# Stocking Aaron's 150g Tank



## NVES

Good day all,

So after successfully completing a fishless cycling process, I am now ready to add fish. My overall plan for this tank is a community tank, with basic plants, and lots of colourful active fish - I want lots of action and colour.

This thread is to discuss my stocking list, please feel free to provide your input on type, quantity, and timing of adding fish.

So here is my plan (at the moment):

30-35 Cardinal Tetras
15-20 Rummynose Tetras
10-12 'Other1' Tetra, barb, danio
10-12 'Other2' Tetra, barb, danio
6 Boliviam Rams (2 Female/4 Male)
20-24 Amano Shrimp
2 Plecos - L144 or L018, or other
2-3 Golden Apple Snails
8 Nerite Snails

I originially had 4-6 Denisoni barbs, but have been advised against these as they may become too aggressive to co-habitate with the smaller fish.

Where I need suggestions is on the 'Others' - I'm undecided on which ones, but I do like glowlight tetras, zebra or long-fin danios, cherry barbs, pengquin tetra, scissor tail rasboros, harliquin rasboros. So please feel free to provide your input.

As for plecos, I'd like to get 2 or 3, but I don't want them to get to be 8", would prefer some smaller, and colourful plecos, and I'm a complete newb as to which kinds are available without spending a fortune.

Regarding timing, shrimp and snails will be the first added - likely in the next day or two. What should come next? I've been told to add the cardinals last.

Thanks for you help.

Take care,
Aaron


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## trailblazer295

If you see one sold privately get an L200 or yellow spot green pleco. Have one myself and they don't hit 5". There are a few others but the names aren't coming to me at the moment. I'm not sure if your bolvian ram ratio will work but someone with more expereince should chime in.


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## AquariAM

I've seen them at 8 and 9"  
The bolivian ram ratio is my suggestion . Should work perfectly given 150G of space and lots of driftwood used as dividers.

they don't seem to grow in aquaria for some reason but WC specimens that size are seen all the time.

30-35 Cardinal Tetras
15-20 Rummynose Tetras
10-12 'Other1' Tetra, barb, danio
10-12 'Other2' Tetra, barb, danio
^
This will not look good. You really should stick to maybe two species of schooling fish. Even in huge 800 gal tanks four species looks bad. Still doable. Just ugly IMO
I still don't think it's the best idea to start with fragile fish. I would not get either of those tetra species personally as a beginner and would suggest something like lemon and bleedingheart tetras. Again there's no problem with going with the denison barbs you just have to rework other fish around it like cardinal/rummynose tetras that the denison barbs will outcompete for food.

6 Boliviam Rams (2 Female/4 Male)
*
40 Amano Shrimp*

2 Plecos - L144 or L018, or other

2-3 Golden Apple Snails

8 Nerite Snails

what's your decoration plan?

Have you, btw, considered severums?










it's a gentle giant fish that reaches 9-10" but will not attack your fish. (Don't put 1/2" neons with it but 1.5-2" lemon tetras and the like would be fine). It'd require a slight rework of a couple of things but amano shrimp, bolivian rams, severums, and schooling fish and snails are doable. You may experience slight amano shrimp level attrition. You'd want to purchase the severum as a 2" baby so it could grow up with 2" shrimp and not learn to see them as food.


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## trailblazer295

Then they still fit his needs because they won't reach that size. A tank can't compete with a natural river or lake.


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## TBemba

I would stock the tank pretty slowly if I was you. I think maybe 12 danio's for the first couple of weeks then slowly add your tetra's. I would hold off on any snails,shrimp or plecos until your tank in more than 3 month old. This is only my personal opinion. My reasoning is these guys need algae and a well established bioload. I would add them last 

The only issue I see with your stock list is that you will want a couple of larger fish as a show piece in a 150 gallon tank something at least 5 inches or bigger.

I like the denison barbs because they are very pretty and get to a large size like 6" You can then keep Rams with them and maybe Discus or as AquariAM said some other large SA's.

Good luck on stockin


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## NVES

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

Shrimp are first because I have an algae issue (minor one), but there is algae for them to eat, plus I do have algea disks that I can supplement them with.

What about adding Bolivian rams now? BA Vaughan has them on sale for $4 ea, and was thinking about picking them up tonight.

