knighty76

Hi all,

My tank is cycled! Yeah! This weekend I shall be shopping for fishies!! But I have a couple of questions, if anyone is able to help..

1) I have cycled my 60 litre/15gal tank fishlessly using the pure ammonia method detailed in the sticky post at the top of this category. I'm now at the stage where my tank can reduce the Ammonia concentration from 3-4ppm down to zero, and Nitrites to zero in around 12-16 hours. I've clearly built up a decent bacterial colony- does that mean my tank is ready for it's full biological load? That's what is said in the guide...

"You can safely add your full fish load as your tank will have enough bacteria built up to handle any waste they can produce."

I wouldn't want to add too many too soon, but at the same time if I don't stock it sufficiently some of my hard worked-for bacteria buddies will clear off..

2) As regards stocking the tank.. there would seem to be a few different rules of thumb for stocking levels, 1 inch per gallon etc. Here's what I think my girlfriend wants:

A small school (5 or 6) of Neon or Cardinal Tetras.
Possibly one or two Otto Catfish (for cleaning duties!)
Couple of Male Mollys
Couple of Male Guppies

I quite like the Kuhli Loach, and I'm LED to believe it stays pretty small and has a relatively low bio-load, but my gf thinks they look too much like eels! I'd also really like a Pearl Gourami, but don't think my tank is big enough? Cory Catfish seems popular and could be an alternative if I can't get an Otto. I'd also really like a dwarf puffer, but understand they are big nippers and would tear my guppies' fins to shreds!!

Any advice or even suggestions would be appreciated, also what other colourful (my gf goes for the pretty ones) fish might fare well in my community tank? Based on the list above, is this way too much for my 15gal tank? I guess when you add it up that's a dozen fish, so might be a bit much.

Thanks in advance, I always get great advice here on fishlore.

Rich.

capekate

Hi Rich,
congratulations on your cycled tank! Your stock list IMO looks good, but I would omit the mollies, as they would really add up your stock limit fast.
The cardinal tetras are a great choice, and they do add wonderful color to the tank. You can also find some very colorful guppies as well.
I agree with your GF on the kuhli loach... euuuuu.... they are very eel/snake like euuuu....
The Otto is great for cleaning up new tank Diatoms, not sure how they do on true algae. For bottom dwellers, maybe three cory cats would work better?
For a small school of colorful fish I would look to fish that do not grow much more than 1.5 inches for your 15g tank. You would be able to have more neon tetras than Cardinals in a school for this reason.
A tank that was stocked with;
5 neons or Cardinal tetras
3 male colorful guppies
3 Cory Cats
would look nice, a teeny bit overstocked, but with regular water changes and good filteration, you should be fine IMO.

J J Indy

I have always liked the kuhli loaches and have 4 in my community tank they are pretty cool to watch but are really nocturnal and i usually only see them in the early morning or when i turn out my room lights then turn out the tank lights leaving another light source on thats just light enough for me to see in the tank it is also when i see my BN pleco. The kuhlis are crazy like the cory's are.

knighty76

Thanks for the replies! Anyone comment on the Pearl Gourami? Possible or no in a 15gal community tank? Wouldn't want to put it anywhere it wouldn't be happy, but I really like them. Of course I would have to find one first...

jgon_

If only more people followed this logic, and grats on the fishless cycle too!

pinkfloydpuffer

What's wrong with eels?
Jk, just cause I love em doesn't mean everyone has to.

I love cories, they're adorable. Both cories and otos like to be in groups.

And you would be correct about the dwarf puffer. Puffers are definitely not community fish, as you can see in the thread I started earlier today... Puffers in community

Good luck with your tank! Sounds like fun!

kacie

If you are interested in the pearl gourami why not look into Dwarf Gouramis. You could have one with your 3 cories or 3 ottos and 6 neons.

knighty76

New developments!!! Popped to the LFS this lunchtime and they have Galaxy Rasboras! Ok, I'm new to this, but I understood these to be quite rare? I guess these would be an alternative to the Tetras, think I read somewhere the two species don't get on great together, and they both like to be in schools and we only really have room for one school in the tank. Does anybody have experience with Galaxy Rasboras?

And then to throw another spanner in the works they had some lovely Black Phantom Tetras which my girlfriend took a fancy to, really dark, almost velvet black coloured.

This is complicated!

capekate

Yes, Galaxy rasboras are rare for a reason. They are wild caught, unable to breed in captivity and they are fast becoming an endangered species.
You can read about it in the link I have added below for you.
Personally, I think that your 15g tank is just too small for a school of anything other than the small neon tetras or cardinal tetras. I really think that you would get the full effect of wonderful reds/blues and whites of the Neons as they are swimming around in schools. the Pearl Gourami IMO would be too large for the tank, but there are colorful sunset honey gourami's that are really cute, smaller than the dwarf and tend to be more peaceful.
Its great doing the stocking research first and to take the time checking out the fish you may like at the LFS before bringing them home.


http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...reshwater.html

knighty76

Thanks capekate,
As nice as the Galaxy Rasboras are, I wouldn't want to buy into any unethical practices so we'll likely head for the Neons as planned. It's looking like Neon Tetras, coupla Guppies and maybe 3 Corys for tidyup. If there's room for one of the smaller Gouramis then great, but I don't want to overstock.

Thanks for all the advice, brill responses as ever.