Adding a single a. borelli to a community aquarium

[morgaine]

I'm looking for stocking advice as I choose whether or not to have a centrepiece fish in my planted community aquarium. I like the idea of a geographically harmonious suggestion and I'm not keen on adding the stress of cichlid breeding behaviour to the tank - so singles only. I have a 220L/120cm x 45cm x 45cm (mostly) South American community tank, which is pretty well planted. I am almost finished stocking the schooling fish at the levels I would like:

• 20x Green neon tetras (Paracheirodon simulans)
• 25x Venezuela "orange" corydoras (Osteogaster sp.)
• 20x Pygmy Corydoras (Gastrodermus pygmaeus) Introduction pending** (waiting on QT)
• 1x Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus sp.)
• Assorted Australian freshwater shrimp as "algae crew" (various) + the remaining elderly cherry neocaridinas (3-4 females only - tank had to be shut down)
• I also have some "legacy hires" - 2x Harlequin rasboras and 1x boraras maculata and 1x boraras merah still kicking from my first community aquarium journey in 2020. They used to be in species appropriate groups but now I'm a bit at a loss with them.
  

I'm based south of Sydney, Australia and I am fortunate - typical values for my tapwater are below:

Total Hardness: 26 - 41 (mgCaCO3/L)​

pH: 7.58 - 7.9​

Total Dissolved Solids: 95 - 102 (mg/L)​

Alkalinity (Total): 28.8 - 30.2 (mgCaCO3/L)​

I have attached photos of the tank layout - but I am new to cichlids. If you have read this far, thank you! I am wondering if a more peaceful Borelli male would be an appropriate choice, or if I should be patient and wait until my remaining neocaridinas have shuffled off .. or if there is another species I should be considering. I really like the look of the macmasteri and the cichlids that have the slightly deeeper body/smaller mouths but I am concerned that they grow too large and won't be a good fit with the corydoras. The bottom is quite busy - maybe it isn't suitable at all for an apisto!

Your insights and experiences are appreciated please!

 

[anewbie]

Not a good idea for several reasons. First you are way over stocking. I woudl reduce the venz cory to 10 or 12 and get rid of the bn.

I'm rather confused by your ph vs the water hardness which seems low. Either i don't understand the numbers or i would expect the ph to be around 6.5.

A single male borelli should be fine as long as you keep the temp around 72 as they are cool to cold water fish. The pygmy would prefer it a bit warmer but the venz cory would be happy with it. A single male borelli will not be that territorial and they stay pretty small.

I'd double check that ph or try to figure out what is keeping it high.

Over time you might be able to add a couple of more venz cory but this will give things a time to shake out.

The only other comment is that most of the fishes will be in the lower 1/3 of the water and very little will be in the upper 1/3 - you could think about another small (sub 1 inch tetra) that prefers to hang near the top.

 

[Mike Wise]

I have to agree with anewbie on this. It seems overstocked to me. The bottom third of the tank seems especially overpopulated. I have similar tap water values to yours. Here in Denver they add a buffer to the water to increase the pH to about 8 in order to prevent excessive pipeline erosion from the soft and naturally slightly acidic water.