If not then I might just go with some danios as the first fish. I have a few danios in my daughter's 10 gallon and they are always quite active and I love the look of them. What about Lake Inle Danios? Those too are on sale at Vaughan. Just noticed too that North York Al's has Giant Danios 2 for $1.99.

I do plan on going slowly with the stocking, I just want to get some shrimp in there to control the algae.

As for decorations, I have 2 large pcs of driftwood that criss-cross the entire tank. I plan on adding some rocks (waiting until I go camping in Algonquin), then eventually I'd like to either build a moss tree, or make a coconut cave.

Thanks all!

PS. I'm doing some research on the severums.


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## AquariAM

Buy fish where they are highest quality and healthiest. Whether the fish is 4 6 or 12 dollars-- who cares? Seriously?

We're not talking about high end reptiles here that are $600-10,000+ and you need to haggle. Most of the stuff on the list here is in the six dollar each or less range.

You don't want to buy a potential problem just because it's cheaper.

You can add a biomass approximately the size of an orange at this point in my opinion- that's averaged out across the stuff you want given what they consume- so something like 40 small amano shrimp and six young bolivian rams would be about the size of an orange. In the following weeks gradually add more fish.

If I were in your shoes I'd add biomass about the size of a very large grapefruit, but since this is your first time you should give yourself a bit of a margin for error. I'd also suggest you keep a bottle of Seachem stability in supply and add (given your tank size) 3 capfulls (shake well) every 3 days as you go adding fish. You can add about a lime (why all the citrus? I really don't know...) size chunk of fish every 10-14 days in this manner until you reach the total level of fish you plan to add. Always keep your tank as free of food and fish waste as you can (assuming you aren't going heavy planted which you haven't mentioned), do regular water changes on a schedule, be careful measuring your temperature out of the tap and water conditioner, feed a high quality balanced diet diligently, use a light timer so the fish have a good light cycle, and be very careful where you buy your fish and make sure you always check fish before you buy them- before and once they're in the bag. If you only notice that fish X is missing a gill cover once it's in the bag, that is the seller's problem, not yours. Give the bag back and leave. Fish are much more difficult to nurse back to health than furry cute things and you don't want to buy a problem. 

I'd really suggest you try to buy your fish from Frank's or Menagerie. Explain you're new, talk to Harold and Frank, and ask for advice and help choosing healthy fish. They are both geniuses of the aquatic animal world and won't give you a bum steer. They enjoy what they do and you can trust their advice and judgement. They're also ten times more likely to spot a sick fish and not sell it-- unlike a lot of the employees I've bumped into @ chain stores. If you're in Holland landing, it isn't that much further.

And make sure you're 100% set on what you want. That's the most important thing. You have thousands. Literally. Thousands (at least *A* thousand) of choices of fish, snails, shrimp, crawfish, eels (which are fish but they look different..), etc. You should check out videos of fish you're interested in and see their behavior. Some lake Tanganyikan cichlids, believe it or not, are ideal beginner fish, have extremely complex social interactions, can swim straight up and down, and hover that way, they can even swim upside down. There are fish that live inside shells and move them around and defend them from predators. There are fish that keep babies in their mouths. Fish that breed in a nest of bubbles. Fish that spit and knock down food outside the water with a jetblast of water, fish that school, mean fish, mellow fish, lazy fish, fish that eat too much, fish that don't eat much... it's more than just the way the fish looks.

I apologize in advance for any scary techno music these people used... but anyways here are some you tube videos of some african cichlids so you can see their behaviour and colors and then some south american cichlids so you can see the difference. Everyone has different tastes, of course.

http://www.cichlids.com/uploads/tx_usercichlids/user_pics/26/01_Dolphins_Oct_07_020x10.jpg




































I once heard someone describe severums as an aggressive looking head of lettuce. That's about how dangerous they actually are. The rotkeil species (Severum is used to refer to the "Heros" group of fish, though only one species in a true severum) is a bit aggressive and you should avoid it in a community tank. Also, if you get a pair, their spawning may contribute to attacks on other fish, so if you get a severum, it would be wise to keep a single individual. You should still buy several juveniles, as the juvenile unpaired fish will not be dangerous, then you sell 3 keep 1 (the nicest, of course) and make your money back, getting a nice (and free) fish for yourself.


