Uhhh Ohhhhh Aq Advisor Stocking??

[KribensisLover1]

So I am ready to hang my light, start running my canister (canister Virgin here!) and put substrate and plants in the tank. 26 gallon flatback hex.

And of course fish.

I’ll put some of the sponge from my fully established 64.8 gallon HOB into the canister of this newly set up 26 flatback hexagonal tank.

HOWEVER, due to space constraints, I got a Sicce Whale 120 and it occurred to me that I thought bc it’s a canister it would have better filtration than an AC yet maybe I’m wrong? Like perhaps an AC 50 HOB filters more than a Sicce Whale 120 canister filters.

All of this to say I went on aq advisor bc I want to get as many of one type of neon tetra or cardinal tetras as possible (more on that in a minute) and they don’t LIST the Sicce so I had to just add in Filter for 30 gallons!

So the tank is black background and black substrate. I want a school of fish that pop against that background and as many of that type of school as possible. I have had green neons and they’re way too skittish. I was told Cardinals would pop the best and not be skittish. Is this so? And can I get 25? 30? More? If they’re the only fish in this 26 gallons with a lot of plants? I would love to get 5–6 Cories too, but I really need a large school to be out and about (it’s at my parent’s house and they are still mad at me from when it was set up with Cichlids they NEVER saw). Basically I can’t fully rely on aq advisor so I came to the source! You all!!!!!! How many can I get? And I don’t have to get all at once but I do want to know the best fish (least skittish and brightest) and the end total. TY!!

 

[Fishfur]

If they are the only fish, I think you would be pleased with cardinal tetras - they really do pop colourwise, more than neons do and they aren’t shy.

They’re not a big fish but they are twice the size of neons - I’d think once you’re fully cycled, you’d be good for a dozen of them and maybe a few more than that.

But even with seeding from a mature filter, you shouldn’t add that many to start with. Start with a few and work up from there to give the nitrifiers time to adjust to the added bioload.

 

[FishDin]

Canisters, like HOBs will have different capacities. Either style works fine. When I used an AC HOB, it worked well, as do my canisters. The sicce 120 has a turnover rate of 143 gph which will actually be about half of that in real world conditions. So it will be about 70-80gph or roughly a 3x turnover per hour for your tank. The AC 50 has a turnover rate of 100gph, but I don't know what the "real word" rate would be. Seems like the two filters have similar capacities.

 

[bgarthe]

Everything Fishfur said, especially the third paragraph…….but, imho, if you’re just gonna do a single species like CTs, you can do 20-24 w no problem. Four CoryCats would both be fine and be happy in a 26g tank…..assuming it was done gradually. It took me several months to get my 55 Cardinal Tetras, 18 Kubotai Rasboras, and six Peppered Corycats established in the 75g.
A decent-sized shoal of Cardinals would eat little, be peaceful, have a small bio load, and be a joy to view in your tank.

 

[KribensisLover1]

Everything Fishfur said, especially the third paragraph…….but, imho, if you’re just gonna do a single species like CTs, you can do 20-24 w no problem. Four CoryCats would both be fine and be happy in a 26g tank…..assuming it was done gradually. It took me several months to get my 55 Cardinal Tetras, 18 Kubotai Rasboras, and six Peppered Corycats established in the 75g.
A decent-sized shoal of Cardinals would eat little, be peaceful, have a small bio load, and be a joy to view in your tank.

Ty!! it was you who gave me the great idea!! I was going to do some sort of neon, and I forgot that my Green yawns were so skittish and you told me the Cardinal Tetris would pop more anyway!! Ty!!