Stocking advice

[nanofish]

I'm in the process of setting up a new aquarium and would love some advice on stocking. I've kept fish in the past but not for a long time so I'm doing my research and learning all the new changes since then. As a kid I used the one inch of fish per gallon. I know now how wrong that can be. I'm also in the know about surface area and played around on Aqua Advisor. I know those are just rough guidelines as well so I'm coming here to ask the experts (never hurts to suck up a little ).
　
Anyway enough rambling. I'm setting up a 40 gallon breeder as a South American blackwater. My filter is a Rena XP3. I'm hoping that that will give me room for two shoals of small tetras and one of Corydoras. Well room and without it looking like a circus. To be honest I haven't actually made up my mind on what to keep lol. For tetras I've looked at glowlights, black neons, silvertips, lemons, January, and X-ray. For Corydoras I'm leaning towards probably either false bandits or three-lined.

So does anyone have any advice on numbers I can keep or even other species I should look at (like some kind of dwarf pleco) for a setup like this. Hatchets are a no no for me btw, since my tank is open. Sorry I'm sure everyone gets sick of answering questions from newbies about stocking but I did suck up a little at least.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

All the tetras you listed could work, though I'm not familiar with january tetras. So would the corydoras.

IMO two schools of eight tetras and one school of ten cories would look pretty awesome.

Dwarf plecos off the top of my head are rubberlip, pitbull, and bristlenoses.

Good luck!

 

[nanofish]

Thanks for the reply. If you want I can find you some good links on January tetras. I hadn't heard of them before visiting the LFS but I like the look. All the stuff I listed I know are sold there so I researched up on all them.

I only found about the pitbull today tbh. The rubberlip I'll definitely look into since that one I don't. Will it be too crowded with all the Corydoras and a dwarf pleco? I saw the pitbull should be in a smallish group.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Thanks for the reply. If you want I can find you some good links on January tetras. I hadn't heard of them before visiting the LFS but I like the look. All the stuff I listed I know are sold there so I researched up on all them.

I only found about the pitbull today tbh. The rubberlip I'll definitely look into since that one I don't. Will it be too crowded with all the Corydoras and a dwarf pleco? I saw the pitbull should be in a smallish group.

Okay. Did a quick Google search, seem like pretty cool fish!

You can keep pitbulls solitarily. I have no experience but IMO the cories and pitbull should ignore each other.

 

[nanofish]

Okay. Did a quick Google search, seem like pretty cool fish!

You can keep pitbulls solitarily. I have no experience but IMO the cories and pitbull should ignore each other.

I kept some kind of pleco (years ago as I said so I have no idea what kind) with cories before with no problem. Just wanted to make sure I had the room. This is going to be my first attempt at live plants so I wanted to keep room for an algae eater if I screwed up and I never had luck with otos.


Btw I was just reading your thread about your build before starting this thread.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I kept some kind of pleco (years ago as I said so I have no idea what kind) with cories before with no problem. Just wanted to make sure I had the room. This is going to be my first attempt at live plants so I wanted to keep room for an algae eater if I screwed up and I never had luck with otos.


Btw I was just reading your thread about your build before starting this thread.

Have you tried SAEs or nerite snails or amano shrimp? Both are fairly easy to keep and can help you with algae problems.

Thanks, hopefully some pics will be up soon

 

[nanofish]

Okay. Did a quick Google search, seem like pretty cool fish!

You can keep pitbulls solitarily. I have no experience but IMO the cories and pitbull should ignore each other.

Have you tried SAEs or nerite snails or amano shrimp? Both are fairly easy to keep and can help you with algae problems.

Thanks, hopefully some pics will be up soon

You're tank is farther along than mine. Right now I have sand and water while I soak driftwood. I ordered plants last night and my leaves should be arriving soon. Definitely don't have an algae problem yet and hope never to...fingers crossed. This is my first time trying a biotope so I'm keep everything South American.

Can't wait to see pics. I'm glad your cousin was ok.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

You're tank is farther along than mine. Right now I have sand and water while I soak driftwood. I ordered plants last night and my leaves should be arriving soon. Definitely don't have an algae problem yet and hope never to...fingers crossed. This is my first time trying a biotope so I'm keep everything South American.

Can't wait to see pics. I'm glad your cousin was ok.

It's only farther along because it's an upgrade, a lot more easier than cycling a tank!

You can reduce the algae by keeping the lights on less, feeding in small amounts, keeping up on PWC, and dosing with Flourish Excel helps too from what I've heard. What kind of plants? Are they South American ?

Thanks, I'm glad she was okay too, if it weren't for the sleeping bag that was on top of it things would've been way different...

 

[nanofish]

It's only farther along because it's an upgrade, a lot more easier than cycling a tank!

You can reduce the algae by keeping the lights on less, feeding in small amounts, keeping up on PWC, and dosing with Flourish Excel helps too from what I've heard. What kind of plants? Are they South American ?

Thanks, I'm glad she was okay too, if it weren't for the sleeping bag that was on top of it things would've been way different...

I ordered some Amazon frogbit and some dwarf water lettuce off ebay last night. I think for a pretty good price. My goal is to have them coat the whole surface so that with them and the tannins the lighting will be real subdued.

Thanks for the tips about the algae. My only experience with live plants was when I was a kid and my dad tried. Fondly remembered in my family as the great snail fiasco

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I ordered some Amazon frogbit and some dwarf water lettuce off ebay last night. I think for a pretty good price. My goal is to have them coat the whole surface so that with them and the tannins the lighting will be real subdued.

Thanks for the tips about the algae. My only experience with live plants was when I was a kid and my dad tried. Fondly remembered in my family as the great snail fiasco

Sounds like a good idea!

I wonder what the snail fiasco was...

 

[nanofish]

I wonder what the snail fiasco was...

Haha With any luck you'll never have to find out for yourself