Gloomy-pickle Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 So once my tank is cycled and my parameters are stable and my plants root out I plan on stocking this thing. And I was curious as to what I should get for the bottom water column. I was thinking some kind of Cory or like 6 khuli loaches. Next I was thinking like ten neon tetras and finally a female Betta. (It will be heavily planted for what I'm going to be stocking) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Looks nice! Your plan could work. Everyone has different preferences and different experiences. Is your water hard or soft? A planted tank with wood leeching tannins tends to skew soft, and pH will tend to slowly lower unless you add a buffer. Just musing about how that might affect species selection. Green laser corys are nice if you can order them… The smaller Green Neon Tetras that are coming out tend to do better for me than the bulkier normal Neon Tetras… You might like a male Betta imbellis. They’re a fascinating “swamp fish.” I kept a green one awhile… 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I guess you have aquasoil. I want to mention that I personally had issues keeping cories on aquasoil, or better to say any bottom that is hard to keep "clean" whether it is based on the substrate and/or based on the "dirtiness" of other fish. Both gold lasers as a grow out in the super red BN breeding tank and pygmy cories in my full aquasoil tank started to have bacterial issues gradually. I mean, pygmys having issues after a year, Im not talking about a short term effect but rather keeping them on aquasoil on a long term. However my sterbais who have a partial aquasoil in their tank does not seem to have issues, the majority of the tank is fine sand. Just a fair warning for cories. In my experience cories need a clean bottom to do well in the long term meanwhile majority of other bottom dwellers I keep don't seem to care it as much as they do. I personally find it hard to keep aquasoil clean. In addition, I tried pygmy cories with my female betta and gradually I had issues. I personally don't believe pygmys are a good option for bettas based on my experience. Maybe their wiggling, the way they move triggers the betta? Idk. I know the betta's character matters but my female is not aggressive really in general. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomy-pickle Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 On 1/10/2024 at 6:14 AM, Fish Folk said: Looks nice! Your plan could work. Everyone has different preferences and different experiences. Is your water hard or soft? A planted tank with wood leeching tannins tends to skew soft, and pH will tend to slowly lower unless you add a buffer. Just musing about how that might affect species selection. Green laser corys are nice if you can order them… The smaller Green Neon Tetras that are coming out tend to do better for me than the bulkier normal Neon Tetras… You might like a male Betta imbellis. They’re a fascinating “swamp fish.” I kept a green one awhile… I have really hard water. I tested from the tap and my ph test shockingly maxed out so I tested high range pH and even more shockingly it maxed to 8.8 (I guess people in Missouri with cichlids love it) but after fertilizer and wood doing its thing as well as the fluval stratum it's dropped to about 7.0 to 6.5 I'm hoping it just kinda sits around that as I finally planted my pearlweed! Also those are gorgeous. I showed my old lady khuli loaches and she just kinda fell in love with the little noodles. I think I'll still ere on the female Betta just in case of it's temperament I know females are much "Betta" behaved. But I'll definitely consider the green neon tetra! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomy-pickle Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 On 1/10/2024 at 7:19 AM, Lennie said: I guess you have aquasoil. I want to mention that I personally had issues keeping cories on aquasoil, or better to say any bottom that is hard to keep "clean" whether it is based on the substrate and/or based on the "dirtiness" of other fish. Both gold lasers as a grow out in the super red BN breeding tank and pygmy cories in my full aquasoil tank started to have bacterial issues gradually. I mean, pygmys having issues after a year, Im not talking about a short term effect but rather keeping them on aquasoil on a long term. However my sterbais who have a partial aquasoil in their tank does not seem to have issues, the majority of the tank is fine sand. Just a fair warning for cories. In my experience cories need a clean bottom to do well in the long term meanwhile majority of other bottom dwellers I keep don't seem to care it as much as they do. I personally find it hard to keep aquasoil clean. In addition, I tried pygmy cories with my female betta and gradually I had issues. I personally don't believe pygmys are a good option for bettas based on my experience. Maybe their wiggling, the way they move triggers the betta? Idk. I know the betta's character matters but my female is not aggressive really in general. Yeah, that's a bummer I just love how cute they are. That's why I'm waiting for my carpet of pearl wood to fill out. I had a dirted tank with a male Betta and some danios a year ago but I rehomed them cause I was moving from FL to MO and I was worried about the stress. But I figured I'd give co2 and carpets a shot. But I showed my old lady khulis and she fell in love. So I'm just waiting till my parameters are stable with zero ammonia or nitrite. Man am I excited. I'm thinking of upgrading my light to a fluval3.0 as well and keeping my aqueon opt-brite + for my next project (she wants an axolotl, but I need her to learn tank maintenance and the nitrogen cycle as it would be her pet. And I know they aren't particularly beginners pets) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 @Gloomy-pickle Welcome to the forum. And good luck with your new tank. How big is your aquarium? Here's my findings on Betta's personalities. I've raised 3 Bettas; 1 female and 2 males. Talk about differences in attitude, wow! My first male was as sweet as can be. Seriously just passive and happy. My 2nd male never acted like he cared for me one bit. He was just a grump and lived alone because of that. My female koi Betta was the sweetest fish EVER. She lived in a community tank with Harlequin Rasboras, Rummy-Nose