One of THOSE threads - stocking ideas

[threnjen]

We have a 90g with a 29g sump, so massive filtration and great water quality. We're close to being full but we recently had to return a school of 10 white fin tetras because they were LITERALLY stressing and nipping our cories to death!! (RIP Ziggy ). We're down to 6 of our 10 cories and one is ailing in a hospital tank

Here's what we have:
10 Cardinal Tetras
10 Black Harlequin Rasboras
6 Boesemani Rainbows
1 Angelfish
5-6 Spotted Cories
7 Dwarf Cories
6 Mystery Snails

Once our tank is matured (It's only had fish for 3 weeks) we'll be getting a blue ram.

Meanwhile, our mids feel really empty with the loss of the white fin tetras (good riddance, jerks). I'm trying to think of... something to go there that doesn't take up a lot of space and won't add too much bioload. With the blue ram we'll be at 92% according to aqadvisor when the fish are grown. So any schools of large fish are out of the question.

Is there another "showpiece" fish that would fit in, to just have 1?
Should I just add a few more cardinals maybe?

We like fish that are colorful, nothing "plain" or silver. I admit it, I'm a bit of a magpie that way.

Or maybe we just won't add anything. The tank dynamic improved significantly when the White Fin Terrors went away.

 

[azmodan]

Maybe a pearl gourami or another new world cichlid like an apisto? Not a hundred percent sure but a festivum might work too.

 

[jtez]

I could be wrong but I thought rams and angels were SA cichlids, and could be an issue to mix with new worlds?

A pearl gourami is a good choice, as they're typically a more peaceful gourami.

I also think upping the cardinal school would look great as well.

Another option is to pair up on rams or angels, but I'm not sure how that'd affect your tank dynamic

 

[Wiggles24]

My angels dint bother my rams at all. They stay at two completely different levels of the tank

 

[josh7]

I could be wrong but I thought rams and angels were SA cichlids, and could be an issue to mix with new worlds?

A pearl gourami is a good choice, as they're typically a more peaceful gourami.

I also think upping the cardinal school would look great as well.

Another option is to pair up on rams or angels, but I'm not sure how that'd affect your tank dynamic

No it's not an issue mixing rams and angels are both new world species. That just means any fish from the Western Hemisphere is a new world cichlid so basically all CA and SA cichlids. Old world shouldn't be mixed with new worlds though those are African cichlids.

I would add 4 more dwarf and 4 more spotted Cory's with a blue ram. You could probably get a ram pair if you wanted to.

 

[Scottyhorse]

In my opinion, I wouldn't add any more fish besides the blue ram.....

 

[threnjen]

Thanks everyone for ideas. I think I might be safest just shoring my cory group back up to 10 and adding the ram later. Maybe if I really feel like it's empty I'll go for a gourami and add a few more cardinals.
I think I want to avoid a pair of rams, I worry that their aggression in a pair might change our tank dynamic again for the worse. The cories are my absolute favorite and to lose half of them to aggression was very upsetting.

I think I'm going to re-home the dwarf cories if I ever get a small 10gal nano tank set up. They are totally lost in the 90g. They enjoy it but they are too tiny for me to really notice them at all!

Thanks everyone, mostly your suggestions reinforced some of my own thought processes, and there is nothing wrong with that!

 

[josh7]

Oh I wouldn't rehome them that's amazing for those little guys!

 

[threnjen]

Lol! Well I meant rehome them within my own home! I want to set up a 10g nano and they seem like the perfect little group for that.
But it would probably not even be worth the hassle to have to net them all out of the 90g. That sounds like a horrible pain in the butt task.
They do enjoy hanging out with the bigger cories and their bioload can't be much, so honestly I probably wouldn't bother.

 

[threnjen]

Actually I'm a little concerned about the mystery snail population, we've seen several baby snails lately.
I wonder if I could fit a small group of yoyo loaches... I need to look up the minimum for them to be happy and satisfied.
It's probably too much though... Even just from a crowding standpoint. They tend to be bottom fish, right?
Edit: NEVER MIND, yoyo loaches are highly unsuitable, according to AqAdvisor. They might eat my cories?? I would need 5 anyway and that's just too busy/crowded

 

[josh7]

They wouldn't eat them they could just pester your slow moving fish and pester your cories. Just take into your own hands and kill the snails.

 

[Rivercats]

I have 5 yo-yo loaches, 6 angelicus loaches, along with about 25 cory's in my 220g. I've kept only 3 yo-yo's in other tanks and they do fine as they have some company. The only reason I would think twice about adding them is because of the pygmy cories. A very easy way to trap snails is to get a glass jar, lay it sideways on the substrate and add a veggie/algae wafer. Just wait and watch them come. As you get a few, just right the jar, lift it out and remove the snails, then put the jar and wafer back in to catch more. It works very well.

Personally I would up the cardinals as a large school makes a much better impact in a bigger tank. I have 30 cardinal tetra's and 30 rummynose tetra's as my big schools in the 220g. You still have a lot of cories which is why I increase the schooling fish.