I'm upgrading to a 200ltr tank

I have a 50 ltr tank stoked with one Opaline Gouramai, three Platys and one Platy fry, 7 neon tetra and 2 albino corys.

I'm upgrading to a 200ltr tank. I plan on a few more platys, tetra and some guppies.
I also want to get a shool of flame tetra. Any ideas for some other fish I should get?

In terms of plants, I have 3 Amazon swords. I would like to plant it heavily enough, with some driftwood and rocks plus a darker coloured substrate.

Thanks

 

First before you stock anything else you need more Cory’s... they shouldn’t be kept in smaller groups then 6 of their own kind.... that would be my first step...
I would also add a couple more neons... they so much better in larger groups...
Then go from there and see what you have room for...
With the driftwood maybe a brittlenose pleco... but start with upgrading your schools to the proper amounts
Also if your fry survives you will need to sex it and adjust your male to female ratio properly... should be 1 m to atleast 2 females (minimum) or else he will harass that female to death..

 

First before you stock anything else you need more Cory’s... they shouldn’t be kept in smaller groups then 6 of their own kind.... that would be my first step...
I would also add a couple more neons... they so much better in larger groups...
Then go from there and see what you have room for...
With the driftwood maybe a brittlenose pleco... but start with upgrading your schools to the proper amounts

Yeah, that's one of the main reason for the upgrade, misinformation from the pet shop. I would like some angels but can't thanks to the GouramaI

 

What kind of gourami is it? Sorry if I missed that part.. I have one koi angel in with a pearl gourami and all is fine...

 

What kind of gourami is it? Sorry if I missed that part.. I have one koi angel in with a pearl gourami and all is fine

Opaline Gouramai

 

I would pick either the neons or gourami, they are not temperature compatible. You could leave the neons where they are, depending on the dimensions of the 50 litre.

Yeah, that's one of the main reason for the upgrade, misinformation from the pet shop. I would like some angels but can't thanks to the GouramaI

Why not?

 

I don’t see an issue with them as long as you don’t overstock after upgrading your schools/shoals... have you tried AqAdvisor? You can enter in your tank size (put in your actually measurements instead of choosing size from the list because it’s not always right) and then you can hit a button and it will give you compatible tank mates

I find that’s one of the biggest flaws with AqAdvisor... for example I have a “50g” tank... if I select 50 gallon from the list... it does not give any of my correct measurements for my tank... that’s why I always put in my exact measurements (easy to find if you google you new tank, they will be listed on the site)
Also, be aware they don’t take in account for if you have plants if you have 200 ornaments or 5 (which all take away from tank volume) and some of their temps for fish are not always right... so always do some double checking if it gives you warnings.... it also only accounts for 65% of what your filter is “rated” for.... and doesn’t account for extra biomedia and those things.. so keep that in mind

 

I would pick either the neons or gourami, they are not temperature compatible. You could leave the neons where they are, depending on the dimensions of the 50 litre.

Why not?

Kinda aggressive and I've heard angels are aggressive also?

 

They can be... but it’s not so bad if you keep just one... they tend to be more aggressive when they are paired and spawning... with any kind of Cichlid it’s more of trial and error unfortunately... one persons tank can work perfectly and the next person could have the same set up and have aggression... it’s best if you have a lfs that is flexible.. then if you run into trouble they will take back the fish for store credit or something...
Sometimes having 2 semI aggressive fish can help balance things out... it can go one way or the other unfortunately you won’t know until you try it...
But I would start with heading toand enter in what you are going to have once you fix your cories etc and then you can go from there... see how much room you have left... try to keep it around the 80ish% stocking to be safe

 

They can be... but it’s not so bad if you keep just one... they tend to be more aggressive when they are paired and spawning... with any kind of Cichlid it’s more of trial and error unfortunately... one persons tank can work perfectly and the next person could have the same set up and have aggression... it’s best if you have a lfs that is flexible.. then if you run into trouble they will take back the fish for store credit or something...

