Stocking 34 Gallon - Suggestions?

1280 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by bigblueallday, May 8, 2014

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy

Discussion Starter · May 3, 2014

I set up a 34 gallon planted tank with ADA aqua soil. The HC mat is growing out. The tank has been cycling for over a week now. I'll try to get a picture. It is moderately planted as of now, but will eventually be heavily, heavily planted.

So far, I'm set on killifish. I wanna have two or three pairs, different genera so they don't interbreed...

STOCKING THOUGHTS SO FAR:

Fundulopanchax gardneri pair - (FOR SURE)
Aphyosemion australe pair - (Hard to breed I've heard, skeptical, but me gusta)
Nothobranchius rachovii pair - "Bluefin Notho Killi" (REALLY REALLY want, IK it is annual)

Albino red lace snakeskin delta guppies - (Already have a breeding tank of them, big fins so worried about rips from current and other fish)

Pea puffer pair - (Already have a non-aggressive m/f pair, they don't even eat guppy fry... I'd probably buy two more after I introduce other fish)

Dwarf gourami x2 - (The blue/red kind)

Pygmy cories - (Small school as bottom feeders, maybe 3-5)

German Gold Ram pair - (POSSIBLY, depending on stocking/compatibility)

Ember tetras - (DEFINITELY, school of 9-11)

Any thoughts or suggestions? Compatibility with others / each other is my biggest concern. I know there is concern with the pea puffers, but every one I've kept has been mellow and rather shy, as they tend to keep to themselves. I know there is SOME risk. FISH SUGGESTIONS ALSO WELCOMED!

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tick-tickkboom

· #2 · May 3, 2014

Well I know for sure that keeping 2 male dwarf gouramis would not be advisable. 1 male and 2 females however! Have you thought about Bolivian Ram's instead? I hear they're much less sensitive that the goldens.
This is all hearsay though as I have never kept any of these fish. c:

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JustJen

· #3 · May 3, 2014

Ember tetras can be pretty tiny and gardneri have very large mouths, may not be a good combo.

With killies and puffers, you can pretty much be assured your guppy tails are going to get shredded.

Also, be aware that mileage varies greatly between individual pea puffers. Some are pretty mellow (like what you have), and some absolutely can not live with other fish. So while the ones you have may be ok, be careful about adding new ones. Also make sure they have plenty of snails or you are target feeding because they can have difficulty getting to the food in community tanks ime.

You can/should do a larger school of pygmy cories. They (like all cories) need to be in groups to be comfortable. I'd say absolute minimum of 6, but they're so small and are your only bottom level fish so I'd say you could easily go 12-15. I've got 6 in a heavily planted 10g, and I don't even see them half the time!

The other poster already addressed the dwarf gouramis. Sometimes two males can coexist in a tank, but often they can't. I've heard a lot of people say the dwarfs are the most aggressive gouramis there are (at least as far as inter-species aggression). Also, they occupy the same part of the water column as your gardneri and australes (I've had both, as well as the dwarf gouramis), so would make for a really crowded upper portion of the water column. I'd honestly probably just skip the gouramis altogether.

I have gold rams (in very much less than ideal water conditions - ph of 8.3, kh of 18) and they are some of my favorite fish, highly recommend them. Also highly encourage you to get them from a reputable breeder as they'll likely be a lot hardier and a lot more colorful. There is a really good one on here occasionally and also a couple I know of on AB.

Only other comment is that I'm sure you know this, but a week is not long enough to cycle a tank - especially with aquasoil. A lot of the fish you're talking about can be a little pricey and/or a little sensitive to water conditions, so do your water tests and make SURE the tank has gone through the full cycle and is stable before you start adding these guys in.

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GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 3, 2014

JustJen said:
Ember tetras can be pretty tiny and gardneri have very large mouths, may not be a good combo.

With killies and puffers, you can pretty much be assured your guppy tails are going to get shredded.

Also, be aware that mileage varies greatly between individual pea puffers. Some are pretty mellow (like what you have), and some absolutely can not live with other fish. So while the ones you have may be ok, be careful about adding new ones. Also make sure they have plenty of snails or you are target feeding because they can have difficulty getting to the food in community tanks ime.

You can/should do a larger school of pygmy cories. They (like all cories) need to be in groups to be comfortable. I'd say absolute minimum of 6, but they're so small and are your only bottom level fish so I'd say you could easily go 12-15. I've got 6 in a heavily planted 10g, and I don't even see them half the time!

