Stocking for 127"x20"x18 tank

[jegt]

I'm setting up a new 127"x20"x18" (~190G) show tank. It will be heavily planted with automated dosing of co2 and fertilizer. There are large numbers of bogwood and natural caves with many hiding places.

The main fish will be my home bred A.baenchi. I have about 20 adults and 50 fry in some of my other tanks. The plan is to complement them with some catfish and tetras and probably also some bolivian rams. The plan has been the following:

20-30 A.baenchi.
10 bolivian rams
40 green neons
40 ember tetras
20 corys (C.habrosus or C.trilineatus)
10 pitbull plecos
amano shrimp

Right now all I have in the tank is about 100 cherry shrimp breeding like crazy.

What do you think, is it going to work? The tank is not for breeding, I have other tanks for that.

here is a picture of (part of) the tank: http://jegt.net/skitch/Aperture-36-20090225-201756.jpg

I will get some more plants soon.

 

[Bilbo]

I cant answer if it will work or not so I will leave that to the expets.
But I will say WOW!!!! Thats going to be one really cool experiment.
Good luck, that tank looks great already

 

[apistodave]

wood

nice chunk of wood--one thought. In our minds eye we tend to see things as evenly distributed, but in nature it doesnt happen like that. Sometimes if the deco's are bunched to one side it catches they eye better--I think Amano does the best stuff around and he tries to imitate nature

 

[jegt]

nice chunk of wood--one thought. In our minds eye we tend to see things as evenly distributed, but in nature it doesnt happen like that. Sometimes if the deco's are bunched to one side it catches they eye better--I think Amano does the best stuff around and he tries to imitate nature

Yes, I know. The right part of the tank is too evenly distributed. I will probably have to move some stuff around or break it up with some large plants.

I have started doing the left side now and I will probably have to move some of the wood over there.

I want the tank to look nice but the real reason for all that wood is to make large numbers of hiding places and small territories for the fish. That's the first priority. I will probably have to continue to work on that when I have the fish in the tank.

 

[apistodave]

wood

wood is just great for apistos--I get mine from a local creek

 

[jegt]

What do you think about my planned stocking level? The corys especially seems to be something that might be a problem with apistos, right? All my other apisto tanks are quite small so it's hard to know how they will get along with eachother and other fish in a large tank.

 

[jegt]

Here is a photo of the whole tank: http://jegt.net/skitch/Aperture-20090301-102917.jpg

There is still more work to be done on the layout, I will get more plants later this week.

 

[apistodave]

stocking

Corys and apistos in a large tank are fine---you arent expecting spawning spo no biggie--it's going to be a great tank!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Nice tank, and a good fish list. I think the stocking will be OK, (possibly with the exception of the "Pitbull" Plecs). I also think A. baenschi may be able to raise some fry successfully, particularly once the plants have filled out, but M. altispinosa probably won't.

If the Pitbull Plecs are Paraotocinclus sp they are fine, but if they are a Chaetosoma sp(p)? you need to know which one(s) as some sp. are intolerant of high temperatures. As far as I know they are all territorial and if you have more than 2 or 3 males they are likely to fight even in this large tank, and they also like a lot of water flow, with an area of pebbles (in the flow), where they will feed on the pebbles aufwuchs and the male(s) will excavate their caves, under and between the pebbles.

If they are Chaetosoma, I'd probably replace them with either Ancistrus claro, an Otocinclus sp. (with the provisos in my earlier post) or a small Panaque species, L002, L169 or P. maccus (LDA67).

cheers Darrel

 

[jegt]

The pitbull plecos are Parotocinclus sp. 'Pernambuco' so I think they will be ok. I'm thinking about adding some ottos too.

Any other suggestions on what I might add?

 

[dw1305]

Parotocinclus "pernambuco"

Best of luck with them,
Parotocinclus "pernambuco" I've just looked them up on "Planet Catfish".
They look fantastic, but relatively few owners or details and apparently not bred in captivity.
cheers Darrel

 

[Apistomaster]

The pitbull plecos are Parotocinclus sp. 'Pernambuco' so I think they will be ok. I'm thinking about adding some ottos too.

Any other suggestions on what I might add?

"Pit Bull Plecos" are Parotocinclus jumbo which I can tell you from experience do not thrive in warm water. They should be kept at about 72 to 75*F.
Just wanted to let others know since P. jumbo is widely available in the US.
The very attractive Parotocinclus spilosoma is often mixed in with shipments of P. jumbo and it is a good choice for warm water fish tanks. I keep them with wild Blue Discus. Here is one:

Another fish I would recommend considering for something peaceful yet give the mid-water column some action is Chilodon punctatus, Spotted Headstander:

 

[OHR]

That looked like a great setup , have you got any more pictures?

How did it work out with your colony?

 

[aspen]

i've watched cories predate eggs often enough to know not to keep them with any type of dwarfs. maybe you don't need to actively breed your fish but watching the cories just run in and take the eggs or fry at will can't be fun can it?

sounds like a nice tank, i'd like to see that.

rick

 

[jegt]

No new pictures right now but the tank works well. I have no bolivian rams yet, just A.baenchi. They spawn regularly though and there are usually a few females with free swiming fry at any given time. I have enough fish for now so I do not take special care of the fry. I have not seen the cories show any interest in the fry so far.

 

[whaccapy73]

I think you are getting confused. I will be starting the tank as fresh to get it cycled. Then I will transiton to brackish, which i when I will be stocking the tank.
The puffers, If I get them at all, would be in brackish

 

[Apistomaster]

Why not start cycling the tank already containing brackish water?
At least the saline loving bacteria will be the first colonizers.
You may begin at a lower salinity than perhaps your ultimate target if you expect the fish you are buying will need to be acclimated back to brackish water. Brackish water fish are well adapted to variable salinity since they come from estuaries where the water may be nearly fresh to fully marine several times a day.