Hi all, i've been having a look into what types of fish i can get in my new tank once it's ready to go and the cycle is up and running.

I seem to have soft / acidic water and have so far come up with the following fish that i like the look of.

Can anyone advise on the suitability of having these species in the same tank? Any in a similar vein that i have missed that may be a better choice?

Think some are a bit rarer than others and I stuck the Angel in there as i'd like to get at least one fish in there that's a bit different, realise they grow a bit big, etc though.

Tank is 125 litres (80 x 35 x 45 cm)

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Neon Tetras
Lemon Tetras
Cardinal Tetras
Harlequin Rasboras
Chilli Rasboras
red line torpedo barbs
Cherry barb
Golden Zebra Danios
Glowlight Danios
Angel Fish


List of fish that i might like to have in the tank:

Hi

Most of the fish you've selected will do well in your water and with your tank size apart from a couple of exceptions.

As you've already hinted, Angelfish are going to be too big for the tank, though one single Angel will probably be OK. The problem then is that some of your other choices won't be compatible with the Angel - Neons, Cardinals, Chili Rasboras, Harlequins because they are small enough for the Angel to regard as food when it gets bigger.

Danios (both types) aren't really suitable as they are temperate rather than true tropical fish and have a maximum safe temperature of only 24C, (preferably a little cooler) which is too low for most of your other choices.

Chili Rasboaras don't do well in a general community due to their shy nature and very small size. They are best suited to either a species tank or to a community with other very tiny tank-mates.

The Torpedo Barbs are very fast swimming fish who can reach 6 inches in length so they really need a four foot long tank.

As an alternative to the Angel, how about a single or pair of Thick Lipped Gourami (Trichogaster labiosa), or a pair or trio of Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia) or Honey Gourami (Trichogaster chuna). Honeys are probably better than Dwarves as the Dwarf Gourami has tended to be weaker and susceptible to iridovirus due to poor breeding practices. This would allow you to also keep most of your other choices with the exception of the Danios, Chilis and Torpedo Barbs.

Maybe add a shoal of Cories - Pygmy Cories are great (Corydoras pygmaeus) as they are small and whilst they display typical Cory behaviour they will also swim in a shoal in mid-water and can look stunning when they do so (6 minimum, preferably more).

HTH

Love the Honeys, hadn't seen them and had discounted Gouramis. Some of the YouTube videos have them marked "Gold" - are these a different species or the same Honey Gourami grown adult and more colourful?

My current "wishlist" then is below, with size from caresheets / interwebs in brackets.

Neon Tetras (4cm)
Lemon Tetras (4cm)
Cardinal Tetras (5cm)
Harlequin Rasboras (5cm)
Cherry barb (5cm)
2x Honey Gourami (5cm)

According to the stocking guidlines article i should be looking at roughly 70cm of fish in the tank maximum (eventually, maybe once mature slightly more)?

Will obviously be testing the water, etc as i go along so should be able to gauge this myself but as a rough guide according to this i should be looking at about 14 fish?

Will take a look at the Cories, from the list there which are the hardiest / should be put in first? (Does this matter so much if i complete a fishless cycle?)

From that list I'd probably delete either Neons or Cardinals and have a bigger shoal of one or the other.

I'd start with Cherry Barbs as the hardiest fish, then Harlequins, Honey Gourami, Lemon Tetra, Neons or Cardinals and Cories last over about 3 months.

As all but the Gourami are shoaling you need six at least of each species so I'd be inclined to go for 6 Cherry Barbs, 6 Harlequins, 6 Lemon Tetra, 6 Neons, 1 pair Honey Gourami. That would total 118 cm or 46 inches of fish. At 1 inch per gallon initial and 2 inches max as the tank matures you'd be pretty much fully stocked (125 litres - 10% for substrate = 112 litres or 25 gallons).

Alternatively you could skip one species and add in some Cories or enlarge shoals of the other species which sometimes looks better than numerous small shoals. The Pygmies by the way are only 3cm long. Here's a pic of 3 of mine:

Thanks for your help mate, very much appreciated.
Best video of the pygmies i could find was this one

Looks like it might be something like:

6x Cherry barb (5cm)
6x Harlequin Rasboras (5cm)
2x Honey Gourami (5cm)
6x Neon Tetras (4cm)
8x Pygmy Cory (3cm)

= 118cm

A lot of the pictures / videos seem to vary massively in terms of how colourful the fish can be, is this common or just the result of lighting, camera quality, substrate / background colour etc?

It can certainly be influenced by those things but from personal experience I've found the things that influence colour the most are these:

The right water hardness and pH
The right temperature
Suitable decor - plants for those that need them, hidey holes etc
Good food in the right amounts
Keeping the water clean
Minimising stress by choosing the right tank mates

I've seen fish previously kept in the wrong parameters or with their need for hiding places and planting unmet that have changed dramatically in terms of the depth and vibrance of their colours when things were put right for them.

It completely convinced me on the need to do what you've been doing and research first to be sure the fish you choose can be given the right conditions.

EDIT: Great video of the Pygmies

So.....

Bought an API Master test kit since i was more than aware the strips i had were pretty inaccurate and reckoned they would only give me a bit of an indication.

Ran the PH test to confirm and clarify how acidic the water was and it seems to be pretty much.....

7.5

More than a little disappointed with those strips, it seems rather than giving me a reading it was more like they just couldnt be bothered to change colour enough so stopped somewhere along the way.

Really keen on the Cherry Barbs and the caresheets have them as 6 to 8 PH but looks like i may need to review that nice list that i was delighted to have written.

Camy, is that the tap water reading immediately or when you have left a cup of it to stand for 24 hours?

The two can be very different once dissolved gases/treatments have dispersed.

I've tested tap water twice with the API, once after leaving it standing. Also tested the tank water which seems to be pretty much identical.

Presuming the strip test was just completely redundant so as long as the API Master tests can be trusted it definitley seems to be sat around the 7.5 mark.