Advice On Stocking My Tank

Hi Luke,

Congrats with your progress so far in the fishless cycle.

I've had a very quick skim back at your previous posts to remind me what your water hardness is, and I see that it's very soft although you were planning to try some different options. What did you ultimately opt for (ie coral gravel, limestock rock, etc) and what are your KH and GH readings?  This is really just to check whether your current proposed selection of fish are still suitable for whatever your KH and GH readings are now, or whether you'd be best to remove any of the "hardening" decor.

Male bettas / Siamese fighter fish generally aren't good community fish ie they're better kept in a tank of their own.

As for 5 glowlight tetras and 5 neon tetras, I reckon these alone will overstock your tank or push it close to full stocking capacity. Have you used the Community Creator plus the Fish Profiles section? If you input your tank dimensions and capacity (41 litres), then add these fish in your proposed numbers, you'll see what the stocking capacity is. You'd be best with one of these two species, even if you can increase the number a little - they tend to fare better in larger numbers. [Edited to add: I've just gone into the Community Creator and both of these fish actually require a minimum tank length of 60cm, so your tank would be considered too small for them to fare well unless it's this length which I don't think is possible with that volume?]

As for the other fish you mention, mollies require hard water and a bigger tank. As for catfish, pygmy/habrosus/hastatus are probably best for your size of tank but you'd need to take into account stocking capacity (ie there may not be room for them).

[Edited to add, in light of above edit: You might be best to consider the micro species of fish for your size of tank eg ember tetras, micro rasboras, celestial pearl danios, microdevario kubotai, tiny cory catfish mentioned above - all are suitable for soft water. Endlers are suitable for hard water. All of these species fare best in larger numbers - generally 10+.]

Hope this helps.

thanks for the advice so far by no means is this the dream list its just what popped out at me when i had a quick visit to the local shop.

the only fish me and the wife were dead set on is the fighter its too stunning not to have one  however if its going to cause problems with having other fish then it will have to be scrapped, maybe you know of something else to have as a stand out fish ?

as i will not be able to visit the store for a few days could you recommend some shoaling fish that would work for me to take a look at i would love a tank that was busy but not overcrowded

and last off i will go test the water hardness levels again and edit the first post with the results when i can.

@fcmf thanks i have been taking a look at those after i last posted and yes looks like i will have to scrap the fighter till the wife lets me buy a bigger tank 

the celestial pearl danio you mentioned are stunning would i be able to mix these with another fish or just have the 1 type?

Sue posted this time while I was typing, so I've deleted my first paragraph which overlaps with hers.

One point to bear in mind is that fish tend to display more natural/striking behaviour in larger groups. Therefore, as well as the micro species doing better in numbers of 10+ (thriving and living longer), having 15-18 as Sue suggests for CPDs is a better option than trying to squeeze in two smaller-sized shoals.

One point to bear in mind is that some fish can look dull in the LFS but colour up stunningly once settled into their home environment - YouTube has videos of different species of fish in action.

I've actually "resurrected" a thread about "endearing features of fishkeeping" - do have a look at it as it illustrates how different aspects can make fish "stand out" ie their behaviour can be more interesting than necessarily the colours.

You'll probably find that whatever species you choose will have its own endearing features, and very possibly ones like I and others mention in that thread. Also, the more of a particular species you have, the more likely you are to find these endearing features displayed.

Check out the Fish Profiles - select 'celestial pearl danios' and click on the option to add it to your fishtank. Further down on the left hand side will be the opportunity to add in the tank's length (43cm) and its volume (41 litres). That should give you an idea of what percentage of your stocking capacity is used, once you increase the numbers of fish in your tank. Do the same with the Axelrods Rasbora or the species of cory catfish suggested. Many of the smaller fish suggested are the same size as these, so this gives an idea of how many you could put in the tank.

Hope that helps.

Female fighters can be as bad as males, unfortunately. And again, same problems as males in that they need warmer water than most other fish can cope with full time; and suitable tankmates for an Edge would have to be small enough to be eaten or at least chased. And fish that are chased all the time get stressed, and stressed fish get sick much more easily.



A shoal of pygmy cories would take up about half your stocking allowance. This species of cory does need to be kept in big groups. And a few of us have found they just die for no apparent reason - I am now down to 2 pygmies and 1 habrosus cory (salt & pepper catfish on here). They should also be added to a tank after it has been running a few months, not immediately after cycling. Some species, including the dwarf cories, need a tank which has grown many different types of micro-organism, not just the ones that 'eat' ammonia and the nitrite made from it.
Of the 3 dwarf cory species - pygmy, habrosus and hastatus - pygmies are the ones you are most likely to find in shops.



Sundadanios are slightly bigger that Boraras brigittae - I've had both - so you wouldn't be able to have as many of them. But the CC says you could have 10 cpds and 10 Sundadanios, though it would be wise to get just one shoal to start with then add half the other shoal after a month followed by the second half shoal a week later. I don't like putting over 75% stocking in immediately after cycling, I'd prefer to add the rest once I know the tank is coping - ie no trace of ammonia or nitrite.
You will also need lots of plants, real or fake, and other pieces of decor as these small fish tend to be timid. If they know there are places to hide they'll come out more. In a bare tank, they'll all huddle in a corner behind the heater.




If this was my tank, and assuming soft water, 10 each of 2 out of cpds, B. brigittae and Sundadanios; and a few red cherry shrimps.

@Sue would this be suitable ? also how many is a few when it comes to those red cherry  shrimp they look stunning btw will definitely be adding those.