Stocking ideas

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IceH2O

Bazinga
Nov 26, 2005
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Ice
Ok so I’m starting stages of a 46 gallon bow planted tank.
I decided this time I’m just going to do a schooling fish instead of what I have had in the past.
so I’m looking for ideas on a schooling fish that will pop with black soil.
Also numbers of each I can put in the tank together.
I was thinking neons or cardinals but there are so many nano fish I could also use

so how many of each

very soft water. I’m talking low 6 pH and GH/Kh in the 30/40 ppm range

nano schooling fish or cardinals
Pygmy cories
Ottos
And I will probably have Red cherry or Amani shrimp.
And if anyone has a suggestion for a top level centerpiece fish to go with the above orwould it be better not to have one. I was thinking a single Angel.
TIA
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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Sounds like a nice setup coming together..

The prettiest tiny schoolers I've kept were celestial pearl danios, but they may be too small for this particular tank. I kept them in a planted 10gal along with red cherry shrimp. Cardinals are always cool in terms of color pop.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I wouldn't do an angel or most any sort of centerpiece fish with shrimp or small schooling fish.
 

FreshyFresh

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For sure on the angel. My big goofy mutt of an angel turns into a maniac sniper when RCS are involved.
 
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Wyomingite

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Oct 16, 2008
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Instead of a large centerpiece fish, why not just go with another schooling species and increase the size of the schools? I've done it before and enjoyed it. If you did that, you could have a school of cardinals, a school of pygmy cories, and a school of a top dweller. Maybe celestial pearl danios like FreshyFresh suggested.

WYite
 

IceH2O

Bazinga
Nov 26, 2005
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I was looking at nano fish like the CPDs.
I figured an Angel might not work even in a heavily planted tank. What about a dwarf gourami of some type?
 

Wyomingite

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I don't think I'd keep dwarf gouramis or honey gouramis with the shrimp, if nothing else because of curiousity. IME, both are curious about their surroundings, and even if they weren't able to eat the shrimp outright, I'd be afraid they'd pick at the shrimp and stress them out. They might even pick at the otos. I've had both pick at BNs, banjo cats and resting cories on occasion. Maybe chocolate gouramis, but I've never kept them myself as far as I remember, so I'm not sure how big their mouth is or whether they'd pick. Maybe some of the smaller species such as one of the sparkling gouramis of the genus Trichopsis or one of the licorice gouramis of the genus Parosphromenus. Licorice gouramis can be temperamental about water conditions, though. But once you get to this point, you have fish that aren't much bigger than your schooling species so they aren't much of a centerpiece.

How about a school of glass catfish as the centerpiece? They have small mouths that face up, never pick around the bottom, and reach 4" or so. I've kept them with both ghost and amano shrimp, and wouldn't hesitate to keep them with the smaller cherry shrimps and such. They usually stay in the upper, center of the tank, facing into the water flow. Because they are not deep-bodied and are very thin for a 4" fish, a school of 6 to 8 probably wouldn't put much more of a bio-load on the tank than a single angel would once the angel is full grown.

WYite
 
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IceH2O

Bazinga
Nov 26, 2005
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All great ideas.

if I were to only do

cardinals or neons
Ottos
Pygmy cories
Shrimp

how many of each could I do in the 46?
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I would do about a dozen tetras, two dozen of each catfish and a few hundred shrimp over time.

But that's me, and I plant heavily and do my water changes. YMMV.
 
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