140L New stocking

[FriendsNotFood]

Hi! Well, I've only had this one running for about 2months and I'm already restocking!

Next month I'm gaining a 70L and a 220L so I'm going to be shuffling my fish a bit.

In this tank I want to keep my Cherry Barbs (currently 8, going to bump to 12) and I'm wondering what to stock it with apart from them. They're making my stocking very hard because they're cheeky! It's a dark tank, so I want fish that "stand out" a little.

Current definites are
12x Cherry barbs
4x Albino cory cats

So ultimate stocking list is looking like...
12x Cherry barbs,
4x Albino cory cats,
1x gouramI (probably dwarf, maybe kissing?)
8x neon dwarf rainbowfish.


Possibilities for last fishies.
6x rosy or ruby barbs (or chili? my LFS has them and swears they're not rosy. Look more red. Should ask for scientific name sometime...) I do like these fish but I'm worried about tank colouring ;P So I would prefer one of the other 2.
or
6x blue rams
or
10x blue tetras

I'm very curious about blue rams though. How would they go with my cherries? They're cheeky ones, they hide a fair bit and like to play chase.

So post your opinions and any suggestions for other fish options

Much appreciated guys!

 

[sirdarksol]

12 cherry barbs, a gourami, 4 cories, and 8 dwarf neon rainbowfish in a 140L tank is a pretty hefty stocking, not just for bioload, but also for swimming space.
If you're certain about the barbs and the cories, the only other fish I would add would be a gourami, preferably a dwarf.

 

[FriendsNotFood]

Mmmm I dunno about that.

Currently has 4 cories, 8cherrys, 12 cardinals, 10 adolescent mollies (YAY 1more months and big nuff to sell!) and there's a ton of room in the tank. Could easily stick a gouramI and more cherries in now. Just holding back til the mollies are gone.

Edit: Just did some more research on the dwarf rainbows. Apparently they like temps of 25ish. Anyone tried keeping them at 28?
With the stocking, I'll get my "wish list" of stocking going, but build the species up one at a time. Can always cut things out later if I need to!

 

[NMfishman]

12x Cherry barbs,
4x Albino cory cats,
1x dwarf gourami
8x neon dwarf rainbowfish.

I think that sounds fine, just keep up with water changes and watch parameters.

They should be alright at that temp but its pretty high.

 

[sirdarksol]

I'm sure it looks like there's a lot of swimming room between the fish, but that's not all that matters.
Having two large schools of fish requires a lot of swimming room for them to dart around in. Of course, my word isn't law. I'm just saying that you're likely going to see much more interesting behavior from the fish if the tank is conservatively stocked.
You'll also have to worry a lot less about huge water changes.

 

[FriendsNotFood]

Might not even get those dwarfs, just realised that they're probably not easily available up here.

Any opinions on the blue rams or rosy barbs instead?

When I stop by the pet store for worms tonight I might ask them about whether they can order the dwarf rainbows. I got the cories ordered, but cory cats are a dime a dozen here.

 

[NMfishman]

Upon thinking about it that is quite a bit of fish in there. If you are really set on those fish then maybe only go for 5 rainbows and leave it at 8 barbs or you could just leave off the rainbows and get the 4 additional barbs

 

[FriendsNotFood]

Huh?
12 cherrys
4 corys
8 dwarf rainbows and
1 dwarf gourami

would still be fine stocking wise? Not sure what you're thinking NMfishman.

I'm wondering about changing dwarf rainbows to blue rams (not even sure if suitable) or ruby barbs.
Dwarf rainbows = 6cm
German Blue rams = 7cm
Rosy barbs = 14cm (now out of the running)
Ruby barbs = 6cm

 

[NMfishman]

Sorry for being unclear, this is what I was thinking:
8 cherrys
4 corys
5 dwarf rainbows and
1 dwarf gourami
or
12 cherrys
4 corys
1 dwarf gourami
+1 other fish ( the ram might work, but not sure if the barbs would go after him)

 

[NC_OBS]

as far as total stocking space goes I'm not gonna be able to help a lot, but I can tell you 6 rams isn't gonna work on that space, they need territories and would harass another literally to death. 1 or a mated pair, even two that aren't mated I think would have problems. I like the cherries too though, and I think their aggression as barbs go is low enough to be fine with the rams

 

[FriendsNotFood]

Alright I might save the ram for when I get around to another tank. Thanks

 

[NC_OBS]

just re-read my post, one sentence was unclear, 1 or a pair would be ok, multple would have problems is what I meant.

 

[FriendsNotFood]

Nah it's fine. I just like to get multiples of fish where I can. I might wait til the end of the year when I move into a bigger place, and can fit more tanks in That way I can get a nice big tank and stock some of the more territorial fish.