I just wanted to give an update and share my experience so far.
I added all livestock 5 days ago and so far so good. I had one fatality yesterday, an otocinclus. Not sure of the reason why he died even after a close examination of the fish. I am keeping a close eye on the tank see if anything is out of order but so far all seems ok. So here is what I have added:
1 -
Trichopodus leerii or commonly known as
Pearl gouramis * 3 (1 males, two females)
2 -
Trigonostigma heteromorpha or commonly known as
Harlequin rasbora * 25
3 -
Otocinclus macrospilus or commonly known as
oto * 15 (-1)
4 -
Neocaridina davidi or commonly knows are
Cherry shrimp (fire red) * 60
5 -
Caridina multidentata or commonly knows as
Yamato or Amano shrimp * 10
6 -
Caridina gracilirostris or commonly known as
Red nosed shimp or
Pinocchio shrimp * 24*
7 -
Gobiopterus chuno or commonly knows as
Glass Goby * 2 (these were an impulse purchase reason why I only got 2. Wanted to see how they behaved with the other fishes)
8 -
Clea Helena snails or commonly knows
assassin snails * 3 (small sized)
That would amount to 44 fishes and 94 shrimps. I opted to get more shrimps that I had originally planned as I am predicting some fatalities along the away and I know that amano shrimps will eventually die without descendance. As for the the red nosed shrimps I go them as they do seem to have a different personality which I liked.
All fish and shrimps are either bred locally/regionally (otocinclus, cherry shrimps, amano shrimps) or are indigenous to Thailand and also breed (Pearl gourami, Harlequin rasbora, Glass goby and red nosed shimp).
I let the algae proliferate by not changing the water for a few days prior adding all livestock. This was intentional so there would be enough available food for fish and shrimp without my intervention for a couple of days. That was a good idea as the tank is now close to being free of any visible algae.
I will be changing 30%/40% water every 4/5 day for the next few weeks then dial that down to a weekly basis or less depending on how the tanks goes. I still have lots of tanins from the substrate and wood but don't want to add activated carbon as it will raise the PH and I don't want that.
I have learned a lot in just a few weeks and still got a lot to learn. This community has been great so I would like to thank everyone that has helped me and given sensible advise.
Here is a short video and picture of the tank with the new stand (90*45*100) that was custom made from rubber wood. If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate.
Overall view
Algae comparison close-up after 4 days of adding livestock
Gobiopterus chuno
Tank and stand