Adding fish to my aquarium, need help to choose!

[Woodh]

I have been taking it slow, well for being me atleast ,and now I feel like my pleco's are settled. I have always planned to add some tankmates sooner or later and I feel like the time is here.

Been looking around some and simply have a hard time to find any fish I find suitable.

Tank is a 65 gallon and currently house the L397s(6 juveniles) and 10 lemontetras, wan't to add either a couple of medium sized fish or maybe another bunch of some fish(cory's, tetras etc) but it's so hard to find any that wan't 28(+) degrees celsius and won't risk outcompeting the plecos for food.

Been considering the usual stuff like Rams but don't really trust the local source of them and frankly they seem so short lived? Corys are tempting but most species seems to prefer a bit colder water, or can they be kept at these kind of temperatures? A 3rd option I have been looking at are keyhole cichlids(love how they look) but they seem, again, to prefer it a bit colder and in the future they might be problematic with eventual pleco fry? Of course I will hopefully have another tank to move them into by then but who knows.

Any other ideas?

[bekateen]

Hi Woodh,

If you want cichlids, how about Apistogramma? As for corys, consider duplicarius or sterbai. Both do well at that temp.

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

I have had people telling me that apistogrammas sometimes are agressive towards plecos(stories about missing eyes etc, I don't know whetever it's true or not though) but else they are very tempting! Might be these stories are just that or very rare happenings.

Ok will deffo check if any of those corys are obtainable for me!

I don't really want cichlids per say but I am not sure what other options there are. Maybe some larger tetras or nannostomus?

[bekateen]

Or add more lemon tetras. A giant school of tetras is far more interesting to watch.

[Woodh]

Maybe ill just add more lemons and some corys and call it!

[Bas Pels]

As you have L397, you will keep the tank warm. And neither Apistgramma or Cleithacara maroni like it that warm. So I think you better refrain from keeping them in this tank.

increasing the school is always a good idea

[bekateen]

As you have L397, you will keep the tank warm. And neither Apistgramma or Cleithacara maroni like it that warm. So I think you better refrain from keeping them in this tank.

increasing the school is always a good idea

Yes, I agree the bigger tetra school is a better idea, but fwiw,, both

Apistogramma regani

and

Apistogramma agassizii

(or something like it) are collected in the Alenquer vicinity according to GBIF.

Cheers, Eric

[Bas Pels]

As you have L397, you will keep the tank warm. And neither Apistgramma or Cleithacara maroni like it that warm. So I think you better refrain from keeping them in this tank.

increasing the school is always a good idea

Yes, I agree the bigger tetra school is a better idea, but fwiw,, both

Apistogramma regani

and

Apistogramma agassizii

(or something like it) are collected in the Alenquer vicinity according to GBIF.

Cheers, Eric

I was told the thing is Apistogramma in the Amazon area live in small creeks, under the trees. That is, they never see sun, and therefore the water never gets to 30 C

A mile away the situation can be quite different, no trees, lots of sun - and no Apistogramma

[racoll]

I was told the thing is Apistogramma in the Amazon area live in small creeks, under the trees. That is, they never see sun, and therefore the water never gets to 30 C

A mile away the situation can be quite different, no trees, lots of sun - and no Apistogramma

There are always exceptions of course, but generally this is correct. Forest creeks in the lowlands will typically be about 24-26C, and big rivers usually >30C.

[bekateen]

I was told the thing is Apistogramma in the Amazon area live in small creeks, under the trees. That is, they never see sun, and therefore the water never gets to 30 C

A mile away the situation can be quite different, no trees, lots of sun - and no Apistogramma

There are always exceptions of course, but generally this is correct. Forest creeks in the lowlands will typically be about 24-26C, and big rivers usually >30C.

Yes, absolutely so.

[Woodh]

Thanks for all the input I have decided to go and just buy some more tetras and then maybe add either a species of nannostomus or corydoras. When I went to the LFS to scout today I saw that they only had "champagne tetras" I suspect that is the same as Lemon Tetras but just some mild color variety(they looked like poorly colored lemons to me), if so is there any reason to travel to another store other than that they might look slightly different? There is a somewhat knowledgeable guy working at the store but he wasnt in today so ill just go back monday and he will hopefully be able to shed some light.

[Captainandy]

aquabid.com

[Woodh]

So ive ordered fish(found a way to make the LFS get the fish and then I go and pick up the bag in the morning) ended up ordering 10 Corydoras Sterbai(very small this time of the year supposedly) and 5 additional Lemon Tetras.

Anyway I would like your opinion on if this might be overstocking the tank, in that case I might have reason to look for a larger one! I mean as long as the fish are small it will obviously be ok but who knows in a year or so? On a sidenote how fast does corydoras grow?

Final tank stocking will be 15 Lemon Tetras, 10 corys and 6 L397. 65 Gallon with a eheim 2073 canister and a spongefilter. Might be a bit crowded once the corys+plecos gain some size? Kinda wish I had settled for a smaller cory group or maybe a smaller species?

[bekateen]

Honestly, that sounds okay to me. Good luck!

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

And here I wanted a reason for a larger tank, guess some smaller ones will have to do!

[bekateen]

And here I wanted a reason for a larger tank, guess some smaller ones will have to do!

I'm sorry. I didn't communicate clearly in my last reply. Your tank will be much too overcrowded. You'll need at least a 90 gallon, maybe 120 gallon, tank to accommodate that many fishes!

Is that better?

Cheers, Eric

[Stephen59]

Hi Woodh

Please forgive me if I've missed something.
If the temperature range for L397 is 24-30C (planet catfish) why is your temperature so high at 28C+, why not 26C which would be closer to the middle range?
The options at 26C are far greater than those at 28C+
A nice shoal of Cardinal tetra would add some colour at 26C.
Your Lemon tetra would even be happier at a lower temperature long-term.

Just asking
All the best

[Woodh]

Hello Stephen!

I simply have some trouble getting it colder here during the summer(global warming seems to be a reality) even though I live in Sweden, my little apartment becomes very warm during the summer months so I thought that a stable temperature might be better, but after reading some, while planning for the Sterbais arrival, I have actually decided that ill try to lower it to 26~ long term. You are totally right that I somehow got blocked mentally and didn't even consider lowering the temperature, I guess the heat ironically might be one of the main reasons for that haha.

Also Bekateen yes it's true that I need to save them from this hellhole of an aquarium as soon as possible, preferably yesterday.