Community Planning - Please assist

[Wes Mosher]

Been busy with reef tanks for a couple years and have forgotten much
about the freshwater side and therefore am looking for some advice.

I plan to setup a peaceful community tank with some driftwood and some
of the easier plants such as java fern, java moss, Anubias barteri,
Water Sprite, and Vallisneria. I have compiled a stocking list for
this aquarium:

6x Carnegiella strigata Marble Hatchetfish
6x Melanotaenia praecox Neon Rainbow

3x Xiphophorus helleri Velvet Swordtail
2x Colisa lalia Dwarf Gourami

8x Nematobrycon palmeri Emporer Tetra
6x Aphyocharax anisitsi Bloodfin Tetra
8x Paracheirodon innesi Neon Tetra

2x ??? Small South American Cichlid

3x Otocinclus affinis Otto
8x Corydoras adolfoi Adolfo Cory

My questions:

1 - What size tank should I be aiming for with this list of fish?
2 - What cichlid would work the best here if any?
3 - Any thoughts, or things I haven't thought about with this setup?

Thanks for your time and help.

[Jim Brown]

Wes Mosher > wrote in message
om...
> Been busy with reef tanks for a couple years and have forgotten much
> about the freshwater side and therefore am looking for some advice.
>
> I plan to setup a peaceful community tank with some driftwood and some
> of the easier plants such as java fern, java moss, Anubias barteri,
> Water Sprite, and Vallisneria. I have compiled a stocking list for
> this aquarium:
>
> 6x Carnegiella strigata Marble Hatchetfish
> 6x Melanotaenia praecox Neon Rainbow
>
> 3x Xiphophorus helleri Velvet Swordtail
> 2x Colisa lalia Dwarf Gourami
>
> 8x Nematobrycon palmeri Emporer Tetra
> 6x Aphyocharax anisitsi Bloodfin Tetra
> 8x Paracheirodon innesi Neon Tetra
>
> 2x ??? Small South American Cichlid
>
> 3x Otocinclus affinis Otto
> 8x Corydoras adolfoi Adolfo Cory
>
> My questions:
>
> 1 - What size tank should I be aiming for with this list of fish?
> 2 - What cichlid would work the best here if any?
> 3 - Any thoughts, or things I haven't thought about with this setup?
>
> Thanks for your time and help.

If the cycling was properly completed, and your tapwater and filtration are
adequate for this selection, you might get by with a 50 gallon but a 65 or
larger would be better. Don't add all the fish at once-split it up into 3
or 4 weekly additions after cycling. Probably the best would be rams or one
of the smiling acara's, Laetacara spp. Some of your fish are known for
their tenderness at the start. I suggest a quarantine tank be used.

Jim