Well I don't have a LFS, however I can always put the angel in my 50 ltr if it doesn't work out and rehome him. (I buy all my fish from a place like petco/petsmart except the fish are treated well enough)

 

That’s what I meant by lfs (local fish store) lol it just means wherever you get your fish from

Are you keeping both aquariums? Or going to get rid one the one you have now?

 

Are you keeping both aquariums? Or going to get rid one the one you have now?

It's not technically mine, so it's not up to me what's done with it. Although I should be keeping it.

 

It would be good if you could... even if you don’t want to stock it you could keep it as a hospital/quarantine tank or something... or if you already have one that could solve your temperature problem between your neons and gourami but I don’t think you will have issues with your gourami and 1 angelfish... as long as you have enough space... you are going to want at least 5 more albino Cory’s (if not a few more)

 

It would be good if you could... even if you don’t want to stock it you could keep it as a hospital/quarantine tank or something... or if you already have one that could solve your temperature problem between your neons and gourami but I don’t think you will have issues with your gourami and 1 angelfish... as long as you have enough space... you are going to want at least 5 more albino Cory’s (if not a few more)

I'm pretty sure that neon tetra and opaline GouramaI both do well at my tank temperature? (24°C)

 

And they can... lost of fish can “do well” at temperatures outside of their “ranges”... it comes down to things like coloration.... how long they can live for.... how they act.... if it’s a degree or 2 it’s not a huge issue... most fish can adapt... I have tanks with fish that are at the high end and low end and they do just fine together....you will also often find different temp requirements depending on which site you look at... sometimes I’ve seen ones that vary by 5 degrees or more... your neons I believe should be ok around: 70-81 degrees and your gourami should be around: 72-82.... that’s what I understand anyway... so as long as you are somewhere in there you should be ok... so I don’t see any issues unless I have been misinformed... unless BottomDweller has different info (they are more knowledgeable then me lol) I don’t see the problem... I know a lot of gourami’s don’t like above 79 degrees but the opaline I think can tolerate a bit higher.. I don’t know what 24 is in Fahrenheit but as long as it’s in there you are ok I would say... but again once you add those extra Cory’s and personally I would add a few more neons... see where you are at your stocking levels... Cory’s will grow up to 2-2.5 inches eventually... which can be misleading when people buy them so small in stores... always always go by what the absolute maximum size could be... that way you will be safe once they grow... let me know where you are once you fix those problems up on your stocking level and I can probably recommend some different options for you...

 

And they can... lost of fish can “do well” at temperatures outside of their “ranges”... it comes down to things like coloration.... how long they can live for.... how they act.... if it’s a degree or 2 it’s not a huge issue... most fish can adapt... I have tanks with fish that are at the high end and low end and they do just fine together....you will also often find different temp requirements depending on which site you look at... sometimes I’ve seen ones that vary by 5 degrees or more... your neons I believe should be ok around: 70-81 degrees and your gourami should be around: 72-82.... that’s what I understand anyway... so as long as you are somewhere in there you should be ok... so I don’t see any issues unless I have been misinformed... unless BottomDweller has different info (they are more knowledgeable then me lol) I don’t see the problem... I know a lot of gourami’s don’t like above 79 degrees but the opaline I think can tolerate a bit higher.. I don’t know what 24 is in Fahrenheit but as long as it’s in there you are ok I would say... but again once you add those extra Cory’s and personally I would add a few more neons... see where you are at your stocking levels... Cory’s will grow up to 2-2.5 inches eventually... which can be misleading when people buy them so small in stores... always always go by what the absolute maximum size could be... that way you will be safe once they grow... let me know where you are once you fix those problems up on your stocking level and I can probably recommend some different options for you...

I mean the have both been thriving for a year, and I mean healthy not barley alive thriving

 

Neons need 68-75f while opalines need 75-85f. You can take a look at their seriously fish page, they're generally pretty accurate.


Keep in mind that it's a bad idea to keep them at the extremes of their temperature range permanently.