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## TBemba

Well if you are going to get some fish why not get some nice ones

List of Tanganyika Featherfins

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=8

example










or









Maybe some Sand sifters










Cyps are nice










or










Tropheus are really cool as well


















Then there are Discus










Or maybe some EBJD's









sooo many fish so little time


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## AquariAM

That's actually not a bad idea.. How about it?

Get a bag of pool filter sand (probably need 2) and a bunch of nice rocks from betz-- whole lot will run you maybe $100 to fully decorate the tank nicely. 

Get a big school of cyprichromis leptosoma

some julies

an alto compressiceps 

couple of synodontis catfish

that'd be pretty awesome.


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## NVES

Hello all,

Again thanks for the suggestions, but I am going with a community tank - which for some strange reason is the only tank that I have NOT done. Many moons ago I had several tanks and had everything from cichlids, piranas, goldfish, to local freshwater fish (bass, perch). 
So I'm set on lots of colourful active small fish, although would like to have a couple of 'centre piece' fish.

So last night in my travels of checking out LFS, I picked up 2 golden apple snails, 15 amano shrimp (thanks Jsu!), and 10 silver-tip tetra.

I think that's all for now, and will let everyone get adjusted to the tank for a couple of weeks and then look at adding some rummynose tetras, and then some Bolivian Rams.

I will be posting pics shortly (need to find the card).

I hear everyone's warnings about Al's stock and I do plan on buying the bulk of my fish elsewhere. I haven't visited Frank's yet, but will do so when its time to add more fish. I also hear they have a good deals on cardinal tetras (50 for $50). 

I do have several plants in the tank now, 6 vals, 2 cabomba, 2 bacopa, 2 moss balls. And I am looking to add some other foreground grass-like plants, and maybe some more vals. My vals kind of died off when they were adjusting to the water - they are growing now, so maybe I just need to be patient. All my current plants were purchased at Menegeries.

Substrate is 150lbs of pool filter sand.

I need to post some pics! Perhaps this evening. Stay tuned.....


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## AquariAM

NVES said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Again thanks for the suggestions, but I am going with a community tank - which for some strange reason is the only tank that I have NOT done. Many moons ago I had several tanks and had everything from cichlids, piranas, goldfish, to local freshwater fish (bass, perch).
> So I'm set on lots of colourful active small fish, although would like to have a couple of 'centre piece' fish.
> 
> So last night in my travels of checking out LFS, I picked up 2 golden apple snails, 15 amano shrimp (thanks Jsu!), and 10 silver-tip tetra.
> 
> I think that's all for now, and will let everyone get adjusted to the tank for a couple of weeks and then look at adding some rummynose tetras, and then some Bolivian Rams.
> 
> I will be posting pics shortly (need to find the card).
> 
> I hear everyone's warnings about Al's stock and I do plan on buying the bulk of my fish elsewhere. I haven't visited Frank's yet, but will do so when its time to add more fish. I also hear they have a good deals on cardinal tetras (50 for $50).
> 
> I do have several plants in the tank now, 6 vals, 2 cabomba, 2 bacopa, 2 moss balls. And I am looking to add some other foreground grass-like plants, and maybe some more vals. My vals kind of died off when they were adjusting to the water - they are growing now, so maybe I just need to be patient. All my current plants were purchased at Menegeries.
> 
> Substrate is 150lbs of pool filter sand.
> 
> I need to post some pics! Perhaps this evening. Stay tuned.....


It's not really an issue of where you buy the bulk of your fish. There's no minimum volume of fish required to get something sick.


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## NVES

So a little update on the tank - had one apple snail die, but otherwise all fish are doing good. I think the snail died b/c of poor quality from Safari Pet Centre (in Vaughan Mills), but the other guy is doing just fine.

And I can't believe it, but AquariAM you were right - 15 amano shrimp will disappear in the tank. I didn't believe it b/c why would they disappear, or where could they possbily hide - well sure enough I haven't seen more than 6 or 7 at any one time.

I've been continuing to test the water daily, and there's been no change ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. I'm doing my weekly water change tonight and am looking to add more fish soon.

Since this topic is about stocking my tank, here's what I'm thinking will be the next additions - and please feel free to comment.

Right now - 10 silver tip tetras, 1 apple snail, 15 amano shrimp.

Looking to add (1-2 weeks) - 1 blue apple snail, 6 nerite snails, 1 or 2 plecos (L018 Gold Nugget, and/or L128 Blue Phantom).

