Stocking suggestions: planted 3ft "Amazon" biotope

Hi all, so I will hopefully finally get around to setting up my 3ft as a proper planted "Amazon" biotope. I say Amazon, but it's actually rather a loose South American river biotope - I'm not too stressed about getting the exact ecosystem accurate.

What I really would like to achieve is a tank that's great to look at - I'm trying to win my wife over (she's kinda sitting on the fence at the moment) and she likes colourful, pretty fish. The thing is that in Durban it can be difficult to find any fish other than the most common. So, I'm looking for suggestions....

I have 7 existing neon tetras which will go in, will definitely have some corys (probably 6 or 7 bronze corys) and I'm keen to get a single angelfish (I know the 3ft is limiting).

So, any suggestions on South American river fish that are ok for a planted community tank, are fairly easy to find, and above all are very pretty to look at? I know tetras are a good group to choose from, but I'm not too familiar with my options. Thanks!

 

Oh, the other issue is that my tap water is on the hard side, pH around 8, so I know it's not ideal for a South American river...! But it means that I'm looking for hardier species that aren't too pH sensitive - at some point I may set up an RO unit to be able to keep rams, but that's not happening this year...

 

I think Bolivian rams should be ok with your ph. They are the hardier of the rams. I would definitely get some ottocinclus. Their availability seems to be very seasonal though. Lemon tetras are my favourite tets.

 

Haha! I knew you would say that - is it because they are visually striking? Like I said, my wife cares about aesthetics, not personality - with fish that is, with her husband I think she got more of the latter than the former:laugh:

You're getting my hopes up about the bolivian rams - I shall do some serious googling...

 

If you want colourful and pretty you can't do better than South American. Rams, definitely - I'm sure the Bolivians will be fine - and the most visually striking of the tetras are definitely cardinals. Some small, pretty plecos - I love L134 if you can get them. Another school of tetras to contrast with the cardinals - lemons, rummy noses, or some of those deep-bodied pink ones (I don't know their name, but they're quite common). Corys! Hatchets! So many options!

 

@PsyXe thanks for the passionate suggestions! I'm keen for cardinals but I've got a few neons, I assume that mixing cardinals and neons is a big no-no? ok, a bolivian ram pair is firmly on my list..

 

Yeah... Rummy noses are great. I think @PsyXe is talking about Ruby tetras... also a great choice. Good luck with finding female Bolivians, but if you do, please let me know where you found them. I'll be in Durbs in about a month, and will try my luck then.

 

Ok, so you've convinced me about the lemon tetras, and I think I'll go with cardinals as well.. There'll be bronze corys and I'll add a fancy plec in the unlikely event I can find a decently priced one in durban.

Now with the bolivians (if I can get hold of them!), how many do you think I can put in a 3ft? I was just thinking a pair, but with availability issues I'm wondering whether I should get 6, see which ones pair up and then sell the remainder. One source I've seen suggests two pairs in a 100l tank..?

 

Not more than one pair of dwarf cichlids in 100 litres!!

 

Haha! Thought that might be the response! OK cool, sanity check complete, wish I had a bigger tank

 

Problem with tanks : they are ALWAYS to small !!!

 

True!!!

 

So @Broder you convinced me, I ordered myself some lemon tetras and cardinals from @Quakeszn (now only on the other, new forum) and @jc16 - the lemon tetras are active, darting little fish, quite cool! I'll post pics once I transfer them into my main tank this weekend. Also, apparently a lfs (Euro Spirit) has said they can get me bolivian rams, they're getting them this weekend, hopefully I come right.. Nervous about trying to sex them though to try to get a pair.

 

Yes there is a very wide selections of tetras u can choose from @RoGe

 

So I got two bolivian rams yesterday! pretty stoked, I've never seen them in real life before, they're awesome! Euro Spirit ordered some in for me, pretty impressed.. Anyway, I tried my best to pick a male and female, but I think it's unlikely I got it right.. I'll have to wait and see.....

 

So I know it's far too early, but I'm getting my hopes up that I successfully chose a pair. These guys have been alone in the quarantine tank for 36 hours now:

Well, alone except for the ghost shrimp and snails

I haven't seen any aggression between them, they generally stick together. I tried to choose them based on their spawning tubes - neither of them has any elongated spines on the dorsal or filaments on the tail. So I chose one that looked like it had a square tube, and one where I couldn't see a tube at all and also seemed to be one of the more territorial in the lfs tank. Both had very similar colouration when I bought them. This morning, after 36 hours, the one with the square tube has noticeably lighter colours and the other has more vibrant colours. So ja, I'm hoping I have a pair!

I wanted a pair for a better shot at harmony in the tank and a casual interest in raising a spawn or two - they're going into my community tank so I don't have definite plans to breed them.

 

Rams look Beautiful

 

They are gorgeous @RoGe.