 

Odd... I definitely trust your opinion however I just read 5 separate sights that all list the temps for
Neons: between 72 and 78 OPTIMAL
Opaline: between 75-81 is OPTIMAL
There are several other pages with a wider range however these are the recommended optimal temps for those 2 fish on like I said 5 separate sites... and reliable ones...
So if he kept his temperature at 76 to me that would be fine as these are listed as the optimal temperatures (as I said there are several sites that have a broader range but these variations above are what is listed as basically the perfect temperatures) ** these are not off of forums or things like that... these are off of care pages and actual scientific info pages) that’s why I always look at atleast 10 different sites before making any decisions on fish... also I find it very important to look at dates when I am reading these because fish have come and changed along way from even 5 years ago... like discus for example... what they can thrive in today would have been unacceptable only just a few years ago but again I’ve only been doing this about 20 years or so, so I’m guessing you might know better... you seem to be the go to person on the forum for a lot of stuff... If I have to do research I just go with the most consistent answers when comparing... like some sites and people will say NEVER do this... for example people when cycling a tank think it needs to be fed ammonia everyday nearly to bring it up to what ever ppm you are trying to achieve when this actually can prolong cycling (straight from dr Tim) ammonia doesn’t need to be dosed or re dosed back up to your particular ppm all the time... people think if they don’t that it will starve off the bacteria which is completely false... even if it drops to zero... you don’t need to re dose right away... the next day is even fine... the bacteria is much hardier then people believe... but that’s way off topic... just an example of how many mixed opinions there are out there lol that’s why I believe in trial and error... if his fish have been “thriving” as he says for over a year now at that temp I would think they would be ok... however his stocking does have some issues lol

 

Odd... I definitely trust your opinion however I just read 5 separate sights that all list the temps for
Neons: between 72 and 78 OPTIMAL
Opaline: between 75-81 is OPTIMAL
There are several other pages with a wider range however these are the recommended optimal temps for those 2 fish on like I said 5 separate sites... and reliable ones...
So if he kept his temperature at 76 to me that would be fine as these are listed as the optimal temperatures (as I said there are several sites that have a broader range but these variations above are what is listed as basically the perfect temperatures) ** these are not off of forums or things like that... these are off of care pages and actual scientific info pages) that’s why I always look at atleast 10 different sites before making any decisions on fish... also I find it very important to look at dates when I am reading these because fish have come and changed along way from even 5 years ago... like discus for example... what they can thrive in today would have been unacceptable only just a few years ago but again I’ve only been doing this about 20 years or so, so I’m guessing you might know better... you seem to be the go to person on the forum for a lot of stuff... If I have to do research I just go with the most consistent answers when comparing... like some sites and people will say NEVER do this... for example people when cycling a tank think it needs to be fed ammonia everyday nearly to bring it up to what ever ppm you are trying to achieve when this actually can prolong cycling (straight from dr Tim) ammonia doesn’t need to be dosed or re dosed back up to your particular ppm all the time... people think if they don’t that it will starve off the bacteria which is completely false... even if it drops to zero... you don’t need to re dose right away... the next day is even fine... the bacteria is much hardier then people believe... but that’s way off topic... just an example of how many mixed opinions there are out there lol that’s why I believe in trial and error... if his fish have been “thriving” as he says for over a year now at that temp I would think they would be ok... however his stocking does have some issues lol

Yeah, the stocking issues are the only reason for this upgrade. And I mean they have been healthy and always active

 

And your dealing with that so in my opinion that’s great

 

And your dealing with that so in my opinion that’s great

Mhm. Kinda ticks me off that the place I bought it from said that they would all be fine, seeing nothing wrong with sending fish into a poor environment to make some money >

 

Chain stores all do that... it’s all about the money... it’s the same thing as them selling people aquariums and fish on the same day... not a word about the nitrogen cycle because they know 90% of the fish will die and you will have to come back to buy more.. also the same reason they don’t tell you the tiny 2” pleco is going to become 2 feet... or that certain fish won’t fit the aquarium you have or aren’t compatible.... the list goes on and on and it’s all about money...