Stocking my 30 Gal

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Mystic Fish

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
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53
So im not sure how many more fish i can fit in 116L/30Gal tank its more tall than it is long:

http://i.imgur.com/MZgO3X0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1uIykOX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cPgv6ci.jpg

I have 2 Apisto-Pandurini, 6 Cardinal Tetra, 3 Kuhli Loaches.

I was thinking maybe:
6 more Tetra (Rummy nose or Glowlight or something)
or...
an electric blue ram (maybe too much aggression) and 3 more Cardinals tetra's
or...
A Starlight pleco (tanks too small?) and 3 more Cardinal tetras

Any idea's or is my tank too small?
 
hmm i kinda want to stick to South American fish.

After seeing this video
Im kinda surprised at how many fish you can fit (maybe its too much) and the ones that are in there..
A convict looking cichlid (slight aggressive)
An angel fish (slight aggressive)
A puffer fish (aggressive?)
A Black ghostknife (grows to 20cm? too big?)
A pleco (too big?)
 
Cardinals would be nice but they like a lot of space to swim back and forth from my experience. I think a nice pair of Bolivian or German blue rams would be a nice touch. They would fill out the bottom of your tank while the neons would be more mid range. Just be mindful that if you know with German blue rams your tank needs to be stable with no ammonia or nitrites, ph between 6.5 and I'd say 7.4 tops and nitrate between 5-10ppm. Bolivians on the other hand are much heartier but not as colorful. I had Bolivians before but lost them due to a move in the middle of winter where. It gets -50 frequently where I live. But I enjoyed my Bolivians to the point where I could pet them


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I really like the electric blue rams, not sure if they are German or Bolivian? But i thought i couldnt have them since i already have 2 Pandurini cichlids and there would be aggression? My 2 Pandurini's get on ok, just the male chases the female away sometimes.

Can i still get away with 1 or 2?
 
Electric blues are nice but I'd prefer the german blues just cuz, but Bolivians are great as well and do get some nice color to them. I'm not sure of your type of cichlid so I'd have to read up a bit to kinda get a bit more understanding as to how they act


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Ya you have apistograma pandurini which from what I've quickly read are supposed to be quite docile to other fish unless they mosey into their turf. If your tank was a 30 long it'd be okay, but a 30 tall doesn't give much room at the bottom


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I believe they need aquariums that are 40 gallons or greater. He may get to big for a 30. An awesome site to look at also when planning tanks is AqAdvisor. You put in the size of your tank and filter capacity and then list the fish intended for it and it will tell you their compatibility and how stocked the tank will be based of the fish's bio load.


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So im not sure how many more fish i can fit in 116L/30Gal tank its more tall than it is long:

http://i.imgur.com/MZgO3X0.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1uIykOX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cPgv6ci.jpg

I have 2 Apisto-Pandurini, 6 Cardinal Tetra, 3 Kuhli Loaches.

I was thinking maybe:
6 more Tetra (Rummy nose or Glowlight or something)
or...
an electric blue ram (maybe too much aggression) and 3 more Cardinals tetra's
or...
A Starlight pleco (tanks too small?) and 3 more Cardinal tetras

Any idea's or is my tank too small?


I'd increase the Kuhli Loach number to 6-7, and increase the Cardinal Tetra number to 10. Maybe add some Panda Garra as they are quite interesting. In my opinion and experience, they are better than Plecos. Plecos get so large and produce a ton of waste, while Panda Garra remain small and are social.


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I'd increase the Kuhli Loach number to 6-7, and increase the Cardinal Tetra number to 10. Maybe add some Panda Garra as they are quite interesting. In my opinion and experience, they are better than Plecos. Plecos get so large and produce a ton of waste, while Panda Garra remain small and are social.


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I like all the suggestions stated here especially upping the school of Kuhli Loaches.


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I'd increase the Kuhli Loach number to 6-7, and increase the Cardinal Tetra number to 10. Maybe add some Panda Garra as they are quite interesting. In my opinion and experience, they are better than Plecos. Plecos get so large and produce a ton of waste, while Panda Garra remain small and are social.


