Shiny new tank!!

[Ric]

So after I've done my cycling I'm looking at...

6 x cardinal tetra
6x galaxy rasbora
1 x agassiz cichlid
1x double red cockatoo cichlid
maybe some Indian glassfish and a orange and black bristlenose.

I really love black lyretail Mollies and sunburst/red wagtail platys but I dont think I can have them with moderately soft water? :/ lot of people I know who have had fish for years tell me not to bother worrying about the water hardness thing but I dont want to be cruel to the fish.

As far as your fish are concerned, you are right about the livebearers - mollies, platties, … need hard water in order to thrive.
With your list - the Agassiz and the cockatoo are both types of apistogramma chichlid, so you may need to have a pair for them to tolerate each other in one tank - plus a back-up plan, if they decide to breed or decide they do not like each other. @Gingerlove05 has a few stories to tell, when it comes to apistos.

The only other thought is whether your galaxy rasboras may be too small and would end up as snacks for the apisto(s)..

Good time now to do the research and to play around with options

[Gingerlove05]

Yeah my Cacs have kept us on our toes, either as Ric has said by breeding, and females have got hyper aggressive and battered the male, or the males have decided to eat the young/eggs so females batter them for that.
Males generally will also fight each other if kept in too close a proximity, and one ends up badly injured or killed.
This would be a similar sort of issues you would likely have, having 2 different species of apisto/cichlid in one tank without enough room/territories for them.
And as Ric said i’m not sure if the galaxies would end up as a snack, i had some signifer rainbows that i’m sure ended up as lunch for my one male apisto....once he decided he was now big enough to eat them...
Either way i would pick either the cactuoides or aggassizi to be on the safe side.

[Beckins]

OOhhh so many troubles picking fish haha! Just when i think ive cracked it! So i think i like the double red cockatoo cich best if i had to pick between them, would it be ok just to have one? Or would i need two. I dont really want babies! Have you any other suggestions of brightly coloured soft water fishies i could consider?

So my ammonia came today and i have added 2ppm to my tank (checked with the api freshwater kit) along with some interpet quick safe start and turned my temp up to 30 just for the cycling. Should i add any more of the safe start stuff during the cycle?

Bit miffed though, planned to order my fish from The Trop Co once i was cycled, had been enjoying just browsing the site looking at all the fish i could get and they have closed their website for now to catch up with orders Guess im going to have to keep adding ammonia for a bit once im cycled until they open up again and i can order! Are there any other reputable sites i could order from does anyone know?

[Andys temperate tank]

OOhhh so many troubles picking fish haha! Just when i think ive cracked it! So i think i like the double red cockatoo cich best if i had to pick between them, would it be ok just to have one? Or would i need two. I dont really want babies! Have you any other suggestions of brightly coloured soft water fishies i could consider?

So my ammonia came today and i have added 2ppm to my tank (checked with the api freshwater kit) along with some interpet quick safe start and turned my temp up to 30 just for the cycling. Should i add any more of the safe start stuff during the cycle?

Bit miffed though, planned to order my fish from The Trop Co once i was cycled, had been enjoying just browsing the site looking at all the fish i could get and they have closed their website for now to catch up with orders Guess im going to have to keep adding ammonia for a bit once im cycled until they open up again and i can order! Are there any other reputable sites i could order from does anyone know?

I cant help with the dwarf cichlids, maybe you have an LFS that is delivering?

[Gingerlove05]

OOhhh so many troubles picking fish haha! Just when i think ive cracked it! So i think i like the double red cockatoo cich best if i had to pick between them, would it be ok just to have one? Or would i need two. I dont really want babies! Have you any other suggestions of brightly coloured soft water fishies i could consider?

So my ammonia came today and i have added 2ppm to my tank (checked with the api freshwater kit) along with some interpet quick safe start and turned my temp up to 30 just for the cycling. Should i add any more of the safe start stuff during the cycle?

Bit miffed though, planned to order my fish from The Trop Co once i was cycled, had been enjoying just browsing the site looking at all the fish i could get and they have closed their website for now to catch up with orders Guess im going to have to keep adding ammonia for a bit once im cycled until they open up again and i can order! Are there any other reputable sites i could order from does anyone know?

The double red is the colouration pattern.
Single red - dorsal fin patterned
Double red - dorsal and tail patterned
Triple red - dorsal, tail and anal fin coloured
Quadruple red (pretty rare) - dorsal, tail, anal and pectoral fins patterned
Orange flash - bright orange colour in fins no pattern

You can also get gold bodied variations.
I’ve had/got triple red (Bubba, see pics:D), orange (Females and fry), quadruple red/orange (Jayne, Bubba’s son) and gold double red (Mor’du).
Jayne was massive! Bubba was only a little smaller. Mor’du is smaller than both, small enough we though he was a female for quite some time, Jayne did batter him once or twice when we were going through that confusion.
But the reason i have cacs is because they are happy in my hard water unlike many of the other dwarfs

There’s not much point adding the quick/safe start while your adding ammonia, as they are designed for a small number of fish the bacteria get overwhelmed/killed off above 1ppm ammonia.
I’d keep it until you add your fish just to help give the filter a boost when adding them

Bubba (triple red):


Jayne (quadruple red/orange, note the pattern on the pectoral fins):






Mor’du (gold body, double red):


Orange fry:

[Beckins]

Andy-I dont have many places around where i live in Devon. The only close places are Pets at home and Maidenhead aquatics at a garden centre and they dont deliver . See there is a few places to order online but they all seem super expensive compared to Tropco :/.

Ginger-Thanks for that info i didnt know that about the single, double triple etc! Your fishies are lovely Are they more for hard water too rather than soft like mine then? Would one on his own in my community tank be happy?

[Gingerlove05]

No they’re naturally soft water, but cacs are much more adaptable to hard water conditions.
A single male would probably be fine, just keep an eye on them incase they decide any smaller tank mates are lunch though...

[Ric]

btw @Beckins - love your avatar pic!

[plankton]

I was going to suggest Trimar (they're relatively close in Cambourne), but their website is down as well.....

[Beckins]

No they’re naturally soft water, but cacs are much more adaptable to hard water conditions.
A single male would probably be fine, just keep an eye on them incase they decide any smaller tank mates are lunch though...

They're only dwarfs though so they dont grow overly big, surely they wouldnt be big enough to eat the smaller fishes?