Stocking advice for 80L Tank

[adamzam15]

Hi all,

I have had tanks in the past, but its been so long I am pretty much a beginner again!

I have the superfish home 85 (80 litre tank) the internal size is roughly 60cmX30cmX44.2cm. I have pulled out the filter box/cover that they have inside after reading how some owners had smaller fish get trapped in it. I have an internal filter with 540 L/H capacity. I also have a heater that is doing a good job at keeping the tank at a nice stable temp. The lighting is what comes built-in, quite low at 22w LED.

The tank has a plant substrate covered in black sand. I have planted it pretty well with plants that will survive with the lighting.

I have been going through various ideas on how to stock it, trying to make sure it is not overstocked. I have used various calculators such as AqAdvisor along with asking the advice of all the LFS. The stocking I get on the calculator and the stocking I get advised are totally different. All of the LFS seem to suggest more stocking than the online calc. I know they could be trying to sell, but these shops all seem to say the same, and a couple are known to be honest and sincere. They even advised me against certain things.

This is what I have been advised by the stores, which I originally thought was overstocked. Please could someone advise and if required suggest something for me along these lines? I would really like to have some good cleanup crew along with fish/shrimp/snails at all levels of the tank. I will put a star next to the ones that are of the highest interest to me.

* Rummynose tetra x6 (I originally thought more would be better, but have been told 6 is enough)
Copper harlequin rasboras x6
* Honey Gourami x3
Otos x6
* Amano Shrimp x2
* RC Shrimp 10-15
a couple of nerite snails

Thank you a lot to everyone in advance.

[DuzMano]

What are your water parameters - hardness and ph etc as that's arguably most important on what you should or shouldn't stock ...

[Stephen]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

One of the most important things which dictates which fish are suitable is your water hardness (GH).
Once we know what your water hardness is then we can advise on stocking.

[DuzMano]

Yes, sorry, I forgot, welcome to the fold...

[Martinspuddle]

Greetings & welcome to

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
All the fish are soft water fish, the cherry shrimp are hardwater shrimp, you'd need crystal reds for soft. (This is why your water hardness is important - to cut down on possible problems)
As the tank is only 2' long I would suggest that rummies are too active for anything smaller than 3' (you could have more in a bigger tank as well ).

[adamzam15]

Thank you all for the welcome and replies.

My PH is 8. As for GH, that is a big problem for me as it seems very hard. I found that on the tests it is approx 20ppm. Looking on the water supplier website for my area they state:
Calcium: 148 mg/l
Total Hardness: 370 mg/l
Total hardness is usually expressed in terms of calcium carbonate and is measured in milligrammes per litre (mg/l) which is the same as parts per million (ppm). The recognised classification scheme we are using is: 0-75 soft, 76-150 moderately hard, 151-300 hard, 300+ very hard. Your water is very hard.

I am going to use a pillow softener in the short-term, but I have been looking at ro/di units. Any advice on all of this is much appreciated.

[Gingerlove05]

Dont bother with the pillow softener. They “soften” water through ion exchange, so it doesn’t actually remove any of the hard water minerals.
Ro/di is the only way i know you can really soften water, that or rain water but it depends then on where you live with regards to water the water would pick up in air (industrial fumes etc).
If you do go the ro/di route make sure you mix the water to the same levels each time (same ph, hardness etc) to avoid fluctuations and issues

[adamzam15]

Thanks for the heads up gingerlove! I’ve ordered the RO/DI unit and I will add seachen equilibrium to it. I’m planning to resolve hardness issue before adding any fish.

[VikingMummy2015]

I agree with Plankton (it’s generally wise to!) that it’s not really long enough for rummies. Harleys are also really very active swimmers and the ones I used to have got quite territorial and nippy with each other even in a 240L tank. Something like hengeli or espei might be a better option if you’re set on the look. But you’ll need to figure out what sort of hardness you can reliably replicate for each water change (I did try raising my hardness once as my kids were desperate for some endlers, but just the tiniest thing had massive effects and I just couldn’t keep it stable). Even now, with a few years experience under my belt, I’m loath to mess around with my water chemistry at all.