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Hmm, nice ideas. I never knew/seen the Panda Garra, it looks like a fun fish not sure if its sold around here. I was trying to stick with south american fish, as im trying to lower ph naturally for my apisto's. I kind of wanted a SA setting I guess, but I messed that up when i got khuli loaches, should of got corys. The Panda Garra seems to compliment the loaches though
 
Hmm, nice ideas. I never knew/seen the Panda Garra, it looks like a fun fish not sure if its sold around here. I was trying to stick with south american fish, as im trying to lower ph naturally for my apisto's. I kind of wanted a SA setting I guess, but I messed that up when i got khuli loaches, should of got corys. The Panda Garra seems to compliment the loaches though


I actually think that Kuhli Loaches are funner to have than Cory Cats. I think Cories are sort of dull (unless they are the rare ones), so I sold the 5 that I had a couple weeks ago. I'm going to put Kuhli Loaches in my tank in the future. Panda Garra can be sort of hard to find in certain locations since they became available around 10 years ago, I believe. Here are a couple nice videos about them/of them:
http://youtu.be/e2aAZIj-ZkY
http://youtu.be/RHW-VubPDw8

Just make sure that you have a good water flow so that there is plenty of O2 is in the water if you get them.


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I actually think that Kuhli Loaches are funner to have than Cory Cats. I think Cories are sort of dull (unless they are the rare ones), so I sold the 5 that I had a couple weeks ago. I'm going to put Kuhli Loaches in my tank in the future. Panda Garra can be sort of hard to find in certain locations since they became available around 10 years ago, I believe. Here are a couple nice videos about them/of them:
Fincasters Episode 10 Garra Panda Algae Eater - YouTube
panda garra eating from hand - YouTube

Just make sure that you have a good water flow so that there is plenty of O2 is in the water if you get them.


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Yea i also think they're kind of dull, but i wouldnt of minded the green laser ones or some of the others, sifting around the sand keeping it aerated. I just recently seen that there are also, all black Kuhli Loaches, might get a couple of those. Thanks for the vids!
 
Yea i also think they're kind of dull, but i wouldnt of minded the green laser ones or some of the others, sifting around the sand keeping it aerated. I just recently seen that there are also, all black Kuhli Loaches, might get a couple of those. Thanks for the vids!


No problem!


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I'd increase the Kuhli Loach number to 6-7, and increase the Cardinal Tetra number to 10.

Agreed about the Kuhlis. I'd also add a large piece of bogwood or some other type of "cave" to the bottom of the tank that they can hide in during the day.

Cardinals will be OK in a group of 6, though I agree that more is better. They will school with Neons, Rummys, and other torpedo-shaped tetras of similar size. A school of 6 Rummys would be a way to simultaneously make your Cardinals feel more comfortable and add diversity to you tank.
 
Agreed about the Kuhlis. I'd also add a large piece of bogwood or some other type of "cave" to the bottom of the tank that they can hide in during the day.

Cardinals will be OK in a group of 6, though I agree that more is better. They will school with Neons, Rummys, and other torpedo-shaped tetras of similar size. A school of 6 Rummys would be a way to simultaneously make your Cardinals feel more comfortable and add diversity to you tank.

Oh.. Rummys school with Cardinal Tetra? I wanted to get Rummys but i thought theres not enough space. They Always seem to be rapidly swimming back and forth in the youtube vids with longer tanks, but that may be because the school is pretty big? What if i get 4 Rummy's or should i just get 6?
 
Oh.. Rummys school with Cardinal Tetra? I wanted to get Rummys but i thought theres not enough space. They Always seem to be rapidly swimming back and forth in the youtube vids with longer tanks, but that may be because the school is pretty big? What if i get 4 Rummy's or should i just get 6?

The bioload difference between 4 and 6 isn't substantial, and I always recommend 6 of each species of tetra. If you could do 6 Rummys and 6 Cardinals, you'd have a nice group of shoaling tetras that would often school tightly.
 
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