Sigh... 3rd stocking thread (setup help needed)

[Hendre]

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of mfk

After scratching out snakehead and a (primarily silver dollar) tank i have come across african biotopes which i LOVE the look of.

So for my biotope tank i would like to stock:
2 - Kribensis cichlids
2 - upside down catfish (synodontis nigriti)
6-8 - congo tetra
2 - african buttefly fish
1- ropefish

can all that fit in a 4ft 250L?

tank decor will be plenty driftwood on the one side with an open side (back planted)
also plant species/ layout ideas would help

any info appreciated

 

[justarn]

Looks good. Hanging wood from above can be a nice touch. Look forward to some pics. Tank cycled and ready?

 

[Hendre]

nah it is coming in march
parents want school results first ;(

 

[Hendre]

Also adding 1 bushfish to it (leopard!)
Also going to use my old 80l aquaponics setup for feeder breeding =)

 

[kno4te]

Should be good....look forward to seeing it soon if ur grades hold.

 

[Hendre]

Yeah I am starting a year off well
Also busy working on a 400L aquaponics setup too.
Might use the goldfish from my current 80L aquaponics to keep the filter going after I cycle it (seachem stability)

I want to go all out on it.

 

[DMD123]

African brown knife would also look cool in there. You could also substitute some of the smaller bichir for the ropefish. I believe it is usually suggested to keep ropes in groups, which might be a bit much on the bioload.

 

[Hendre]

Yeah ropes are a bit of an issue for me right now. Are African brown knifefish a bit big and difficult to keep?

I could swap out the rope and synodontis cats for something else (wild caught fish are scarce here)

 

[Hendre]

Also I think I would need to take out the Congo's and rope and replace them with a bichir (p.delhezi)
Are there any good mid dwelling species for a tank like this?

 

[DMD123]

A lot will depend on the bichir. Some love to hunt and your congo might not have a chance while others are pretty passive and dont care if well fed. Kind of a risk and see sort of thing. My delhezi is not a hunter so pretty safe with small fish.

Another beautiful schooler to consider is the African red eye tetra, about the same size as the congo maybe slightly smaller but a cool looking fish too.

African brown knife is not a difficult knife or too large for a 48" tank.