# Help Stocking My 70gallon!



## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

hi, im needing some advice/opinions on what else i can put in my tank.
it already has
-1 male, 1 female moonlight gourami
-1 red tailed black shark
-1 common pleco
-3 male fancy guppies
-1 khuli loach
-2 albino corys


I want smaller fish but not too small.

any ideas please =)


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

rummy nosed tetra ? they shoal together.


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

i have thought about them but for some reason all the pet shops that stock them over here never have more than two in at a time,. and they never look healthy.
I dont want to go and add unhealthy fish into my tank incase they infect all of the other ones!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

that;s a shame.  would they not order you any in ?
what sort of fish do they have ?


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

they probably would but they never look to good!
They have many kinds but nobody that works there seems to know anything about them!!x


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

harlquin rasboras ?
glow light tetras
Endlers.
nice big bamboo fan shrimp
have you got a particular fish that the shop has that you would like ?


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

i love their fancy guppies but would like more variety in my tank.
they have pretty cherry barbs?
and also nice female bettas but i know they can be aggressive!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

cherry barbs look nice and are ment to be peacfull,i've not kept these befor
i kept tigers,and odessa barbs.
the cherry barbs should be kept in a large group.


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

i'll maybe go down and see how they look tomorrow night after my work, maybe get a small shoal of 3-4?
what about the female betta?
x


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

never kept one,i'm not sure on this but i think they can be as grumpy as males ?
need a Betta keeper to pop in here


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

yeh, i might ask in a different subject!
cant think of any other fish!


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

any other fish you would recomend?


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

Hey there. Um, that's a really good start you have going there. But you're at the place where you need to make some choices, I think. Do you want a small number of big fish? That's what the pleco will get you. Do you want a bottom heavy tank with the gouramis and guppies up top and not much in the middle? That's what you'll need to keep the bottom dwellers you have happy. Do you want a tank with tightly schooling tetras in the middle? You'll need to lose the guppies, replace the pleco, and decide whether you want to keep the kuhli or the cories. That's why before the edit I said that was a good start on three tanks. It could go a couple of ways.

A couple of assumptions: This is a rectangular or bowfront tank, 4' long or so, not a whole lot taller than deep. You have sand or small, smooth gravel substrate (or you wouldn't have put the cories or kuhlis in there.) I am assuming that your tank is not heavily planted if at all. You have enough filtration to turn the water over about 3 to 5 times an hour (enough to keep the tank clean, but not so much as to give you too much current for the gouramis.) I am also assuming your water is neutral PH and of Moderate Hardness (or you wouldn't have both hardwater guppies and softwater kuhlis, cories, and Gouramis in there.)

The first thing to realize is that Common Plecos get up to 18" long. They produce a ton of waste over and above what you would expect, and in about 2 or 3 years, when it's about 6 to 8 inches, it will start rearranging your decor. I can't recommend enough that the first thing you do with this tank is remove the pleco and replace it with a Bristlenosed Pleco (Comes in regular brown, Albino, albino long finned, and white spotted varieties - the single most effective consumer of film and spot algae you can get. Also, if you have a male and a female and you treat them right, they will breed) or Clown Pleco (often pooh poohed, but does a great job on the glass when the lights are out).

If you are going to keep the Pleco, well, you only have a little more room, and you'll need to get rid of it when it gets longer than a foot. (Bear in mind, a Common pleco can live more than 10 years if well treated).

If you Keep the pleco, then add 10 harlequin Rasboras. That will max out your tank.

If you go with any of the others I recommend, then we are in business.
I recommend adding 3 more cories (or removing the 2 you have) and 5 more Kuhlis. This will make them more comfortable and active.

Then, a school of one of the following: Harlequin Rasbora (12), Brilliant Rasbora (10), Black Ruby Barb (3 males, 6 females), Pentazona Barbs(10), Gold Barbs (8), Praecox Rainbowfish (6 to 8 - split evenly male and female), Lemon Tetra (10), Pristella Tetra (10), Bleeding Heart Tetra (6 to 8). Yeah, that'd work.

Now, were this my tank, I would return the pleco, the cories, the kuhlis and the guppies. I would add an albino bristlenosed pleco. I would also plant the heck out of it and run a canister filter, and HOB, and a sponge filter with the canister outlet placed in such a way as to run a current about mid level across the front half of the tank, and the HOB in such a way that it would interfere with that current halfway across, leaving one half of the tank fairly calm. I would then plant the bejeezus out of the tank. That way, I would be able to push the bioload a bit.

So, in addition to the Gouramis, the Shark, and the Pleco, I'd put in 6 glass catfish (the asian type), 20 Harlequin Rasboras, and 3 male and 6 female Black Ruby Barbs. That would make a nice Asian Biotope. The clear catfish and white silver gouramis would pick up the bold patterning and the reds on the rasboras and barbs.

Alternately, Skip the rasboras, the catfish, and the barbs and add 30 or so Rummy Nose Tetras. They will react like one big fish. It's really neat. Very tight schools. To that add one male and 3 female cherry barbs and a banjo catfish.