Does anyone know where I can find blue apple snails, L018 pleco, and/or L128 pleco? For the plecos I'd prefer to buy juvies, as I want to watch them grow.

Sorry no photos, the card for camera broke, but we're getting a new card - when I do I'll be posting some pics.

Good day!


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## thename123

If your going for a community tank, maybe some neon tetras would be in order. They are my favourite schooling fish, they look so great and I hav always wanted to try to make a school of like 50 or so in a tank.


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## NVES

thename123 said:


> If your going for a community tank, maybe some neon tetras would be in order. They are my favourite schooling fish, they look so great and I hav always wanted to try to make a school of like 50 or so in a tank.


I plan on stocking it with 30+ cardinal tetras, eventually - I've been advised to add these last. So I'll probably add these to the tank sometime in July.
And then potentially add to the school size later on - we'll see how the tank looks with 30 first.

Thanks,
Aaron


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## golfers1

If you want a show stopper fish go with Discus. In a 150G tank they will go very well with the rest of your community as they are all South American (Amazonian) species and the colors are extrodinary.


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## NVES

So I've recently added 2 bushynose plecos to the tank, and 2 more apple snails. I had one snail die on me.

I gotta say I love the pleocs - these guys completely cleaned the tank in less than a day, and they're only little, 1.5" max. Tonight they're going to get some zucchini for dinner.

I've got a camping trip coming up, so I'm going to wait to add fish until after next weekend. And I'm thinking the next fish to go in are some Bolivian Rams.


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## Philip.Chan.92

One word "Malawi"


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## AquariAM

Take it easy on the land vegetables with plecos. People who swear by them have SH*T plecos. 

Go with a quality commercial diet for plecos. If you must feed land veggies, which IMO are pointless. Do they enjoy them? Absolutely.. but you have to think that in the wild, although fruits and land vegetables are occasionally going to fall into the river, and yes plecos eat them, this is far less frequent than algae and small critters.

I've had great success feeding plecos a quality commercial diet. Usually with bushynose I use Sera Catfish chips, New Life Spectrum pellets and the occasional (maybe 2x week max) very SMALL treat of frozen mysis shrimp. If your tank has less than 'crapploads' of algae of different kinds you should add a high quality spirulina algae wafer or pellet.

Phil-- I already tried to twist his arm to go Malawi he's not into it


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## TBemba

I would get a nice school of Buenos Aires Tetra they have some on sale at BAs North york 2/$1.99

They school really well and get pretty big they are often used as dither fish for Oscars lol

They are kinda nippy and aggressive and supper fast and can be hard on plants .....


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## AquariAM

TBemba said:


> 2/$1.99
> 
> They are kinda nippy and aggressive and supper fast and can be hard on plants [/B].....


Never buy a fish because it's on sale. Never buy a fish that is not a good match for the rest of your fish.


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## whenfishfly?

Personally Green Fire tetras are my favourites.. The males will constantly display to females and against each other. And they show no aggression to other critters or tetras, in my experience. I don't see them often and are almost always in poor condition in the lfs, so their a shadow of what they can look like.


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## KhuliLoachFan

Consider including large tetras (bleeding heart tetras are my favorite). The uber-small tetras are very very very fussy and easily killed or eaten. If you want small, and flashy, and colorful, but hardy, consider substituting white cloud minnows for the nano tetra species in your list.

Consider having a theme, if you haven't gone too wild on the community aspect yet; Amazon, Central America.

If you haven't visited Menagerie and Finatics yet, try them and look for ideas. Finatics lately has a lot more than just African cichlids.

W


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## TBemba

yes you need large tetras because you have a 150 gallon tank. If you don't get 20 or more of each species of the smaller tetra you will not notice their presence like you want. You have to stock a 150 totally differently than a 20 gallon.

I have seen a 180 with 100 cardinals in it and they looked amazing but they were full grown and in with 6 inch plus discus. congo's are nice. I recommended Buenos Aires Tetra because you were thinking of large SA and they would be perfect for them.


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## KhuliLoachFan

To me the centre-piece fish of a community tank should be not only colorful but also have a lot of personality. For that role, you could consider clown loaches. There are some fabulously large ones for sale in the for-sale board on here, by someone who had kept them for years. You will not find many opportunities to start with something fabulous like that. If your biofilter is up to the capacity, you should try and get that troupe of clown loaches. (If your wallet can take it).