The other poster already addressed the dwarf gouramis. Sometimes two males can coexist in a tank, but often they can't. I've heard a lot of people say the dwarfs are the most aggressive gouramis there are (at least as far as inter-species aggression). Also, they occupy the same part of the water column as your gardneri and australes (I've had both, as well as the dwarf gouramis), so would make for a really crowded upper portion of the water column. I'd honestly probably just skip the gouramis altogether.

I have gold rams (in very much less than ideal water conditions - ph of 8.3, kh of 18) and they are some of my favorite fish, highly recommend them. Also highly encourage you to get them from a reputable breeder as they'll likely be a lot hardier and a lot more colorful. There is a really good one on here occasionally and also a couple I know of on AB.

Only other comment is that I'm sure you know this, but a week is not long enough to cycle a tank - especially with aquasoil. A lot of the fish you're talking about can be a little pricey and/or a little sensitive to water conditions, so do your water tests and make SURE the tank has gone through the full cycle and is stable before you start adding these guys in.

Thanks, that was super helpful! What would you suggest as the schooling fish if embers will be nommed?

MODIFIED LIST:

Fundulopanchax gardneri pair - (FOR SURE)
Aphyosemion australe pair - (Hard to breed I've heard, skeptical, but me gusta)
Nothobranchius rachovii pair - "Bluefin Notho Killi" (REALLY REALLY want, IK it is annual)

Pygmy cories - (Small school as bottom feeders, 8 or so depending on $$$)

German Gold Ram pair

Schooling tetra of some sort

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JustJen

· #5 · May 3, 2014

Most neons or cardinals should be big enough to not fit in a gardneri's mouth. Rummynose, gold neons, glowlights, etc. could all also be options depending on the look you want and what your water conditions are. Even though your tank is big enough to support them, I would avoid some of the bigger bodied tetras like diamonds or serpaes or bleeding hearts because they are all active ime and very aggressive eaters - and the last thing you want with killies is something that's going to come up from below and spook them and give them another reason to jump! I didn't mention that (although I may have on another thread? I've slept since then), but make SURE you have every last little hole (including those around your filter intake) covered as all killies are very determined jumpers. If there is a hole they can fit through, they'll find it!

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MattieGee

· #6 · May 3, 2014

Na I wouldn't go for dwarf rams. don't get me wrong they are a cool fish, abit pricey my electric blue set me back £10.95 but also I have an outbreak of white spot and they have it while some of my more hardy breeds don't. its put me right off them. just bought a nice 4yr old pleco, its massive! its a nice centre peace that can all ways be seen.

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Betta132

· #7 · May 3, 2014

I'd go with glowlights or rummies.
You may also want to look into bluefin killies, but not the nothos. There's another kind of bluefin that are sometimes found as hitch-hikers in feeder tanks.

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bigblueallday

· #8 · May 3, 2014

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy said:
Thanks, that was super helpful! What would you suggest as the schooling fish if embers will be nommed?

MODIFIED LIST:

Fundulopanchax gardneri pair - (FOR SURE)
Aphyosemion australe pair - (Hard to breed I've heard, skeptical, but me gusta)
Nothobranchius rachovii pair - "Bluefin Notho Killi" (REALLY REALLY want, IK it is annual)

Pygmy cories - (Small school as bottom feeders, 8 or so depending on $$$)

German Gold Ram pair

Schooling tetra of some sort

I've got 2 pairs of German blue rams and a school of 15 harlequin rasboras in my 60g corner. I love the combination of the two. My rams are my prize fish but can be shy and like to hang out on the bottom of my tank or behind my plants. The rasboras add some energy to the tank.

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GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 4, 2014

I think the answer might be yes, but would the killies nomnom on chilli rasbora? Or another kind of small rasbora? I mean at the LFS I saw some 1" killies (gardneri) in a tank with some... They could definitely eat them but don't.

A school of 12 would be fine, wouldn't it? Safety in numbers? Or no?

I have neons in the tank next to it, I don't want neons or cardinals lol. My neons eat a CRAP ton.

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JustJen

· #10 · May 4, 2014

I would say chillis could very well get snacked on. If you're going with a rasbora, stick to the harlequins. Those 1" gardneris are likely going to double in size (mine were every bit of 2-2.5"), so keep that in mind in considering what will and won't be safe with them.

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GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 5, 2014

Are there any red tetras I could keep a school of?

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bigblueallday

· #12 · May 8, 2014

GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy said:
Are there any red tetras I could keep a school of?

Bleeding heart tetra

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