So, in light of my recent struggles with algae, and my general frustrations with the hobby, I've decided to take a somewhat drastic step and buy a larger tank. My current tank has to go in the conservatory because I don't have any furniture strong enough to take the weight, other than the massive sideboard in the conservatory, which is too big to go in any other room. The tank's also a bit small, which limits what I can keep in it, so I have now bought a Fluval Roma 125L tank to go in the front room, where it will get a lot less sunlight. It's also over double the size of my current tank, and that means... more fish!
My water is 6.64°D (118ppm) and the pH is about 7.6. My tap water has nitrates in the 20-40 region.
I'll close down my current tank and move its inhabitants across once the 125L is up and running. I would assume that I'm going to have to fully cycle the new tank first, and I can't just transfer everything from the old tank across to make life easier?
My current tank contains:
7 panda corydoras
1 cockatoo apisto (m)
10 amano shrimp
I would like to add a clown pleco. I think they're more interesting than the bristlenose from when I've seen them in pet shops, but the community creator here tells me that they're too big to be mixed with the panda corys. It doesn't say the same for the bristlenose plec, even though that grows to be bigger than the clown. Can someone explain what the problem would be with the clown pleco? From the profile descriptions here and elsewhere, I can't see anything that stands out as a reason for it to be problematic.
I would also like a group of shoaling fish to inhabit the upper regions of the tank. Some sort of tetra is the obvious choice, but I went for the rummy nose first and then got told that it's also too small to co-exist with the clown pleco, then my second choice was the glowlight and I got the same message! Again, my question about the clown pleco comes up, are they really so problematic? I like the clown pleco enough that I'd choose other shoaling fish that were compatible, so if anyone's got a good suggestion for a shoal that'd work fine with my tank, I'm all ears.
Then there's the matter of the cockatoo. He was bought with a female mate, but she died and he's been along ever since. He doesn't appear to be unhappy, he's moving around fine, eating well and he's a good colour, so should I bring in another female, or can I leave him on his own?
With my current bunch, a clown plec and a dozen rummy nose tetras, I'm stocked to about 55% so there's still room for more. Does anyone have any suggestions for compatible fish, or should I be looking to make the shoal bigger, and go up to 16-20 fish?