Help: 130gallon Stocking

[TheFuzzyAussie]

So I recently was given a 130g tank (super lucky, I know) by a family friend. after a thorough cleaning and updating of equipment im back onto the difficult task of figuring out my stocking.

The tank itself is a ~520L 1850mm x 600mm x 470mm (133gallon US - 72' x 24' x 18.5'). It's filtration is a 70L sump (drip tray, filter wool, bio-balls, about 4kg ceramic rings). I am planning on having it as a relatively low tech planted set-up with quite a few low-light hardy plants and plenty of driftwood to make quite a natural aquascape. I'll be using mostly tap water pH ~7.8 which is quite hard (cant give exact measurements, waiting on a new test kit to come in) though am willing to look into working on those parameters if necessary.

Now I'm not a huge fan of 4 or 5 larger fish in a large tank (even though I know they have fantastic personalities) so I am aiming for a few medium sized centrepiece fish with plenty of other schools of smaller fish. Plenty of fish, plenty of colour and plenty of movement!

I don't currently have an exact stocking list just a general idea of what I would like and that is as follows:
- 1 pair Bolivian Rams
- 1 pair Apistogramma Cacatuoides
- 3-5 Angel fish (unsure compatibility wise?)
- 20 rummynose tetra
- 15 corys (unsure but leaning towards sterbai, don't know if they are too small though?) OR Yo-yo loaches (not sure if they fill the same niche as corys?)
- 3 bristlenose plecos
I get to here and this is where I'm stumped!

I'd like at least 1 more school decent sized school and probably 1 more interesting fish, perhaps along the lines of a gourami or 2? I thought perhaps a big school of cardinal tetras but I feel with angels they would simply be an expensive snack ...

Any suggestion / recommendations / changes are greatly appreciated!

- Fuzzy

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome to the forum

I'm in Perth and in a 4ft tank I have 5 angel fish but not sure on compatibility with other cichlids. I'd skip anything neon tetra size as well. They will just get hunted down.

One other would be a small school of otto's for alage clean-up.

Otocinclus Catfish - Otto Cat

 

[Cecibella123]

Yoyo loaches are decent cleaners and have tons of personality and funny antics. If you go with cories, I'd go with larger cories like Bronze or Emerald green. Not as pretty, but less chance of being eaten. I agree with Delapool about tetras.

 

[sinibotia]

If you want schools, I recommend zebra or sidthimunki loaches. Zebra loaches max out at around 4 inches and sidthimunki loaches at 2.5 so you could get much larger schools. Yoyos average 6 but can reach up to 10 inches sometimes so you wouldn't be able to get as many. Angelicus loaches are another option averaging around 6 inches but without the potential to get much bigger like yoyo loaches. Any of these would be more interesting than corydoras IMO. My loaches are very active throughout the water column and even eat out of my hand.

Personally, to fill out your stock, if it were me I would get a large school of zebra loaches and a large school of angelicus loaches (8 of each?). Loaches form complex interactions among themselves akin to a wolf pack, with hierarchies and (non-harmful) tussles for dominance both within their own species school and with other species' schools. It's a lot of fun to watch them.