Stocking ideas! :D

2109 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Pitluvs, Feb 13, 2012

MaisyDawgThirteen

Discussion Starter · Feb 11, 2012

I thought it'd be nice to have a thread to share some stocking Ideas!

I want a large tank. DESPERATELY! I made a plan for a 30 gallon with some fairly common fish, that just happen to all be readily available at my favourite LPS. xD

-4 Platties
-2 Dwarf Gouramis
-8 Ember Tetras
-5 Longfin Zebra Danios
-6 Panda Cories
-6 Albino Cories
-1 Nerite Snail

Is there any flaws in this? According aqadvisor.com said it would be 100% stocked and everyone should get along.

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thekoimaiden

· #2 · Feb 12, 2012

Aqadivor should never be used as a final say-so. It's a good starting point for new fishkeepers, but beyond that has limited use.

It seems pretty solid, but I notice a few problems in parameters. Dwarf gourami and the ember tetras like soft, acidic water and platies and other livebearers do best in hard, alkaline water. Also unless you have a male and female dwarf gourami you might run into some aggression issues with two males as they are very much like bettas. They are in the same family.

If you want some more information on all the individual fish species you should check out the fish profiles at the parent site of Bettafish.com, TFK. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/ The individual profiles will give you more info on tank size, temperature, pH, and hardness.

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Zappity

· #3 · Feb 12, 2012

+1 to koimaiden, but I have some wild stocking ideas of my own xD

I want a 300 gal tank with either a gigantic sorority or a saltwater tank

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kfryman

· #4 · Feb 12, 2012

Zappity that would be one hell of a sorority! But that would cost a lot of money to plant it, and it would have to probably be live plants... I don't think they make fake plants for that size of a tank lol. Maybe you can get Amano to design the layout lol. His tanks are amazing!

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MaisyDawgThirteen

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 12, 2012

thekoimaiden said:
Aqadivor should never be used as a final say-so. It's a good starting point for new fishkeepers, but beyond that has limited use.

It seems pretty solid, but I notice a few problems in parameters. Dwarf gourami and the ember tetras like soft, acidic water and platies and other livebearers do best in hard, alkaline water. Also unless you have a male and female dwarf gourami you might run into some aggression issues with two males as they are very much like bettas. They are in the same family.

If you want some more information on all the individual fish species you should check out the fish profiles at the parent site of Bettafish.com, TFK. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/ The individual profiles will give you more info on tank size, temperature, pH, and hardness.

Oh, I've been using aqadvisor religiously. xD I've looked at the profiles on TKF you linked and they are very detailed. How do you tell the difference between a male and female dwarf gourami?

Would my best bet be to change the plan to this:

-2 Dwarf Gouramis
-8 Ember Tetras
-8 Longfin Zebra Danios
-7 Panda Cories
-7 Albino Cories
-1 Nerite Snail

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MaisyDawgThirteen

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 12, 2012

Zappity said:
+1 to koimaiden, but I have some wild stocking ideas of my own xD

I want a 300 gal tank with either a gigantic sorority or a saltwater tank

+1 To the gigantic sorority!

kfryman said:
Zappity that would be one hell of a sorority! But that would cost a lot of money to plant it, and it would have to probably be live plants... I don't think they make fake plants for that size of a tank lol. Maybe you can get Amano to design the layout lol. His tanks are amazing!

Is amano a member of this site?

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Pitluvs

· #7 · Feb 12, 2012

I have a 29g tank with Sword tails, 2 types of Tetras, Danios, Harlequin Rasboras and one Dwarf Neon Gourami. Please.. a Dwarf will be so much happier on it's own. You should never own two males, a male and a female shouldn't really be housed together as the male can get aggressive after breeding (they are much like Bettas) and well... most people don't want dull females. A single male dwarf would get along great with your other fish.

Other than that, I would only go with one type of cory, as you're looking at 33 fish in a 30g tank :S

But good choice on not picking any live bearers LOL

And I have fake plants in my 29g that go from top to bottom

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diablo13

· #8 · Feb 12, 2012

Did Aqadvisor say 100% stocking or 100% filter capacity? Koi maiden is right, it's a good guideline, but I wouldn't go above 90% stoking and 130% filter capacity on that site. It says my 29 gallon has 115% filter capacity on it, but I can NEVER get the nitrates below 40. And I have like 5 Java Ferns in it. Just thought I'd add.

