Stock levels

[billabong1985]

Hello, I'm a relatively new fishkeeper, had a tank for about 6 months and looking for some advice on stock levels

My tank is a 90 litre Fluval Roma with internal filter, I currently have 5 bronze corys, 1 red robin gourami, 1 green neon tetra (our first fish were a school of 10, but an ich outbreak took out all but 1 of them after a week and it put me off getting any more), 10-12 amano shrimp, and as of last weekend, 2 panda garras

The Panda Garras were a bit of an impulse purchase on a recommendation from the staff at my LFS after a discussion about algae eaters, I decided to just get 2 to be cautious about stocking levels, but I've since been reading up on them and everything I've seen says they should either be kept alone, or in groups or 4+ to reduce squabbling as they get bigger. So on the one hand I'm thinking I should get a couple more to make sure they get continue to get along (and because I really like them!), but I don't want to overload the tank, so trying to figure out which is the right way to go

I have been on the aqadvisor.com site and that suggests that adding 2 more panda garra would be OK, albeit probably at about the limit for my tank, but I don't really know how realistic their calculations are

[fr499y]

I wouldn't as panda garra need high flow well oxygenated water, which gourami's certainly wouldn't appreciate.
Then theres the water differences between the two species. Personally I would try to rehome/take back the garra's and look into why you have algae than add something to eat it ( If you have any in the first place ).

Oh, and welcome to

[billabong1985]

Thanks for the reply, I have the internal filter running with the venturi and the garras seem happy enough currently, they're constantly on the move (I've caught them doing laps of the filter and heater multiple times), and the Gourami is mooching about like usual. What water differences do you mean?

I've been getting a lot of black beard algae recently, mostly on the artificial plants I have in the tank (I've got a mix of live and artificial ones), I've removed the worst culprit from the tank which particular seemed to be a real magnet for it, soaked them all in a cleaning solution to kill it off, and reduced the amount of time the lights are on based on recommendation from my LFS to try and stop it coming back so much (previously had them on 08:30-19:30 so we could see the fish clearly during kiddo's waking hours, now changed it to 13:00-21:00 as we're not in the lounge for long in the mornings before school anyway and at I get to see them more in the evenings now so win win)

The chap I was speaking to at LFS recommended the Panda Garras for me to help with the black beard and seemed confident that they'd do fine in my setup, and a friend who has had aquariums for years reckoned that with the venturi running it should be enough flow for them

[fr499y]

Water parameters, but thinking about it the red robin is a type of 'man made' thick lipped gourami, so would be ok in the same waters as the garra. Long term the garra will do better in a group of 5 or more in a 4ft minimum tank

[billabong1985]

Yeah the Gourami doesn't seem fazed by much, we have relatively hard water (I think about 7.4) which according to some info i've looked up would be a bit high for gourami, but it doesn't seem to care

My tank is 2ft long and I have neither the space or funds to upgrade (plus the wife would kill me, it was already a negotiation to get a 90 litre rather than a 40 litre!) so I guess not the perfect environment, but I don't think I could return them or rehome them easily, and I've honestly gotten quite attached to the 2 I have as they're really fun to watch. I'm still unsure whether to get them a couple more friends or just stick with the 2 and hope they don't squabble

[Martinspuddle]

Greetings & welcome to

[Stephen]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

we have relatively hard water (I think about 7.4) which according to some info i've looked up would be a bit high for gourami.

That is your pH (pH7.4) and not the water hardness.
Which is your nearest town as the hardness can be looked up ?

[billabong1985]

Oh of course, sorry getting myself mixed up. I'm in Cambridgeshire, which is apparently a hard water area, one website just says over 200ppm, another says over 276ppm

[Martinspuddle]

Oh of course, sorry getting myself mixed up. I'm in Cambridgeshire, which is apparently a hard water area, one website just says over 200ppm, another says over 276ppm

Looking up Cambridge Water they have the same levels for their water as Southern water for North Kent, with hardness listed as 200+ mg/l as calcium carbonate.

[billabong1985]

Tbh water hardness has never come up before when I've discussed fish choices with my LFS, as long as my amonia/nitrate/nitrite are all good. I always figured that since they operate in the same area, their stock must be acclimatised to this area's water