mathas

I'm about to purchase a 75 gallon (US gallons) tank, and I find myself a bit overwhelmed when it comes to how to stock the tank after it's cycled. I've had aquariums in the past, but they've typically been single-fish setups, so I don't have a lot of experience with picking different species that get along with each other.

Here's what I'm planning to have:

• 9+ tiger barbs (evenly distributed between tiger, green, and albino/gold colorations)
• 1 red-tailed black shark

Here's what I'd like to add, but don't know how well they would work with the barbs/shark:

• 1 firemouth cichlid
• 1 smaller pleco (not a common pleco, and not a bristlenose)
• 6 corys

Would the shark/firemouth coexist, if I provide several hiding spots for them to establish as territories?

What else could work in this tank?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

platy ben

the red tail black shark may tease the fire mouth because they r knwon for teasing other fish with red on, maybe get a pair of firemouths instead because one would be very lonely without other cichlids,

Dark_Rider2k3

http://elmersaquarium.com/h701elmers...r_handbook.htm

That is a site my LFS posted that has a lot of suggestions for fish stocking. Hope that helps you!

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!! hope we can see some pics when you have it up and running!!

livetowin

Yea Once you Get the right fish post some pictures it should look cool

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.

pepetj

Wellcome to fishlore Matas!
Fishless-cycling! Way to go!
Pandas corys maybe?

Pepe
Santo Domingo

mathas

Well, the LFS had a pretty great sale going on when I went in today, so rather than the 75g I'd planned, I now have a 90g on order. The footprint is basically the same, it's just taller.

And as beautiful as I think the firemouth cichlids are, I'm going to abandon my tentative plans of adding one or two to this tank.

After observing all the varieties of corys they had at the store, I fell in love with the albinos, which will take care of keeping the substrate clean between vacuumings, but I'm still not sure what to do for algae on the glass/rocks/wood. No offense intended to any bristlenose pleco fans who may be reading this, but I find them kind of ugly, and would like to find an alternative that looks a little better without getting as huge as a common pleco can.

I really liked the otocinclus at the LFS, which isn't surprising after reading all the praise here, but I don't think they could coexist with barbs and a shark. If I'm wrong about that, please correct me, but I think I'm looking at a pleco variety that stays on the smaller (<8") side.

So my current plans look like this:

1 red-tail shark
6+ albino corys
6 serpae tetras
9+ tiger barbs
some kind of algae eater(s)

Assuming 2.5" for the corys, 6" for the shark, 2" for the serpae tetras, and 3" for the barbs, that gives me about 60" of fish, leaving me a surplus of around 30" to handle algae reduction and add more visual interest.

I appreciate all the help so far, but any further advice is welcome!

EDIT: I seem to have completely missed the fact that there's a stocking questions subforum. If any moderator happens to read this, feel free to move the thread where it belongs.

mathas

Here's a cycling question:

If I plan to add Malaysian trumpet snails to help keep the substrate stirred, should I add them right away, or after the cycle is complete?