Tetras and a 2" dwarf Clown Pleco. So you never know how they'll act until you get them home. Something to ponder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomy-pickle Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 On 1/10/2024 at 10:54 AM, Flipper said: @Gloomy-pickle Welcome to the forum. And good luck with your new tank. How big is your aquarium? Here's my findings on Betta's personalities. I've raised 3 Bettas; 1 female and 2 males. Talk about differences in attitude, wow! My first male was as sweet as can be. Seriously just passive and happy. My 2nd male never acted like he cared for me one bit. He was just a grump and lived alone because of that. My female koi Betta was the sweetest fish EVER. She lived in a community tank with Harlequin Rasboras, Rummy-Nose Tetras and a 2" dwarf Clown Pleco. So you never know how they'll act until you get them home. Something to ponder. Yeah I've had three male bettas in my life and the lifetime of my aquarium one was ill-tempered and the other two were just so sweet and I wouldn't go so far as to say they were sweet but they were docile and kind of kept to their own. And it's a 20 gallon long 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 On 1/10/2024 at 10:33 AM, Gloomy-pickle said: Man am I excited. I'm thinking of upgrading my light to a fluval3.0 as well I would never want to curb your excitement. But Kuhli loaches burrow and like a sandy bottom like the Corys do. Kuhlis would keep your aqua soil stirred up which will affect your water parameters. Both prefer a seasoned tank and Kuhlis are considered "intermediate" not a super easy fish, according to sources I read. The good news is you're still working on setting up your tank so you have plenty of time to research your fish ideas and make any changes that would make your tank best suited for the animals you pick. I have the Fluval 3.0 and for my 20 gallon high tank, I keep every color under 50% to keep algae at bay, which suits my low light plants, like cryptocorynes. I'd rather be brutally honest than let you get your heart broke. You're in a perfect position to alter you plans, if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 On 1/10/2024 at 8:54 PM, Flipper said: I would never want to curb your excitement. But Kuhli loaches burrow and like a sandy bottom like the Corys do. Kuhlis would keep your aqua soil stirred up which will affect your water parameters. Both prefer a seasoned tank and Kuhlis are considered "intermediate" not a super easy fish, according to sources I read. Kuhlis surely dig! I keep mine on aquasoil and they love it. Here is a pic I caught. In fact I added some sand to their tank but they remained uninterested at least from what I see. Aquasoil is def the fav of mine But they are very nocturnal and hard to see overall. I had to try these noodles ones and I like them. But if I gotta be honest, they are not great if you have only one display tank and you wanna watch fish often. They are hard to see. My tank offers lots of hidding placest and it is still hard to see them. They are somewhere in this jungle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Well, that's why the forum is so great. We hear different opinions and experiences and it makes us all better aqua keepers. I've never personally kept Kuhlis. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupersoNick95 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 (edited) Cant beat 10-15 Corys, one Apisto and some nice schooling tetras, about 20. That's what I have and it's perfect. I would add slowly as the fish load can shock the system. Considering you have bare aqua soil, the loaches and corys may not be your best bet. I have aqua soil capped with sand and my corys already sift incesantly. They could throw up a ton of aquasoil around lol Edited January 11 by SupersoNick95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomy-pickle Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 On 1/11/2024 at 1:39 PM, SupersoNick95 said: Cant beat 10-15 Corys, one Apisto and some nice schooling tetras, about 20. That's what I have and it's perfect. I would add slowly as the fish load can shock the system. Considering you have bare aqua soil, the loaches and corys may not be your best bet. I have aqua soil capped with sand and my corys already sift incesantly. They could throw up a ton of aquasoil around lol Well I've got my pearlweed in there now, I'm curious if they could damage the carpet on e it's filled out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupersoNick95 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 On 1/11/2024 at 2:45 PM, Gloomy-pickle said: Well I've got my pearlweed in there now, I'm curious if they could damage the carpet on e it's filled out? I dont think they'd damage a carpet as long as it is rooted in there well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 I've heard that neon tetras will fin nip long fin bettas. I don't have personal expense with this though so take that with a grain of salt. I've used uns contrasoil and fluval stratum. Both of those were pretty light and easy for fish to kick around. Corys may uproot newly planted stem plants (before they develop new roots). Neither of those are the end of the world but just a heads up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomy-pickle Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 On 1/11/2024 at 3:53 PM, Schuyler said: I've heard that neon tetras will fin nip long fin bettas. I don't have personal expense with this though so take that with a grain of salt. I've used uns contrasoil and fluval stratum. Both of those were pretty light and easy for fish to kick around. Corys may uproot newly planted stem plants (before they develop new roots). Neither of those are the end of the world but just a heads up. Yeah I still have to wait for my cycle as well but I'm definitely waiting for the pearlweed to root before adding any fish except maybe a female Betta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 On 1/11/2024 at 2:13 PM, Gloomy-pickle said: I'm definitely waiting for the pearlweed to root before adding any fish The other thing will be later when you cut and replant you'll want to make sure you don't feed near the plants or they'll get knocked loose. At least that's been my experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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