adding fish

[dann.yy]

so i believe im finally nearing the end of my fishless cycle [nitrite has spiked and should be lowering in a few days] and i was just considering these fish. Please help me determine which ones and how many. thanks...

german blue rams
harlequin rasbora
panda cory
otos
a clown pleco

is it possible to fit all these fish in my tank with a right number of them? or would it be impossible to put them all in without overcrowding?

 

[dann.yy]

sorry i forgot to add.. i have a 29 gallon

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

well it depends what you like more, kinda

2 GBR's max
1 pleco max
then depending on the number of Oto's and Cory's you want(should have 3-4)

so that would be close and lots of bottom activity w/o the rasboras.

personally i would pick between either the pleco or the cory's to leave room for a good number of rasboras like 10 or so. You likely can have them all if you keep up on maintenance/have good filtration and lots of plants.

 

[Alaris]

2 GBR's
6-8 Rasboras
3 Cories
3 Otos
ditch the pleco

IMO ^_^

 

[dann.yy]

Great! thanks for all the advice... I will keep them in mind as i finalize my selections. I will probably take it slower adding a few at a time... even if with a fishless cycle it is more allowing for more fish at a time.

 

[meegosh]

I'd wait on the GBRs until your tank establishes itself some more. The stock you get from LFS are rather weak and get diseases easily. I had two in my 30g that has been setup for 4 months or so and they were both dead within 2 weeks.

I'd wait a while and then add them, but if you can, buy from a reputable breeder. Just my 2 cents about the rams.

 

[FishEggs]

are you going to have real plants and driftwood? if not that would definitely rule out the pleco. if it were me i would start with the rasboras (6-8 ) then add the cories (3-4) couple weeks after, then the otos (3-4) a few weeks after that if it looks to have sufficient algae growth for them to graze. then after the system is stable for some time with all of them, if it looks like there is room for the gbr's i would add them. I also think that it would be the cories or the pleco and i think the cories are more active and fun to watch. Lots of plants and filtration would be a real plus for pushing the stock limits. or just go get that 55 gallon. lol

 

[dann.yy]

Thanks for your 2 cents meegosh! yeah i've heard that GBRs are somewhat hard to keep alive. I will consider adding them last. I have found a nice lfs near my apt. They seem to have a healthy stock of fish. When I was checking out their GBRs, they've just received a new stock and said they wouldn't let any go until at least another week to allow the fish to settle a relieve stress.

Matt, I do have real driftwood and planning on putting in real plants. Since i don't have co2 i don't think i can heavily plant but will have to do with plants that only require low light (i have a 55w lighting over the 29 gallon). Also, I have a rena XP2 so I think that should do for good filtration.

 

[harmy4993]

you cant use heavy light needing plants but you do have good lighting at just under 2 wpg. so you can do low to medium lighting plants and still have a heavy planted tank.

 

[dann.yy]

hey harmy, thanks for the input. i really hope i can fill in the space of the tank nicely with the low to medium plants!

 

[Purrbox]

I agree, the amount of light doesn't affect whether or not you can plant heavily it just affects your plant selection. Choose plants appropriate for your lighting and you can plant as heavily as you want.

 

[FishEggs]

co2 probably wont be necessary at that light level. the higher the light lvl the quicker the plants photosynthesis so they need the higher co2 lvl to fuel them along with ferts otherwise the algae grows wild.
you can still put lots of plants in there. they will just grow slower which is not always a bad thing.

 

[dann.yy]

What would be an ideal pH level to have in my tank for all these fish?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

well you should NOT mess with your PH, unless you absolutely have to and are experienced at doing it(dont use chemicals from the LFS).

Your tap water PH should be fine, mine is 8.0 and so far no issues with fish and I have high KH also.

Ideal is different and prob7.0-2 is ideal, but if your not trying to breed the fish then I would not worry about it

 

[Alaris]

Fish prefer a STABLE pH over an ideal pH. If you start messing with your pH, then it's no longer stable. Fish are more stressed by changes in pH (even .1 changes). Having a consistent 8.0 isn't going to stress out the fish like a 7.0 one day and then 7.4 another day and then maybe a 6.8 on another will.