30G L.. Stocking options...???

[RDTigger]

Ok I am lost.... Please offer some interesting stocking lists in your posts.. Also decoration ideas.. The members here have an incredible imagination when it comes to aquaria..


About to start cycling with an AC30 and Black sandy substrate but clueless as to what I will stock the tank with right now... I am fashioning a Fluval 403 filtration unit with plumbing. I have a hood w/T05 light so that is not a question.

I started out wanting to make this a 3-5 Clown Loach grow out tank with a simple majestic top swimmer (Gourami, Angel, etc) which may still be an option. Just try to be realistic about Loaches max growth.... I could swap out the Clowns with Angelicus or YoYo, but not only if left with no options.

The other side is Cichlids of course. This is a short list of cichlids I am considering as a focal point. The rest of the tank will be chosen around these species. I am still learning the distinction between these. (Malawi, Tang., SA/CA) as well as mbuna and water chems....

• Apisto
• peacock cichlid
• firemouth
• Elec Yellow lab
• ????

I ask now because I want an idea of what I am setting up for. I have slighlty alkali water (7.6-7.8) with normal hardness according to test strips although I will be using an API test kit here shortly for more accurate readings. I will also do a final water test after adding Prime to my tap water for better water quality control.

I was looking at some cookie cutter ideas from cichlid-forums.com but not sold on their ideas and wanted to ask the serious hobbyists here...

So please... Fire away and offer some experienced advice..

 

[MonsterMinis]

neolampus brichardi
neolampus lelupi

still my favorite 2 Tang cichlids.

Blue rams would also be nice. go easy to care for planted tank, driftwood w/ java fern

Though I'm a fw eel nut and would go w/ a smaller species of spiney eel myself =D pint sized personality. can be kept with just about anything to big to fit in it's mouth and not to aggresive to attack it.

or maybe a small species of fw puffer. They are just cool.

though 30L can't go wrong with the planted tank,driftwood. well planted. school of cardinal tetras, pygmy cory's, oddball pleco, cherry shrimp. I have a 20H set-up w/ t5's like this and it is a very nice peice of artwork in my room.

 

[RDTigger]

Any nice ideas for a stocking list?

 

[RDTigger]

Update...

I have a better idea of what the tank will look like now.

I still want to get clown loaches, using this as a grow out tank. After much thought and research I think i will attempt to keep them with firemouth cichlids. Has anyone had experience with these 2 fish together? I see there is a "chance" but some consider the firemouth aggressive/some think it only aggressive during breeding..

I have tahition moon sand and working on decor. I will put a large flat piece of possibly limestone or some other non-toxic rock in the substrate. Thinking about one end having some driftwood and the other holding a rock structure..the flat rock in the middle...

Any advice/ideas?

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

i think the firemouths will tolerate the loaches

 

[RDTigger]

i think the firemouths will tolerate the loaches

Yea... the cichlids are my only concern.. The loaches tolerate most species period but no experience with cichlids yet.

The only fish i know they will harass is a lone discus from experience, so i imagine slow moving decorative fish could get played with...

 

[Lupin]

Yea... the cichlids are my only concern.. The loaches tolerate most species period but no experience with cichlids yet.

The only fish i know they will harass is a lone discus from experience, so i imagine slow moving decorative fish could get played with...

The statement in red is very broad. It depends which species of loaches you tried, space area and many other variables that influence their behavior and tolerance between each other. There are many species of loaches that are tolerated by discus without any issues provided there is plenty of space that they will not bicker out of irritation from cramped conditions. Kuhlis and dwarf chain loaches in particular mix well with discus.

Might want to note discus will not do well in solitary conditions. I am surprised you kept the discus by itself but that is another issue.

Regarding your first statement, it's not all the time the loaches who are tolerant towards the cichlids. It is most of the cichlids that are intolerant of the loaches.

 

[RDTigger]

The statement in red is very broad. It depends which species of loaches you tried, space area and many other variables that influence their behavior and tolerance between each other. There are many species of loaches that are tolerated by discus without any issues provided there is plenty of space that they will not bicker out of irritation from cramped conditions. Kuhlis and dwarf chain loaches in particular mix well with discus.

Might want to note discus will not do well in solitary conditions. I am surprised you kept the discus by itself but that is another issue.

Regarding your first statement, it's not all the time the loaches who are tolerant towards the cichlids. It is most of the cichlids that are intolerant of the loaches.

Good stuff Lupin...

It was a bad use of the grammar.. But please don't corner me just yet..

My experience with fish keeping is not of the direct kind, I spent a few months as a youngster with a family member who had the loaches and discus. My research since deciding to get serious about having my own fish has educated me to the points you have brought up.

Loaches have a personality and picked on a stressed fish in the past scenario I brought up. They can be very playful with tankmates, but generally docile. Discus need friends... I did not give enough details to make such a broad statement.
TY for the reply. Just kinda sounds like a tongue-lashing. My words did not read well... so I understand the response.

 

[JakeH]

Angelicus, Clowns & Yoyos? Are you my evil twin? I have these 3 species in a 40g breeder with Opaline Gouramis & Tiger Barbs. I highly recommend the combo of fish, since they all like the same water & get along well. If I were restocking, I would lose the Gouramis & get a Firemouth or GT (would really like Nandus Nandus...). The G's never really move, except to push each other around a bit. They're just not that interesting to me anymore... Of course, most fish are boring compared to Loaches.

 

[swede]

i like the brichardi idea someone posted

for a 30 gallon, a very nice planted tank with a nice aquascape would look awesome in itself, but then adding some killifish would really make the colors come out! you could have a nice amount of killis in a heavily planted tank. add some malaysian trumpet snails and you have yourself a nice little ecosystem