boisterous already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted March 4, 2015 Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Will keep in mind about the second filter thanks Yea I really like the dwarf spotted danios, saw them for the first time last week. Albany had them in the cold water section and Mt Roskill had them in a tropical tank, so I am a little confused about that. Websites seem to say they are tropical (24-28), so if I was to buy from Albany would they cope ok with the temp change? Not sure what their cold water tanks are set up as, but they have a lot of guppies, cories and danios in them so can't be too far off 25C? I've heard GBR's can be aggressive towards cories (and other tank mates) if they are breeding, so figured it would be best to get two females as to avoid those issues. Assume a pair of females is ok, or does it have to be 1 male & 1 female? Could probably up my cory school to 6, but would be worried about over-stocking with any more. 6 of them together would be pretty cute! My two remaining ones would appreciate the extra company I'm sure, although they are both rather boisterous already. As long as you increase the temp slowly you should be fine Some people recommend about 1-2 degrees per day, but personally I'm not too worried to go about 3-5 degrees per day. 2 female GBRs should be fine Cories will definitely appreciate the new company! I love watching mine swim around out and about more since their offspring have grown up (putting my shoal at about 8+). They definitely seem a lot less timid now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGal77 Posted March 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2015 Awesome, thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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