First tank

Hi guys,

Got my first tank at the start of december and its fully cycled now. i want to try and keep it simple, so im just gonna go for cold fresh water fish atm. The tank is a record 600 which is 60L, i wanted bigger but the wife put the foot down (. For now i have 5 cloud minnos in it and 5 zebra danios which the guys at petstop in cork suggested.What would the stocking limmits be for a tank this size? am i already at the limmit or can i add a few more? If i can squeeze some more in i would welcome some suggestions for suitable and colourfull fish.

Cheers, Stuart.

Hi Stuart,

congrats on the tank
Unless you want to go with ornamental goldfish, which I would not recommend as they are very messy fish, that is they produce a lot of waste and can also get quite large, then your options are limited to temperate fish species rather than "Cold Water". These species will require temperatures of 18 to 22°C.
Assuming your house does not get too cold at night, these species will be fine in an area of the house where the temperature is reasonably stable.
You are pretty well stocked at present, but assuming you have a good filter and plenty of surface agitation, using an air stone etc, you can get away with stocking a little above the normal recommended stocking levels for your tank.
I would recommend doing some research on any species you are thinking of getting, do determine factors such as compatibility, eventual size, requirements such as a need to keep in groups, behaviour etc. Some of these species can be aggressive if kept on their own.
Some species worth looking into are, Rosy Barb (can get to 2" to 3" and must be kept in groups), Golden Barbs (same comments as for Rosy Barbs), Buenos Aires Tetra (can get to 2.75" and be aware they eat plants), Bloodfin Tetra (grows to about 2"), there are also a few varieties of Corydoras catfish that will suit this temperature range. Weather Loach are also worth checking out, can be very active and have golden undersides, not the most colourful fish but certainly characters.
The key is to do the research and check the requirements and temperament of any of the fish you are thinking of getting.

Cheers,

Bill.

Cheers Bill,

This is my first tank but i do keep koi in my pond along with some goldies but i am pretty new to fish keeping. The tank that i bought had the whole starter kit with it which included a built in filter , lighting and heater.I left the heater out so the water is at room temp. atm and the guy at petstop suggested the minno's and zebra. they are less than 10 mm long atm but i was wondering will they grow larger?

I got substrate which was also recomended i think is 4mm gravel and some coral sand so i guess growing plants is out of the question?? i have an air stone that im gonna put in today, and i do want to get some plants so the little guys aren't so out in the open. should i go down the plastic plant route or can i actually grow something in my current set up?

All info is very much welcome.

Cheers Stuart.

I think there are a few plants that will grow well in that substrate without special lights .
Im a noob myself but I managed to grow plants in gravel before , without any specialist soil or anything.
Im sure someone here will be able to give specific suggestions regarding latin names and such .
One plant I had looked very much like 'tinsel' it was long and had many thin feather like leaves.It grew very well . The folks in the shop should be able to advise also .

Hi Stuart,

The Zebra Danios will grow to 40 to 50mm, the White Clouds will grow to about 40mm.
Given that you have a mix of gravel and coral sand, you should be ok with some of the easy to grow plants. The 4mm gravel alone would be a bit course and would not really allow for plants to get a proper hold with their roots, however the sand mixed in will help. There are quite a few options on plants that require low light levels to grow, you can Google these or ask in your local shop. A note of caution, some of the plants such as anubias cannot be planted in the typical way, they need to be attached to wood or rocks. A bit of research will help identify suitable plants.

Cheers,

Bill.

Hi guys,

I did a bit of research on the plants and went back to petstop , a long green grass type plant called "val" seems like a good option. They didn't have any in stock so he kindly pulled some out of one of his display tanks. I got 2 sucker fish while i was there, some kind of small spotted cat fish. So now i have the 5 white cloud minnows, 5 zebra danio's and 2 sucker fish. Is that stock level ok for a 63L tank? And if these little guys grow to be between 40-50mm will my tank be too small when they all reach maturity?

Cheers Stuart.