Stocking help.

[Rissa]

Hey everyone. So I am currently setting up a 65l tropical tank any suggestions on what fish I should stock? I already have 1 BN pleco who I got from my friend when she moved, I was at my LFS yesterday looking for some black diamond quartz gravel and I went to check out the fish, I walked past this beautiful gold fish I never figured out what type it was but I think it was a German gold I was tempted to buy him then and there he just came up to the tank and stared at me .
Anyone have some of these guys what are they like? Google only helps you out so much

 

[Mumma.of.two]

What kinds of fish are you interested in? 65L is about 17g. A touch too small IMO for a gold German ram (assuming that's the fish you saw). Is it a short long tank or a tall tank?

 

[Rissa]

It's a tall tank I have a long tank in the shed but it is only a 56l. I was planning on getting a few guppies and maybe some mollies but I was hoping for something a bit different than mollies I've only been doing this fish stuff for about a year.
Yeah no idea if it was that at my LFS they have the names of the fish and prices all over the place so I'm only going by google.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Aquaone by any chance? I have a one of those.
Guppies and plays would work but mollies not so much. They get quite a bit bigger than platys so IMO require a 80L-120L(20-30g) long tank minimum. Because its a taller tank, not long, that rules fish like danios out. Neon, ember, cardinal, lemon and glow light tetras could work. A single betta is an option if you don't get guppies. You could have a small (5) school of kuhli loaches or Pygmy Cory species.

 

[Rissa]

Yeah I've got the aqua one it was $150 down from like $231 I was think maybe getting another cause petstock do pay offs every fortnight.
Yeah I had guppies before but when I had a cold water tank I was told they would be right then when they all died I looked them up and found out they were tropical :O
Was not happy only problem is the LFS dont have any variety pretty sure there was some dwarf gouramis there but not much else I'd have to order most in don't know how long that would take though

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yeah I've got the aqua one it was $150 down from like $231 I was think maybe getting another cause petstock do pay offs every fortnight.
Yeah I had guppies before but when I had a cold water tank I was told they would be right then when they all died I looked them up and found out they were tropical :O
Was not happy only problem is the LFS dont have any variety pretty sure there was some dwarf gouramis there but not much else I'd have to order most in don't know how long that would take though

Great deal! I got mine for $200 including stand from petbarn.
I'll PM you some places to buy online.

 

[Rissa]

Yeah mine came with the stand as well brought the last 2 my sister got the new one and I got the display also question about her tank I'm so confused with it she has a 25l tank with a goldfish 3 black moors she used to have like 10 blood fin tetras not to sure of that's what they are the rest got eating by her giant goldfish which is like 20cm she literally done nothing no cycle chucked about 15 fish at once an they are all fine it's been running now for around a year she only does pwc when the water looses 25% I've tested her water no ammonia nitrites are through the roof no to sure on nitrates ordering in a master API test kit.
This makes me sad I cycled my tank when I had cold water slowly added fish and they all died I've had better luck with my tropical.
Awesome thanks!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yeah mine came with the stand as well brought the last 2 my sister got the new one and I got the display also question about her tank I'm so confused with it she has a 25l tank with a goldfish 3 black moors she used to have like 10 blood fin tetras not to sure of that's what they are the rest got eating by her giant goldfish which is like 20cm she literally done nothing no cycle chucked about 15 fish at once an they are all fine it's been running now for around a year she only does pwc when the water looses 25% I've tested her water no ammonia nitrites are through the roof no to sure on nitrates ordering in a master API test kit.
This makes me sad I cycled my tank when I had cold water slowly added fish and they all died I've had better luck with my tropical.
Awesome thanks!

Sounds like she got REALLY lucky. Some keep fish for years without knowing of cycling. 3 moors need 150L MINIMUM. They are probably stunted. Stunting is when the fish stops growing, can get large eyes,fins and organs and, in bad cases, a bent spine.

 

[Rissa]

Yeah I'm kinda worried they will get shocked into growing again when she gets her new tank going cause she will probably just change everything and will get sick

 

[Mumma.of.two]

To avoid or lessen a cycle when upgrading you use the old media in the new filter or run the old filter next to the new one. That way a good portion of the beneficial bacteria is saved.

 

[Rissa]

Ah okay I was wondering about that as well.
I was planning on soaking the new filter in the water for a while but I read the water doesn't hold the good bacteria so I was like hmmm I wonder.
I was planning on getting a ABN as well I had one before but he died I got my friends old tank which was terrible the water was like black I'm amazed my other guy survived I found him when I was pouring the old water out in the back yard had a heart attack when I saw him.
what size will I find out if it's a male or female I think it's a female about 7-8cm

 

[Mumma.of.two]

If its 7-8cm without bristles it would be a female IMO. My males are about that and have bristles 3-4 mm long. IMO two bnp is pushing it in 65L. I have a juvie in mine and he/she creates a lot of waste.

 

[Rissa]

Aw that sucks ah well I'm sure I'll upgrade again ;P... So how many Pygmy corys could I get away with? They swim around as well not just chill on the bottom yeah? How is their boiload?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Never kept them myself. There are many different species and some hang more mid level and others stick closer to the substrate. You could get away with 6 IMO.

 

[Rissa]

Hmmm I might look into it, either them with guppies or some platies and guppies, how would I go guppy and platy wise how many of each? I'll stick to one BN till I upgrade

 

[Mumma.of.two]

So with one bnp IMO you could have around 3-5 platys and 3-5 guppies. If your planning on breeding I'd start with 1 male and 2 females of each. Remember they multiply very quickly and can overstock a tank within a month.

 

[Rissa]

I'll do some research into my LFS's about if they will buy the fry if not I'll just get males or females till I do some more upgrading.
Thanks so much for your help I'll let you know how I go.

 

[Rissa]

Uh oh, my friend went and brought an BN Pleco from the LFS she hardly knew anything about them she only has a small tank and I told her about their bioload, she went to take it back seems she couldn't care for it properly (doesn't earn enough money for a larger tank) but they wouldn't take it back she never keeps her receipts for anything.
I offered to take him since she was planning on freezing him (couldn't find anyone to take him) should I just keep the guy in my 25l tank or just have two BN in my 65l. I've been trying to work it out would it be daily pwc? And what if the fish I was planning on getting will I have to cut one out? Should I just get guppies or platies?

 

[Cichlid Kid]

If your absolutely sure about the two bnp and theres no way around it then i would go with a small tetra with a minimal bioload instead of guppies or platys.

 

[Rissa]

Like a little group of them?