Setting up a new 90g, need help for a centerpiece fish

[riioKen]

Hi guys, I would like to receive a suggestion about which centerpiece fish should I buy for my new 90g scape.

Right now I have an 20g stocked with

- 12 celestial pearl danio

- 10 ember tetra

- 5 pygmy Cory

- 6 otos

- 2 amano

All the livestock will be moved to the 90g when the cycle will be completed. 

 

The initial idea was to increase each schooling and then add a pair of gourami, but I'm a bit undecided.

For sure i'll add 5 more pygmy Cory and 3 amano. 

I would like to add cardinal tetra and/or rummynose tetra 10 of both. But maybe it'll become too many schooling fish. 

Then, as centerpiece fish, I'd like to add a pair of pearl gourami or dwarf gourami, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks. 

 

@Mmiller2001 idk If you remember me, but you helped me A LOT with my algae issue. What do you think about my choices?

 

About flow (you pointed out that is one of the most important thing), I plan to add to this 90g a second Biomaster thermo 600, so, in the end the tank will have 2 oase Biomaster Thermo 600 (2500 litres x hour/ 660gph).

Edited August 17, 2023 by riioKen

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 8:37 AM, riioKen said:

What do you think about my choices?

Planted tank?

 

On 8/17/2023 at 8:37 AM, riioKen said:

About flow (you pointed out that is one of the most important thing), I plan to add to this 90g a second Biomaster thermo 600, so, in the end the tank will have 2 oase Biomaster Thermo 600 (2500 litres x hour/ 660gph).

That's 7 times turnover and should be plenty. I like having the option to go as high as 10x turnover, but as always, budget matters and I see no reason 7x wouldn't be enough.

[JettsPapa]

I'm a big fan of pearl gouramis, but I probably wouldn't recommend a pair (though it might work fine).  I'd add one more female, at the very least, but you could also do a larger group, ideally still with females outnumbering males.

I'd also suggest adding 15 more pygmy corys instead of 5.

You probably already know this, but I wouldn't recommend adding the otos right away.  I'd give the new tank a few months to build up aufwuchs and biofilm before moving them.

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:28 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm a big fan of pearl gouramis, but I probably wouldn't recommend a pair (though it might work fine)

This, and I would include the temperatures needed to keep them isn't great for planted tanks (if this would be a planted tank)

[JettsPapa]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:33 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

This, and I would include the temperatures needed to keep them isn't great for planted tanks (if this would be a planted tank)

It's not?  How so?

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:35 AM, JettsPapa said:

It's not?  How so?

Plants do better in cooler temperatures.

[_Eric_]

In a 90,  I’d get a pack of pearl gouramis like maybe 2 males and 5 females.  I keep my pearls at 77 degrees in a planted tank.  Lower than the consensus seems to be but they have done well for me and there are some guides that recommend them this low.  

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:18 AM, _Eric_ said:

I keep my pearls at 77 degrees

Good to know. I’ve always wanted a Pearl but hesitate with my tank temperature from 75 to 77

[riioKen]

On 8/17/2023 at 5:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Planted tank?

Yes, the project that I was doing with the 20g, will be expanded to the 90g, the plants are:

rotala marcrandra, rotala h'ra, rotala orange juice, rotala Wallichi, althernathera reickii, Bacopa caroliniana, egeria densa, cryptocoryne flamingo, nymphea red lotus, bucephalandra Kedagang purple, hygrophila araguaia, limnophila hippuridoides.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 5:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

but as always, budget matters and I see no reason 7x wouldn't be enough.

Yes for sure, but honestly I don't know which filter could help me to reach the 10x (if it must be reached for properly filtration)

 

On 8/17/2023 at 5:28 PM, JettsPapa said:

You probably already know this, but I wouldn't recommend adding the otos right away.  I'd give the new tank a few months to build up aufwuchs and biofilm before moving them.

Yes I know, but I'll move hardscape and plants from the other tank, and I'll wait a few months before adding all the fish to the new tank. I plan to complete the tank in 3-4 months due to half cycling and adding fish slowly.

 

On 8/17/2023 at 6:18 PM, _Eric_ said:

I’d get a pack of pearl gouramis like maybe 2 males and 5 females

Considering the livestock that I have

On 8/17/2023 at 4:37 PM, riioKen said:

- 12 celestial pearl danio

- 10 ember tetra

- 5 pygmy Cory

- 6 otos

- 2 amano

Wouldn't be too much 7 pearl gouramis? I'm afraid of overstocking, the tank is a 110x50x60 (43x19,5x23,5)

 

On 8/17/2023 at 6:21 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I’ve always wanted a Pearl but hesitate with my tank temperature from 75 to 77

The tank temp is 24° (75).

[JettsPapa]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:51 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Plants do better in cooler temperatures.

Maybe better, but that doesn't mean they'll lay down and die in warmer water.  Most of my tanks are unheated, but I have one at 75° and one at 78°, and plants seem to be doing just fine in them.