They are among the greatest treasures of the community tank.

W


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## AquariAM

Bad idea. Clowns need very different conditions from almost any community fish to reach maximum size and be happy. You'll never get clown loaches to 12" unless you have 83-84, pH under 7, super soft water, very high current and very high oxygen. This omits/screws over several other fish choices.

You can include a community loach. Maybe a couple of polkadot loaches.

Clown loaches are a crowd favorite for some reason. I don't see the point. It is more difficult than a discus to do right by.


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## KhuliLoachFan

Loaches online says 78-83 F. Size wise 150g is an ideal size tank. You don't have to elevate the temperature above regular community.

They do not require a pH any different than toronto Tap water. 

If you wish to fuss, by all means, you can, but 90% of the people keeping them, even the Loach fanatics at Loaches Online, are not fussed, and theirs are doing just fine.

W


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## NVES

Good day all,

Well I finally got some pics of the tank, see attached. I tried my best to get a shot of the fish, but they're way too fast for my crappy camera.

All of my plants are doing well except for the vals, they just don't seem to be growing at all. I chose vals as I thought that they would fill in the sides and back of the tank will nice tall bright green plants - any suggestions for plants that would fit the bill?

I'm also looking for some moss or other to attach to the driftwood - suggestions?

I'd like to hear everyone's comments on the tank.

Thanks,
Aaron


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## AquariAM

Nobody's gonna enjoy the rock roof there 

Your sand bed is too thick. Hydrogen Sulfide is nobody's friend. I don't think you really need more than about 2" for those plants.

Get your snails some tetra bottom feeder tablets from big als scarborough. Plecos love it too. Since snails are slow, i usually pick up the snails and put them on the food when I feed it. They inhale it. It helps their shell.


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## KhuliLoachFan

yep. one piece of slate isn't going to work well as a decoration item in your tank. You could get a few more pieces and line them up somehow, with some round rocks underneath to create something a little more interesting looking. Or you can stack it, and even stack-plus-epoxy-putty to make something like this:










W


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## AquariAM

(example with thicker pieces)


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## NVES

That pc of slate is/was holding the driftwood down - I don't think that it's needed anymore but I like the idea of a shelf there so I'm planning on trying to make a cup or bowl that will fit in there and then fill it with some sand and put a couple of plants in there (maybe dwarf baby tears).

Sand base - I thought it was a little thick, I might use some of the extra to create more of a slope from back to front. Or perhaps take some out, that is 150 lbs of sand in there.

How about some suggestions for moss on the driftwood, and some tall grass like plants to fill in the back and sides?

Thanks,


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## KhuliLoachFan

Ah. Well in that case, what you need is a drill, and a screw. The driftwood can be attached to the slate, and then it won't float up, or fall over. 









W


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## NVES

Hi Khuli,
I did that originally, but had issues with the correct angle and was way more complicated than just holding it down.

The last time I cleaned the tank I took that pc off and the driftwood didn't move at all, so I'm fairly certain that it's not needed anymore. But as I said I like the shelf - so it's time for a rebuild using a cup/bowl or even a coconut shell (and I could use the other half as a cave).


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## AquariAM

If anything just use a pile of round rocks in the middle to hold the wood down and make a little rock reef.


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## NVES

Well time for a little update - last night I did a little rescaping.

Added a giant amazon sword and moved some of my vals to the other side of the tank, added a few rocks I found in Algonquin, and also added 6 Giant Danios.

In the past week or so my cabomba has really grown out and is quite red in colour - it's all starting to come together.

In the next month or so here are the plans:
a) I'm going to find some more rocks and create a rock pile with lots of hiding places. 
b) Look into adding some moss to a branch or two of my driftwood
c) Find a source some quality Bolivian Rams (BA's stock is terrible no colour at all).
d) Add some more shrimp ~ 10-15 more (for a total of 25-30)
e) Post up some more pics (this w/e)

Well that's it for me - peace out!


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## trailblazer295

I got my bolivians from harold and they are colouring up really nice I'll get some pics later.

When they are really young they aren't full colour yet and stress will diminish the colour as well.


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## pat3612

Nves Iam not to far from you I have some moss you can have and also I have lots of granite if you would like some.I might have some slate Id have to check the fishroom.


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