Hi there
OK think I mentioned sometime ago I was planning on getting a fish tank, well I did so a couple of months back:
The details are:
Juwel 190
Pump upgraded to the 1000 ecoflow from the 600
Also added the surface skimmer as well
Also added a large sponge filter (temporary whilst tank cycles, will be replaced with a smaller item or just an air stone.
Live plants
Current stock is 6x Molly and 3x Platy fish.
The tank was setup to cycle fishless, water added, some food for a week, then living plants, then a few days later we visited Abyss in Stockport who adviced we could skip cycling with a bottle of bacteria, I was rather doubtful but they gave a good sales pitch, so the stock above was added.
I did then run into Ammonia and Nitrite issues, using Seachem Prime and Stability has helped along with daily water changes, then a week ago someone local gave me their used filter material, since putting this in my ammonia and nitrite are now zero.
My water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10-20ppm
PH: 7.2-7.4
Temp: 25-26c
A fish in cycle has been tough work and though I feared I might lose one of the Dalmation Mollies as they looked sad/stressed but did continue feeding, now all the fish are looking very happy, active and love their food so hoping no causalities.
These fish have been in the tank around a month now, I am gonna give it another 1-2 weeks before adding additional stock and this week I plan on adding more live plants.
My question is, what other types of fish can I safely add that are compatible with my current stocking and water parameters and quite hardy please? I would like at least 1-2 larger fish, that of course won't eat current stocking or anything smaller I may get.
I did consider Dwarf Gurami but reports online seem to suggest they are not that hardy and can die quite easily. Also looked at Tetras like Neon, Lemon and/or Diamond. would have loved a red tail shark but I know thats a no no as they do get aggressive when bigger and my Mrs says a big no to Silver Dollars as of course they will eat all the plants.
So any ideas or recommendations please, I also don't want to overstock the tank, its 190l with 9 small fish at present, so I guess if I want to keep it lightly stocked then maybe another 10 fish or so max, I also don't want anything that grows massive as though I do have plans for another 400-600l tank that may not happen for several months yet.