250g stocking

[ddodad]

Hi a cousin of mine is planning a tank for his office and I think it will make most of us jealous it's a 250 gallon, he just got a deal on kijiji (Canadian Craigslist). I offered to help since I don't think my wife will ever let me get one that large.
Originally he was going to go salt but I made him do his research (good to be the older respected one) he decided on a fresh water planted community.
Here is the start of the stocking plan.

I am not totally looking for anyone to completely change the plan but I've learnt to share my ideas and get advice/feedback.

We're going to go with black sand with a Rena xp4 and a fluval fx5 (filters came with tank)

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I'd say get one or two more large groups of tetras and that would be awsome. I would even recommend upping each Cory school a little. Cardinal tetras and rummy nose tetras would look great in that tank! Tell me what you think!

 

[ddodad]

I'd say get one or two more large groups of tetras and that would be awsome. I would even recommend upping each Cory school a little. Cardinal tetras and rummy nose tetras would look great in that tank! Tell me what you think!

I like that idea I was actually thinking of a school about 25 or so of harlequin rasbora or mosquito rasbora. I thought 10 Cory's would be enough what about a third type or should we just add a few of each type?

 

[Khazmachi]

I'd suggest swapping ottos for Siamese algae eater. You'll never see the ottos in a tank that size.

 

[ddodad]

I was always warned the Siamese algae eaters get very aggressive as they get larger and stop eating algae

 

[josh7]

Chinese algae eaters do not Siamese though. They are true and peaceful algae eaters for life.

 

[ddodad]

Chinese algae eaters do not Siamese though. They are true and peaceful algae eaters for life.

Thanks for the clarification I thought they were actually the same fish. I guess I'm not as knowledgable as I thought

 

[Rivercats]

I have a 220g 100% planted tank and have about 22 Oto's. With all the plants they are busy, fat, and quite healthy. They are great in planted tanks. SAE's can in fact get aggressive as they mature and often as they get larger they lose interest in algae but often take quite and interest in tender leaf plants like Rotala Wallichii. Something else about the stock list... I've kept a lot of smaller South American cichlids and even with a heavily planted tank you need to seriously pare down that list. Rams do okay in groups when young but as they mature they can get quite aggressive. I started with 11 Rams and now keep only 2 pairs even tho my tank is so heavily planted with stem plants you can go days without seeing some of the smaller fish. Honestly your tank will be more peaceful if you do 4 rams of either GBR or Bolivians with 3 Cockatoo Apisto's (my favorite) or 4 rams and the Agassizzii. Yes the foot print of the tank is large but you would be amazed how territorial and aggressive these little cichlids can get. I had a trio of Agassizzii in the 220 in the tank also and they were the tank terrors as far as aggression level. They chased the rams at every turn and thought nothing of going after the angels of which I have 12 adults in the tank. Which speaking of angels having 6-9 angels in that size tank really works well. When angels are kept in a group of at least 6 tends to keep aggression down so that no one individual is singled out constantly. I don't know what type of plants you intend to have but pleco's can really reek havoc on them. I keep one Albino Longfin Bristlenose pleco. They stay small and if kept as singles are very good with plants. I also feed mine zucchini every other day. I also have 25 cories, 5 each of 5 different species. In that large a tank you can have more if cories if you want. Plus you can have all one species which can look amazing in large numbers or groups of different species as long as you have at least 5 or 6 of each species. Its good you have 1 large schooling group of tetra's but the list is heavy on low level species that will leave the tank looking empty. Two large groups of schooling fish really make a big impact in a large tank. I have a school of 25 cardinal and 25 rummynose tetra's. Emperor, Kerri, and Diamond tetra's look awesome in a large school in a big tank. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[ddodad]

Rivercats just the person I was hoping to reply. I am amazed by your tank.

I did not make the stocking list myself it was mainly my cousin and had a feeling there were too many dwarf cichlids. He just looks at my 70 planted and sees the pair of GBRs and the pair of Bolivians, his logic was much bigger tank should be able to handle all of them. This is really the beginning of stocking

As for the sae vs oto I always have Otos and never had issues with them, so of it ain't broke don't fix it.

I like the idea of more angels and the second school of tetras/other small fish. I was giving him my butterfly pleco he has never touched any of my plants.

Thanks for the guidance

 

[Dallascowboys16]

On the Corys it's hit or miss if two different species will school together. 5 of each is fine I was just thinking with that large of a tank footprint you may want more Corys. You can also start with 5 of each and decide if you want more. You are very flexible with size of your tank on what number of Corys you want! with Corys it's always the more the merrier!

 

[Rivercats]

Cory's don't school they shoal often while foraging for food which is a social behavior but they also go about on their own.