have I started with enough fish

[Ap0ll0]

Hi,

I'm currently just passing a bit of time before I finish acclimating the 3 boesemani fish i just got to add to the 3 sterbai corys that are already in there having just finished them

one of the corys got out too early when the floating bag tipped on its side - i've also had a fair bit of the bag water go into the tank, but I'm hoping since these are all fish from the same lfs 10 mins down teh road on their tapwater, and i did about an 80% water changed yesterday evening, that it won't be a problem or if it is it would have been unavoidable anyway. hopefully the little guy will be ok, he's met up with one of his buddies already and they are chilling out together

it is a 200l tank with a ex1200 external - im just wondering if i should pop back to the LFS this afternoon and either add more corys or get a few platys or swordtails - im concerned this number of small fish (bows are small atm) won't keep the filter active enough. i dont want to add more bows until I'm certain of the sexes, definitely 1 male and 1 female and the other should be a female if the LFS guy knows his stuff but I don't

im keeping the tank at around 26/27c is this correct for these fish?

 

[Ap0ll0]

ok well I decided it wasn't enough, and got one more sterba's cory (the others are all starting to perk up now) and 4 celebes rainbows.

I will now leave it until after easter. I intend to increase the numbers of the two rainbow species but once i'm a bit more certain about the sexes so i can ensure a good mix. other than at least one pearl gourami I have no other must haves - the celebes seemed like a good alternative to platys/swordtails to fill things out

when i say leave it i mean add no more fish i dont mean leave it alone

 

[librarygirl]

How long has the tank been set up? I wouldnt' add anything else until you're sure it's cycled and stable. Have you taken any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate readings lately? These links might help some:
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[Ap0ll0]

I started cycling with a load of donor media in the first week of march, it has been fully cycled for just over a week and kept it dosed with ammonia

ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, nitrate is 20 or so (tap is 5-10, did a big water change last night but there was lots in there from the cycling)

the first stock seems to be doing well - they're all in their little groups, the celebes will also shoal with the boesemani. the corys are going mental up and down the side of the aquarium nearest the filter intake. put a tiny bit of food in earlier and a couple of them noticed it and had a nibble but going to leave it til the morning to try more

 

[armymp327]

if had donor material and kept it alive with ammonia then your bio filter should be quite strong by now, i feel your stock should be good for the filter however id leave it as is for now and keep a close eye on your ammonia and nitrites just to make sure you dont through a mini-cycle

 

[Ap0ll0]

will do - tested last night it was zero, will test again shortly this morning.

two of my boesemani seemed to have a bit of a disagreement last night - I'm pretty sure i've got one male and one female, but the other one I can't tell as it is the size of the male but the colours of the female - last night the male bmr was staking his territory it appears (he'd hover low over this one spot between two plants near the front, occasionally pick at the sand, and occasionally swim around it and flare up. whenever the gender undetermined one came by it (with colouring turning similar to the males) he'd nudge right up against it, and occasionally looked like he was nipping at its sides, but it didn't really run off and he didn't really chase, just when it came and hovered next to him on his territory.

this morning the male is very colourful and the other is much more back to the colours of the other female (pale green rather than yellow/orange rear) so I'm not sure whether it was a female and it was some sort of courting, or it was a male who has decided to let the other be dominant

put in a bit of food this morning, some of them had a nibble on some of it, the corys went into full on sand sifting mode, going to leave it til later now as the rainbows still don't give it that much attention (or take a falling bit of food but don't swallow it)

everyone seems pretty happy, was a bit worried about a celebes who was off down by himself among some plants but as soon as he came across the shoal again he was fine. so fascinating to watch