Upgrade from 60l to 200l! Stocking advise pls!

[ChrisJ]

Hi all,

I used to post a bit on the old forum and have migrated over here.

Received delivery yesterday of my crazy induced lockdown purchase. A 2nd hand Roma 200!

I currently have in my 60l 5 platy's & 1 guppy & there are 8 platy fry that I saved in a grow out tank. These will all be moving to the 200.

I am grateful for any stocking ideas. I really want an angel but have London hard water.

Also the tank did not come with a heater or filter, so I am looking at the Fluval U4, but wonder if a better idea is to get an external?
Only thing that's put me off is the idea of water going outside of the tank and I would have to cut holes in the Roma lid.

Thanks in advance!

[VikingMummy2015]

That’s a pain it’s not predrilled like the 240. I definitely prefer an external filter as they’re larger so more media, can size up for bigger turnover and easier to get to for maintenance, as well as leaving the tank clutter free. Is it an option to just not use the back lid section? Sort of a semi lidded tank? I’ve been leaving my flaps off and the lights pushed back whilst trying to catch my pesky Cory.

[Gingerlove05]

Hello and welcome Chris
Pretty sure I recognise the username

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
What sort of fish would you like, and can you find out exactly how hard the water is from the supplier's website?

[Stephen]

Hi Chris and welcome

Which part of the country do you live as your water hardness will determine which fish are best suited to your water.
As previously mentioned, can you find out exactly how hard the water is from the supplier's website?

[ChrisJ]

@VikingMummy2015 I prefer covered tbh. If an external is much more preferable, I may have a go at hacking the lid. Being 2nd hand It wouldn't pain me so much but scared that I would make a hash of it!

@Gingerlove05 Thank you


@plankton After typing in my postcode I get:

Total hardness 272.5 mg/l
Degrees German 15.26
Degrees English 19.075

PH from the tap looks to be about 7.4

I love livebearers, have predominantly kept them but would like to try something else with them.
Unfortunately most of the fish I would like, I don't think I can have. Angels, rummy nose tetra, gourami.
A tank with lots of colour would be good. I would like to include a centrepiece & schooling fish & rather more small to medium size fish than large.
Not sure if that helps but many thanks!

[plankton]

Ok, it's too hard really for any of the softwater fish long-term, but you could look at cockatoo apistos who seem to be able to take hard water (you could have one male and two or three females in a 200l).
There used to be someone who lived in Wallington, and the water was just as hard there he bred them before he went back to Australia.
What livebearers have you kept before? Have you tried limias and goodieds - they're different?
Rainbows would also be ok, if it's a 4' tank then you could have boesemani, blue or red.
I think you'd just about get away with a bristlenose catfish for the lower areas, even at that hardness they are pretty adaptable.

[Staffylover]

Hi, I have a similar water hardness to this, don't see why you couldn't have a pair of Lace Gourami? The Boesemani rainbow is also a nice fish but more active than the Gourami, for something smaller how about Black Widow Tetra still deep in the body, very peaceful and not all that active there is a white colour morph which is pretty, instead of rummy nose how about glass bloodfin tetra? similar shape and able to take hard water, I don't know much about livebearers so can't help there, there are some nice dwarf cichlids if you wanted a more confident fish, my Kribs are always at the front of the tank.

[ChrisJ]

@plankton I have tried platys, guppies & mollies before. I do like the look of male endlers. But maybe they will get too lost in the tank.

@Staffylover Yes to Lace Gourmai! & maybe some dwarf cichlids/Cockatoo apistos. Bloodfin tetra look nice too.!

Many thanks for your suggestions guys.

Spent today giving the tank a good clean. There are a few more scratches than I would like some deep, mostly at the bottom at the front, but once I get the aquarium full of water I am sure they will be less noticeable. You don't really notice them now, unless you are eye level with the scratches.

I went for a 2nd hand tank to save some money.. but now I am looking at the external filters with heating combined and tropica soil £££!

[Andys temperate tank]

Nothing wrong with a 2nd hand tank Chris. My big one is. No one has ever noticed any scratches and theres a couple of canny ones.