# Stocking Ideas for 35 gallon bow front



## gwpatton (Nov 30, 2013)

Hi I am new to this site and as it came highly recommended I thought I would give it a try.

I have just recently purchased a new 35 gallon bow front tank and stand and I am looking for stocking ideas for a beginner community tank.
I was hoping for something with a lot of colour and that would work with a planted tank (I am not into the plastic plants). The tank has been set up and been cycling for the last couple of weeks so it should be ready for stocking anytime now. 

I would appreciate your thoughts on types of fish and quantities of each I can have.

Thanks,
George


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## 35angels (Aug 7, 2012)

Welcome!

I'm currently re-stocking my 30g with a school of Lemon Tetra and a school of Rummy nose tetra. I also plan on either having a pair of Apisto's or kribs.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

HI George, welcome to BCA! For color there is a large variety of Tetra's available to chose from that are very nice to have in planted tanks. In my 33g I have 4 different varieties (Neon, Silvertip, Red eye & Glowlights) in groups of 6 and they are always quite active and add great color to the tank. They are definitely good for beginners and keep active in the mid to upper levels. Fish that dwell closer to the bottom that can be found in different varieties and colors would be Kribs, Apisto's & Rams. Some are a lil more difficult to keep than others, just need to do your research. Also a great algae eater I would recommend would be a BNP aka Bristle nose pleco which you can find in our classifieds for very cheap. They do a great job and are quite active. There are alot of good starter fish to choose from....you should take a look through some of the tank journals members have in the Tank Journals section. As well as the photo gallery section. Might find some inspiration in there


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Welcome to BCA George! I find that cardinal and rummynose tetras as great schooling fish that have lots of color but are also very hardy (after acclimatizing). BN Plecos are also a good addition to a planted tank to keep it free of algae. They are also very resilient. Some rams are also fairly easy to keep: german rams, bolivian rams, etc. 
Plants depend on whether you will be injecting CO2 or whether you will be going the "low-tech" route. We will be able to help you with some species if you let us know which direction you are building your tank for.
Feel free to browse the journals section to see what your fellow members have been working on.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Welcome to BCA! Do you have test kits to see whether or not your tank has any ammonia/nitrites in it? How have you been cycling the tank? It'd be helpful to know if it was fully cycled before adding fish because some fish are quite susceptible to ammonia!


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

welcome to BCA George  

For the middle-top portion of your tank, I would say hatchet fish, any tetras, haliquin rasboras, or Danios.. 

For the bottom, as others said, Apistos, rams and plecos will look great.. I personally recommend Bolivian rams for the beginners as it is hardier than other rams and apistos... I still consider myself beginner though lol.. 

the best advice that I've got from many expert here is to educate yourself about fishes that you will get.. It certainly works for guys like me  

There are so many experts on any area (African Cichlids, shrimps, to planted tank) here and they won't hesitate to help you


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## gwpatton (Nov 30, 2013)

Thanks for all the great advice everyone.

At the moment I am thinking low-tech for the plants.

I was following instructions from How to Cycle a Fish Tank on how to cycle my tank. I had a couple of rescue convicts that worked out nicely (which I have now found new homes for as I am not a fan of them... they actually multiplied while I was letting the tank cycling and I was on vacation.) The ammonia and nitrite readings are zero so I assume that means the tank is good to go.

I have been skimming over the site and doing a lot reading... it is a bit overwhelming.

I think I would like to stock the tank with

6-8 each of 2 kinds of Tetras 
(not sure how many I can have 3-4?) Danios
1 BNP
3-5 albino cory catfish (I really love the look of these so they are a must)

Am I overloading the tank? Or is there anything I should add/ adjust

Thanks again everyone


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

That is actually underloading  In my 70gallons I have 50 Lemon tetras, 20 Rummynose, 2 BNPs, 14 Cories, and an A. Heckelii (A cichlid) 
but of course, it depends on your filtration, I run two large canisters (and a sponge filter and a HoB, but these arent neccesary)

You could easily do 12 of each schooling, and maybe 6-10 cories. Adding them slowly over time of course to let your filter catch up on the bioload.


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## gwpatton (Nov 30, 2013)

Thanks 
My tank has a Fluval 206 canister filter


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

For stocking levels, it's honestly all up to personable preference depending on how much work you want to put into the tank. You could have what you posted and it would work out well but kind of lacks a "center piece" fish since you have all schooling fish. Since there's not too many fish in your suggested list you could get away with doing smaller less frequent water changes as opposed to a tank like Momobobo listed where he probably does at least weekly water changes. Your filter (the 206) is a pretty good filter for that size tank, just make sure that you clean it monthly so it doesn't get clogged. I find a lot of people suggest this site: AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor for stocking levels. Anything up to 80% stocking with over 100% filtration I would say is beginner level and wouldn't require too much maintenance. The higher you go, the more work you'll have to put in. Some of my tanks are 380% stocking level with 80% filtration which requires me to do multiple 50% water changes per week. I've also heard of members who have tanks stocked over 500%. Anywhere up to 130% is fairly reasonable and would maybe require like a 30% weekly water change in your tank. What it all comes down to is your own personal preference and how much "risk" you want to take. Everyone here can tell you what to do but I'd recommend finding out what you think you'll like best and trying it out. You may lose a few fish if you're really new to it but that's part of the hobby.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

Hi George. welcome to bca. celestial danios or galaxy danios r my favorite as far as danios go. like i said cardinals rummy nose neons look great in planted tanks..........cories r real characters. I left u a pm about helping out with getting your tank up to snuff............once u have used a python to do water changes u wont want to carry a bucket again .......lol see u sunday any way, Kathie


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

Personally, I really liked having small clown loaches, like three in my 27 gallon until they were too big and I traded them in or bought another tank. They don't grow to fast and they are really fun to watch.


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

well considering it is a bow front tank, you will have to acquire those special curved fish so that can swim in the bow front tank. Large schools of tetras or danios are really cool...maybe some nice gouramis


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

50 tetras and 24 corydoras


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Hatchet, cardinals, rams, corys, oto, rummynose... it will make a beautiful schooling fish tank.


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