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MaisyDawgThirteen

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 12, 2012

Pitluvs said:
I have a 29g tank with Sword tails, 2 types of Tetras, Danios, Harlequin Rasboras and one Dwarf Neon Gourami. Please.. a Dwarf will be so much happier on it's own. You should never own two males, a male and a female shouldn't really be housed together as the male can get aggressive after breeding (they are much like Bettas) and well... most people don't want dull females. A single male dwarf would get along great with your other fish.

Other than that, I would only go with one type of cory, as you're looking at 33 fish in a 30g tank :S

But good choice on not picking any live bearers LOL

And I have fake plants in my 29g that go from top to bottom

That sound like a nice tank.

I know that dwarf gouramis are in the same family as bettas, but are they as agressive as bettas? I have guppies, and boy! They poop a lot. lol I wish I could have live plants, but it's too expensive. . . .

diablo13 said:
Did Aqadvisor say 100% stocking or 100% filter capacity? Koi maiden is right, it's a good guideline, but I wouldn't go above 90% stoking and 130% filter capacity on that site. It says my 29 gallon has 115% filter capacity on it, but I can NEVER get the nitrates below 40. And I have like 5 Java Ferns in it. Just thought I'd add.

It says it's at 98% stocking and I think 126% filtration. BTW, thanks for adding! Your welcome to.

So, the stocking plan is now:
-1 Male Dwarf Gourami
-8 Ember Tetras
-8 Longfin Zebra Danios
-8 Panda Cories
-1 Nerite Snail

BTW, I'm not going to be doing this plan anytime soon. It's only for fun (unless I get a 30 Gallon tank! lol)!

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thekoimaiden

· #10 · Feb 12, 2012

MaisyDawgThirteen said:
So, the stocking plan is now:
-1 Male Dwarf Gourami
-8 Ember Tetras
-8 Longfin Zebra Danios
-8 Panda Cories
-1 Nerite Snail

BTW, I'm not going to be doing this plan anytime soon. It's only for fun (unless I get a 30 Gallon tank! lol)!

This sounds like a better stocking plan. The only thing I would check is temp requirements. I know gourami like higher temps (above 78F), and I'm pretty sure danio perfer lower temps (below 78F). Ideally you want to keep fish in the lower to middle of their temp range. Making a fish live on the extreme upper end of its preferred range will cause a shorter life span.

Plants can make a difference with stocking levels but only if you have a heavily planted tank. And if you have a heavily planted tank you will likely need to fertilize it to get the growth you want. Also the type of plants matter greatly. If you have a bunch of slow-growing plants they won't take up much nitrogen. The fast growing stem and floating plants will make a difference, but a few anubias or other slow-growing plants won't.

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ladayen

· #11 · Feb 12, 2012 (Edited)

Amano is a japanese scientist that does some of the best aquascapes in the world. He is also responsonible for the discovery of several species.. such as Amano shrimp. There are several other species ending with japonica, most of them are from him.

Edit: He may not actually be a scientist after all, and he only popularized the Amano shrimp, didn't actually discover them apparently. Here's a link to his wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Amano.

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MaisyDawgThirteen

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 13, 2012

thekoimaiden said:
This sounds like a better stocking plan. The only thing I would check is temp requirements. I know gourami like higher temps (above 78F), and I'm pretty sure danio perfer lower temps (below 78F). Ideally you want to keep fish in the lower to middle of their temp range. Making a fish live on the extreme upper end of its preferred range will cause a shorter life span.

Plants can make a difference with stocking levels but only if you have a heavily planted tank. And if you have a heavily planted tank you will likely need to fertilize it to get the growth you want. Also the type of plants matter greatly. If you have a bunch of slow-growing plants they won't take up much nitrogen. The fast growing stem and floating plants will make a difference, but a few anubias or other slow-growing plants won't.

Oh, I forgot! Danios like around 74 I think.

This is kind of off topic, but what is a guppies temp range?

I've never actually had a planted tank, so I don't know if I'd jump right to NTP. lol The plants help keep amonia down, yes?

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Pitluvs

· #13 · Feb 13, 2012

I keep my tank at 76F, and my danios/gourami are thriving. I've had them for almost a year now with no ill effects.

I like the new stocking list! Looks like a good mixture of top/mid/bottom fish... just watch the Danios and the Gourami and make sure they don't compete for the top section. My Gourami is actually pretty calm but I have never put him with any fish that would cause him to show aggression. He does chase my Danios from time to time

Guppies have a HUGE temperature range, but the temps effect their bodies. Lower temps cause them to slow down their metabolism, which slows down breeding and aging. Higher temps cause them to live shorter lives, but breed like rabbits. I believe anything 70-80F is best for them, depending on what you feel comfortable exposing them to.

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