My new setup!

[deano320]

So I have recently purchased the Fluval Shaker 168.

Filter:
This tank comes with a Fluval 207 but ive updated it and I am running my Fluval 307!
Side foams Medium
Top tray - Alfagrog
Middle tray - Alfagrog & Ceramic rings
Bottom tray - Medium foam and Floss

Tank itself:
Fluval aquasky led light
Black Background
Black Sand
Artificial plants
Large Bog wood

Tank is in the process off cycling!!

Fish I'm thinking about keeping once everything is stabilised would be:
2 x German Rams
2 x Angel Fish
6 x Cory's
6 x Ottos
12 x Cardinals

Going by what I've said will this all be ok??
Would you change anything??
All opions and ideas welcome good or bad!!

Thanks

[Andy Sager]

Nice looking tank.
If it were me, I'd delete the Angelfish and go for another type of "centerpiece" fish or a schooling fish that prefers the middle or surface areas. Depending on your water, examples include Rasbora species, Hatchetfish, Pencilfish, Danios, small Tetra species and the like. Angels will get large and possibly cause havoc when they get older. It's not that they are a bad mix but your tank is not big enough to keep them all together without problems. The fish you listed will prefer softer water so the livebearers like Swordtails, Platies, Mollies and Guppies would not do as well in it. If you have hard water, I'd switch most of the fish on your list to Livebearers, smaller varieties of Rainbowfish and Danios the size of Zebras. There will be others but you'll need to know if they are tank bred or wild as some of the softwater wild fish have been bred to accept harder water. Really hard water will be better for some African Cichlids so none on your list would be good with those.
Hope this helps.

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

------------------

Buying 2 blue rams may or may not give you a pair. They like to choose their partners and sticking any 2 fish together might not work. The best way to get a pair of rams is to buy a group or 8-10 young fish and grow them up together. Then let them pr off naturally.

The tetras will want some floating plants to reduce the light.

Don't add Otocinclus catfish until there is a decent layer of algae in the tank. They need algae, driftwood and biofilm to survive and often starve when added to newly set up tanks. Biofilm is the slime on the glass and ornaments.

When you get Otocinculs catfish, make sure they have founded bellies at the shop. Do not get any with a sunken belly because these usually die.

[Aiken Drum]

German rams and their colour varients like the water hot. 28c, preferably 30c. Your other fish would prefer slightly cooler water. Having kept rams in cooler water, it wasn't really successful. Survive rather than thrive, and generally they tended to have health issues and shorter lives than i would have liked. If i did german rams again i would select other fish that are happy in warmer water too.

How about bolivian rams as an alternative? They are better at cooler water temperature.

[deano320]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

Nice looking tank.
If it were me, I'd delete the Angelfish and go for another type of "centerpiece" fish or a schooling fish that prefers the middle or surface areas. Depending on your water, examples include Rasbora species, Hatchetfish, Pencilfish, Danios, small Tetra species and the like. Angels will get large and possibly cause havoc when they get older. It's not that they are a bad mix but your tank is not big enough to keep them all together without problems. The fish you listed will prefer softer water so the livebearers like Swordtails, Platies, Mollies and Guppies would not do as well in it. If you have hard water, I'd switch most of the fish on your list to Livebearers, smaller varieties of Rainbowfish and Danios the size of Zebras. There will be others but you'll need to know if they are tank bred or wild as some of the softwater wild fish have been bred to accept harder water. Really hard water will be better for some African Cichlids so none on your list would be good with those.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Andy!!

[deano320]

Originally Posted by Colin_T

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

------------------

Buying 2 blue rams may or may not give you a pair. They like to choose their partners and sticking any 2 fish together might not work. The best way to get a pair of rams is to buy a group or 8-10 young fish and grow them up together. Then let them pr off naturally.

The tetras will want some floating plants to reduce the light.

Don't add Otocinclus catfish until there is a decent layer of algae in the tank. They need algae, driftwood and biofilm to survive and often starve when added to newly set up tanks. Biofilm is the slime on the glass and ornaments.

When you get Otocinculs catfish, make sure they have founded bellies at the shop. Do not get any with a sunken belly because these usually die.

Thanks Colin!! Yes my water would be on the softer side. I won't be adding any off the fish and especially ottos until the time is right!

[deano320]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

German rams and their colour varients like the water hot. 28c, preferably 30c. Your other fish would prefer slightly cooler water. Having kept rams in cooler water, it wasn't really successful. Survive rather than thrive, and generally they tended to have health issues and shorter lives than i would have liked. If i did german rams again i would select other fish that are happy in warmer water too.

How about bolivian rams as an alternative? They are better at cooler water temperature.

Thanks!! My head is set on German Rams, so I will maybe look into other alternatives to go with the Rams.

[deano320]

I have had this tank set up now for 10 days, doing a fish in cycle!! (6 corys & 6 Cardinals)
Temp at 27 degrees....My ammonia hasn't spiked massively and still not showing any nitrites!!
Is this normal??

[Aiken Drum]

How high has your ammonia got?

Have you done any water changes?

Unless you have seeded your tank with beneficial bacteria from an established filter i would expect nitrite to show up after 2 to 3 weeks.

27c is too cool water for the rams you are planning and too warm for cardinal tetras and possibly the corys depending on the species.

[deano320]

Originally Posted by Aiken Drum

How high has your ammonia got?

Have you done any water changes?

Unless you have seeded your tank with beneficial bacteria from an established filter i would expect nitrite to show up after 2 to 3 weeks.

27c is too cool water for the rams you are planning and too warm for cardinal tetras and possibly the corys depending on the species.

Ammonia at its highest would have been 1.0 or 2.0

Done 1 or 2 small water changes, when ammonia got to 1.0 or 2.0!

Dosing with prime every other day!

OK hopefully nitrites start to show over next few days, just thought it would have been before now as my previous tanks didn't take aslong to show nitrites

[Aiken Drum]

You are letting your ammonia get too high. Target should be to keep ammonia + nitrite no higher than 0.5ppm. If you are seeing zero nitrite, change water if the ammonia exceeds 0.5ppm. You're risking toxic levels of ammonia.

Prime should only be a safety net for detoxifying ammonia. There is a lot of doubt in the hobby about whether it actually detoxifies ammonia, and i wouldnt put all my trust in something when you know water changes can get ammonia to safer levels.