Fluval Flex 123l

[lmsmith]

So I haven't kept fish in a few years, but last weekend I got a new tank. It's fishless cycling now - going pretty quickly, actually, even though I'm very suspicious about bacteria in a bottle!

It has a built in internal sump filter, and I also got an eheim  pickup 200 (that fits in the sump) because I never trust built in filters.

This is going to be a well planted tank (I'll probably get a second LED light for it) and I'm open to running CO2.

The tank won't be ready for fish for a while, but I've worked through 2 options for stocking:

Option 1:

• 20 cardinal tetras
• 1 betta (either a chill dude, or a female)
• 6-8 kuhli loaches
• 6-8 julii cories (or other cories)
• 1 starlight bristlenose (or a standard, maybe)

Option 1 would be pretty heavily stocked, but I'm well filtered and will have lots of hidey holes.

Option 2:

• 6-8 otocinclus
• 3-6 dwarf puffers

I've kept dwarf puffers before, and I love them so much. 

So - option 1 is basically a bright, heavily stocked tank. Option 2 is a few interesting fish, but the tank will basically look empty. I'm really torn, and thought I had decided on option 1, then went to a fish shop today for a KH/GH test and they had dwarf puffs there. 

Thoughts?

[Caryl]

They are two very different options you have there. Perhaps you need to buy another tank and do both 😏

As you intend to have it well planted it will not look empty and the puffers are such fun to watch. I would go for option 2.