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## adpierin11 (Jan 2, 2008)

I second upping the cories to about 8 or so. They like to be in larger groups. I personally like the boesemani rainbow fish, their colors just pop. You have soo much room in this tank you can get away with a lot...
I also agree on nixing the common pleco if you can, try a smaller one like a gold nugget or a king tiger pleco. I have a common in my 75 and he's not huge right now, but he poops toooo much I really wish I would have gone with a smaller pleco....
I also love the way green tiger barbs look, but it's up to you and your preferences.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

awsome tophat665 
thank you.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

adpierin11 said:


> I second upping the cories to about 8 or so. They like to be in larger groups. I personally like the boesemani rainbow fish, their colors just pop. You have soo much room in this tank you can get away with a lot...
> I also agree on nixing the common pleco if you can, try a smaller one like a gold nugget or a king tiger pleco. I have a common in my 75 and he's not huge right now, but he poops toooo much I really wish I would have gone with a smaller pleco....
> I also love the way green tiger barbs look, but it's up to you and your preferences.


The problem with a really big school of Cories is that the RTBS will claim about half the tank bottom. Not such an issue with kuhlis or bajo cats, which burrow, but could be a problem with a big enough school of cories that the shark sees them as encroaching on its territory.

As to Gold Nugget and King tiger Plecos, I am assuming that you want the pleco for algae control. Neither the Gold Nugget or the King Tiger are going to do much of that. Further, the Gold Nugget will, when full grown, get in the neighborhood of 7" long, which is probably more bioload than you wanted to spend on this. Further still, they are really finicky about water quality, so if you haven't gotten the hand of keeping your water in perfect shape, get something else. Finally, Gold Nuggets run about 30 bucks hereabouts. King Tigers 30 to 50. So if you wanted either of those, you would probably be better off dedicating a tank to the Pleco and building your community around it than trying to fit it in to an existing community.

Tiger barbs + Gouramis = Short Finned Gouramis. You might could get away with it if you had a dozen or more tiger barbs so they spent all their time harassing each other, but it's a gamble. Black Rubies are much lower key, and cherry barbs will completely ignore all other fish.


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

wow, well thanks for all this!
sadly my gerbil died yesterday  and his cage was massive, so im thinking about buying a new tank to put in his place.. this is the tank i am looking at,
Juwel Aquariums at discount prices.

i have the money and the space to get it so any opinions on this specific tank will be much appreciated 

if i get that tank i think i would move my pleco into the 400litre, along with my guppies, my corries and my kuhli? then add around 8 more corries, 6 more kuhli's and 10-12 more guppies? obviously once the tank had cycled and this would be to start the tank off.


in my current tank i would keep the gourami's, the shark and add the 30 rummy nosed tetra's?

suggestions will be much appreciated =) x


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

400 litres is around 105 gallons, which is a good minimal size for a common Pleco. Given the size the Pleco will attain and the fact that they rumble around a tank like a bull in a china shop, you might want to leave the smaller fish in the 70 gallon and build your 400 litre around a smaller number of Larger fish. If I had a 100 gallon tank with a common Pleco in it, I'd seriously consider getting an oscar and maybe some severums, then add some Giant Danios or Scissortail Rasboaras as dithers and that would be it. Alternately, instead of the dithers, 3 Hoplo cats (which are essentially Giant Cories) might be cool.

If you do not have an Oscar fixation (and there are folks who don't), then a Jack might be cool, or a True Gourami (Osphronemus goramy) or Red Tailed Giant Gourami (Osphronemus laticlavius). Understand that this would be the Tank of Poop. I was at a friend's fish room the other day and saw his giant gourami, Hermione, produce a dropping the size of my little finger. You are in to serious pet fish territory with one of those. Pet as opposed to decoration. They're interactive (and they love canned organic green beans.)

The reason I am suggesting larger, more clumsy, boisterous, interactive fish is that you'll need to use a different grade of decor than you would in a fish tank with smaller critters - put a guard on the heater, no plants, big driftwoods screwed to slates, buried deep in the substrate and held down with large rocks.

Other fish options: Kissing Gouramis, Black Belt Cichlids, Bichirs, Leopard Gouramis/Ctenos/Bushfish. If you are somewhere they are legal, that's a good sized tank for a school of a half dozen red bellied Piranha. 

Course, you could go with the pleco, the cories (bump the school up to 8 to 12), the kuhli (seriously, bump it up to at least 6 - the more you have the more you'll see them), and then put in your three male guppies, 6 female guppies, 2 male and 6 female swordtails of your favorite flavor (stick with one color or the fry will be muddy), and watch the tank fill up. Leave the tank bare bottomed or with a thin layer of gravel, and put in a bunch of 6 to 8" flowerpots (you could decorate them by spreading them with a thin layer of aquarium sealant and sticking lava rock to it, then sprinkle with gravel), with low light plants - java fern (better to attach java ferns to driftwood), amazon sword, water wisteria, giant hygro. You can even put some potting soil in the pots and cap it with an inch of gravel to keep your plants well fed. Then float some water sprite on top.


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

As to what tank to get, get the largest one you have room and money for.
If you end up getting something in the 150 to 250 gallon range, you might want to consider putting a half dozen to a dozen clown loaches in there.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

wow nice big new tank 
hope you'll show lots of pictures when you get it,and start it up


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

i will easily bump up all the numbers of the corries, the guppies, the kuhlis etc but just once the tanks cycled and been up and running for a good few weeks.
dont want to add to many at one time!
i dont really want too many big boisterious fish as i enjoy watching the smaller, gentler fish


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## NaomiiSmith (Aug 30, 2008)

oh i will willow, once its arrived and looks good!!
or i may do a timeline type thread with it!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

a tank diary would be awsome.


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