Stocking 36 GAL bow front

[Tipton34]

I was planning on stocking my 36 gallon bow front with a school of 6-8 zebra danios, 2 killifish, 2 German blue rams, 6 cherry barbs, and around 5 Cory cats.

What do yall think of this?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I have one actually and I think you could do more than five corydoras. I'm thinking eight.

Everything else looks good. Just make sure to have a good cover for the killies. They will jump sooner or later.

 

[Tipton34]

Ya that would help out with the cleanup especially since it was going to be sand. Would I need a bristle nose pleco to control the algae or would the corys handle it?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I don't believe corys are the greatest algae eaters.

Are you wanting to do a planted set-up? If not, just control the lighting and you won't have a big worry of algae.

Have you already got the tank up and cycled? Or are you going to start?

 

[Tipton34]

It will have a one or two pieces of small Java ferns, but nothing larger than the palm of your hand.


I don't have it running yet, but I know to wait a while before adding i pleco

 

[jmpgop]

I have a 36 gallon bow also. 1 pearl gourami, 1 angel, 1 pleco, 6 danios, 1 apple snail. I had 6 cherry barbs in there also but they kept biting my fish. First a danio second my gourami. After they bit my beloved gourami, I gave them the boot and now they're in my 10 gallon with a nasty molly and everyone in there is doing great. Serves them right. Yes, they're supposed to be the most docile of the barbs, but they are still barbs

 

[Tipton34]

So would it be better to do neon tetras instead of the cherry barbs?

 

[absolutangel04]

So would it be better to do neon tetras instead of the cherry barbs?

Thats up to you. I have heard slightly mixed reviews about cherry barbs. They often do really well in community settings, but do seem to be nippy sometimes. You can try it if you want. I would suggest cardinals rather than neons. They are bigger and IMO a bit hardier. Black neons are another good option. Cards look awesome with gbr.
Corys do not eat algae. With that stock, you have room for a bnp or a trio of pitbull plecos IMO. I agree that planting the tank and controlling the light are better ways to control the algae, but a lot of algae eaters are really cool.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

IMO it's personal preference on what you would like to do. Personally, I liked my cherry barbs more than my neons because they were a lot more active and colorful. However, it is somewhat of a loose school with cherry barbs, so neons IMO are better schoolers if that was what you were looking for.

How long has the tank been established? I wouldn't add GBRs to a brand-new setup.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Okay, well, you will need to set up your tank and cycle it. You won't need algae eaters for awhile. I would first stock it with the danios and cories. The others can be a bit more on the sensitive side and anyways, it is better to add fish in increments instead of stocking it up all at once.

 

[Tipton34]

I don't have it running yet. But I will run it with a few of the more hardier fish before I add the rest.

If I run it for about a week-two weeks, do yall think that would be long enough?

 

[siva]

What kind of killies? They don't all make great community fish.

 

[MABJ]

I don't have it running yet. But I will run it with a few of the more hardier fish before I add the rest.

If I run it for about a week-two weeks, do yall think that would be long enough?

You have to cycle it first. You can do fish in or fish out cycle. There are great resources on here about it.

Most of us prefer fish out cycling, but we've all made mistakes.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I don't have it running yet. But I will run it with a few of the more hardier fish before I add the rest.

If I run it for about a week-two weeks, do yall think that would be long enough?

A week, IMO, is not an established tank. I would wait a month or two. Until you have solid parameters and have everything going very steady for a few weeks. Still not completely "established", but at that point, more sensitive fish will be able to adjust easier.

 

[Tipton34]

OK thats helps a lot! I knew it was best to wait but I didn't know it was that long.

And about the Killifish.... IM not sure, which ones would be better?

 

[jmpgop]

If you can get a used filter media for your tank filter from a friend, it would help a lot! Don't let it dry out, you want all that good bacteria! Read about fish in and fishless cycles on this board. I wish I would have known before starting up my tanks so I was better prepared.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

It depends on the killie you want. Usually the smaller and more peaceful ones make good tank mates, but IDK as there are hundreds to choose from.

Don't choose golden wonder killies. I've heard bad things about them.

 

[Tipton34]

I figured I could put a couple of hardy fish in there, with another filter from my other tank. I didn't think of using a used filter.


But what about the Killifish? I've never really had one so I don't know much about them.

 

[siva]

OK thats helps a lot! I knew it was best to wait but I didn't know it was that long.

And about the Killifish.... IM not sure, which ones would be better?

Golden wonders are the most commonly available killie in shops. I don't keep this specific type, but I know I would not keep them with rams. I can also say avoid Gardneri killies. While quite gorgeous, they don't belong with anything but short finned fast moving schoolers. Most of the other species of killie I keep is in a species only tank. If you see a species you like do a lot of research before adding to a community tank.