FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Hi all,


I've recently upgraded from a 125 UK litre (which is 108 US litres or 27.5 gallons) tank to a 180 UK litre (150 US litres or 40 gallons).

Currently I have these fish:

1 Angelfish
1 Pim Pictus
4 Black Tetras
3 Congo Tetras
3 Clown Loaches
1 2" Pleco


I would simply like to know how many (if any) livebearers such as platy's/swordfish or possibly guppies or mollies would you guys recommend?
Any other comments on my stocking would be welcomed, but I do know that the tetras need more friends!


Thanks in advance

Moose

I'd say after giving your tetras a few more friends, that you are fully stocked.

If you put guppies in with the cat or angel, they will be a yummy snack.

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=pictuscatfish

Here is some info on the pictus.

To start of with they are a small schooling fish. They love plenty of cover and will eat any fish that they can fit into their big mouths usually up to 1ins.

Clown Loaches also love to be in schools many say they can grow into huge fish. Mine are about 20 yld now and are about 7-8ins. When young they grow about 3/8" 10mm a year.

At a guess I think your tank might be too small for the Pictus and the Clown Loaches.

Please check me if I am wrong. There is no difference between litre US and UK There is differences in Gal for certain.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

You're not wrong Keith. There is no such thing as US or UK liters. There's just liters.

Unless you want to argue over if it's litres or liters.

My recommendations for your tank would be as follows:

[1] Find new homes for the Pictus, the Angelfish, the Clown Loaches and the Pleco. The reason being that these fish grow to a substantial size, and in the case of the Clown Loaches, will eventually become very large by usual aquarium standards. It's not unheard of for Clown Loaches, given enough space, to exceed 12 inches in length. If your Pictus catfish is the black and silver Pimelodus pictus, that will reach 6 inches with ease, and has a large appetite combined with an excellent stealth hunter capability as an adult. At this juncture, I am really hoping that your "Pictus cat" IS Pimelodus pictus, because there's another "Pictus cat" in the aquarium trade, known as Leiarus pictus, and that beast reaches 2 feet in length as an adult. But you'll know if you have one of those, because it has a big, sail like dorsal fin as a juvenile that you don't see on Pimelodus pictus, and has a different colour scheme.

The Angelfish is also a predator in the wild, and though its mouth will be much smaller than the Pictus cat, it can still inflict horrific attrition on smaller fish once it reaches a decent adult size. Again, it's a stealth hunter, though usually by day instead of night, and usually positions itself in reed type plants such as Vallisneria waiting for small fish with no situational awareness to cross its path.

As for the Plec, the reason I suggest you rehouse that, is because identifying these fishes to species level is a job for an expert, and all too often, the species that are sold in dealers are species that end up reaching ridiculous sizes. Quite a few of the Plecs will reach 12 inches with ease, and some of them grow to 18 inches and beyond. If you don't know what species of Plec is being offered for sale, and don't know how big it will grow as an adult, the simple rule is leave it at the dealer's. By the time some Plecs are starting to head toward adult size, they need very large aquaria, and you should be thinking of 125 gallons (UK) as a baseline setup for the likes of Pterygoplichthys joselimanus or Leporacanthicus galaxias. Under NO circumstances take on any of the Acanthicus species, as these become huge, and need a 500 gallon tank for long term maintenance!

Once you've done that, we move on to:

[2] Build up your tetra shoals. You should be looking at 6 Congo Tetras minimum, and likewise for the "Black Tetras", whatever they are (are they Gymnocorymbus ternetzi perchance?). Given that Congo Tetras can reach 5 inches as adults, you might consider rehousing one of the tetra shoals, because that aquarium will start to become somewhat crowded once the Congos put on some body mass, even after you remove the fishes listed in [1] above. If you want to keep the Congos, rehouse the Black Tetras and you can bring the shoal up to 8, whereby they will start coming into their own in a big way, and make you want an even bigger tank so you can have 12! If you rehouse the Congos, you can build the Black Tetras up to 10, and still have room for some other fish.

[3] Pop in some small bottom feeders. I'd recommend that you run with something like 4 Otocinclus (these never exceed 2 inches in length), which are excellent little algae eating Loricariids that will live happily with the stocking I've suggested, along with 6 individuals of one of the smaller Corydoras species - Corydoras metae is an excellent choice, because as well as being nice and small, it's also relatively hardy. While the Panda Catfish I keep are also small, and highly entertaining to watch, they're more "high maintenance" than other Corys, and they need weekly gravel vacs and water changes to keep them happy (preferably twice weekly if you can run to this). Corydoras metae is a much hardier species, almost as attractive, and every bit as playful and entertaining to watch if you buy a group of at least 6. If you decide to run with a different choice, say Corydoras pygmaeus, Corydoras hastatus or Corydoras habrosus, you can have 8 of these.

If you fancy something different from Corydoras as your bottom feeders, then Pygmy Chain Loaches are another excellent choice. However, if you can find them, they will be expensive. But they're worth it, and they stay far smaller than Clown Loaches. They also devour snails with ruthless efficiency if you need snail control fishes. Again, you could run with 6 of these, though your wallet will take a pounding if you buy all 6 at once! However, it's eminently possible to buy 2 at a time as funds permit, and introduce them piecemeal.

Hopefully, these suggestions will result in you having an aquarium that you can maintain long term without any future rehousing woes, and which will provide quite a spectacle when you watch it!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

based on chance, I would guess the common pleco is Pterygoplichthys pardalis or Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, both which are large fishes. Fish stores tend to charge more for loricariids, even other Pterygoplichthys such as gibbiceps, scrophus, and joselimaianus. However, there are yet other species of Pterygoplichthys that may sneak in as common plecs, but regardless all Pterygoplichthys are large fishes.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

To reinforce that point, my LFS had a joselimanus back in August, and that beast was huge. It must have been a good 12 inches SL, and it had a dorsal fin that was almost like the sailfin on the back of a Dimetrodon prehistoric reptile!

Pity I didn't have a 250 gallon aquarium to put it in, or I'd have taken it because the LFS was letting it go for a silly price.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hi,

Thanks very much for the replies. Very informative.

How does one go about rehousing fish??

You can do everything from offering it on craigslist to trading into the pet store for store credit.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Or get a bigger tank


Big tanks are only a problem if you have to move house frequently And hire people to move them for you

If you are netting out the pictus for trade/rehousing make sure you use one of the white cloth like nets and not the standard green fishnet. Pictus have little spikes on their fins and they will usually end up tangled up in the net. Resulting in a very panicked fish and fish owner trying to cut the fish quickly out of the net on the office floor. : and in the end having a fish net with big holes in it :


^_^