On 8/17/2023 at 1:25 PM, riioKen said:

Considering the livestock that I have

Wouldn't be too much 7 pearl gouramis? I'm afraid of overstocking, the tank is a 110x50x60 (43x19,5x23,5)

I don't believe it would be too much.  I have six of them in a 40 gallon breeder tank (36"L x 18"D x 17"T, roughly 915 x 460 x 430 mm) with 8 pristella tetras, 12 serpae tetras, one pea puffer, and 8 or so corys.

On 8/17/2023 at 1:25 PM, riioKen said:

The tank temp is 24° (75).

That's the same temperature as the 40 gallon tank with pearl gouramis mentioned above.

[Lennie]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:25 PM, riioKen said:

Wouldn't be too much 7 pearl gouramis? I'm afraid of overstocking, the tank is a 110x50x60 (43x19,5x23,5)

this is a 4ft tank, 55g. They look like this to give you a visual

 

[Galabar]

altum angelfish

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 12:25 PM, riioKen said:

Yes for sure, but honestly I don't know which filter could help me to reach the 10x (if it must be reached for properly filtration)

Agree, this should be plenty. Will you be using CO2?

On 8/17/2023 at 12:30 PM, JettsPapa said:

Maybe better, but that doesn't mean they'll lay down and die in warmer water.  Most of my tanks are unheated, but I have one at 75° and one at 78°, and plants seem to be doing just fine in them.

I should rephrase if my original statement indicates plants die at warmer temperatures. They don’t, but plants get easier at cooler temperatures and there’s some good observable date showing CO2 required plants doing things that shouldn’t be possible without CO2 just by being in cooler water down to 68 degrees area.

[riioKen]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:44 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Will you be using CO2?

Yes. I have an inline diffuser, is it enough or a reactor will be necessary?

On 8/17/2023 at 8:45 PM, Lennie said:

this is a 4ft tank, 55g. They look like this to give you a visual

Well they're a lot for a 55g, considering that mine is almost double the dimensions, shouldn't be problems. But the true questions is... Pearl gourami will live peacefully with other fish that I already have?

Edited August 17, 2023 by riioKen

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:59 PM, riioKen said:

Yes

You should do well then.

[Tazalanche]

On 8/17/2023 at 2:19 PM, Galabar said:

altum angelfish

The odds are extremely high they'd eat the pygmy cories as soon as their mouths were large enough.

 

I know because many, many years ago, my altum angels were growing out in my endler cull tank. When the angels were at about 4-6 months old, the endlers magically disappeared overnight, but the altums looked bloated. LOL

[Galabar]

That's interesting.  I've got two full-grown altum's in a 40 breeder with lots of fish, including endlers and fry.  They don't seem to eat the full size ones and I do seem to have some fry swimming around.  They seem to spend most of the time sparring with each other... 🙂

Edited August 18, 2023 by Galabar

[riioKen]

I like angelfish but I prefer gourami/apistogramma/ram.

Honestly I love Blue ramirezi but they live in a warmer water compared cpd which I already have, and honestly, I'm loving pearl gourami.

[_Eric_]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:25 PM, riioKen said:

Wouldn't be too much 7 pearl gouramis?

I don’t think so.  That is a big aquarium.  But I may be the wrong person to ask as I tend to overstock 😆

that wouldn’t be overcrowded and if you have a decent amount of plants, you wouldn’t have to do heavy water changes.

[riioKen]

On 8/18/2023 at 2:04 PM, _Eric_ said:

that wouldn’t be overcrowded and if you have a decent amount of plants, you wouldn’t have to do heavy water changes.

I plan to do a planted tank, based heavily on red colors (rotala macrandra) and some different tones like rotala hra and rotala orange juice and wallichi, and some green ones like bacopa, egeria densa.

[_Eric_]

Sounds very nice

On 8/19/2023 at 4:03 PM, riioKen said:

I plan to do a planted tank, based heavily on red colors (rotala macrandra) and some different tones like rotala hra and rotala orange juice and wallichi, and some green ones like bacopa, egeria densa.

 

[riioKen]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:01 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

You should do well then.

Right now I'm using a inline diffuser for the CO2, do you think that I'll need a CO2 reactor for a 110cm long?

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/22/2023 at 1:31 AM, riioKen said:

Right now I'm using an inline diffuser for the CO2, do you think that I'll need a CO2 reactor for a 110cm long?

I would recommend a reactor with larger tanks. I used a reactor on my 75 after trying inline. It was difficult to keep CO2 even and consistent with the inline diffuser. 
 

i use a Yugang reactor on my 120 and it’s the best thing I’ve ever tried. I wouldn’t use anything other than a Yugang reactor going forward, big tank or small.

[MattyM]

Tip: Take some of the Oase bio media (or whatever you plan on using) and put it in your 20g to start growing some bacteria. 

[riioKen]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:47 PM, MattyM said:

Take some of the Oase bio media

I removed the media provided by oase, I filled the Biomaster full of Seachem Matrix, put at the top a foam and the Seachem purigen 250ml. Thanks for the tip.