Stocking suggestions

[Pffrt]

Hi all , this is my first posti in this forum , it's the first time i want to setup a bigger freshwater planted tank , so forgive me for some errors i could write down . I'm plannin a new 350 L gal custom planted tank 110x75x45h cm .

It will be planted and hardscaped with rocks and woods , it's a corner tank so 1 back corner will be heavily hardscaped , the other one a bit less.
I like nano fishes , no showpieces or centerpieces , the centerpiece is the whole tank.
I was thinkg about 3 medium sized schools of smaller tetras or danios or rasboras (the smaller ones)
I liked , neon , cardinals , fire green , ember and yellow tetras , maybe some celestial danios or microrasboras . What can you suggest me ?
i want shooling , not fighting for the middle and upper parts of the tank.
I'm open to suggestions , the important things are the small size and peaceful attidude with contrasting colors .
The tank will house cherry shrimps too , can you suggest me a number ?
The bottom of the tank will be with 2 different substrates, the planted part (let's say 2/3 of the tank) will have a black more coarse substrate (still uncertain about which substrate but it'll be black and ok for plants) , and the other parts (1/3) separated with rocks and maybe plastic from the planted substrate , will have a very small white sand for 1-2 inches dept maximum.
I'd like a school of the smaller corys (panda or adolfoi) , it'll be possible to house 2 groups ? I'm open to suggestions.

Important for the bottom , it'll be my first experience with very fine sand and 2 different substrates , will the corys mix the anyway in the long time or can I try to hope the white and black parts will stay separated ?
That's all for now.. I hope to get suggestion.. I'm having an headache with the variuos sites on the net regardin stocking.. Forgive me for my not so good english and thank you all in advance from Italy

 

[techfool]

Cherry shrimp don't do so well in a community aquarium, their babies will get eaten but if the tank is big enough and planted enough some will make it to adulthood.
The substrate will mix up. I wouldn't bother trying to keep it separate but that's just me. I've seen it separated by flat pieces of rock, seems to work.
With a big tank like that I would do big schools. I know what the stocking calculators say but I strongly believe that if you asked those little fish, they would say the more the merrier. People have different tolerances for what they find acceptable. It varies by culture too. Americans seem to prefer lower stocking densities than Asians. I thought my tank was overstocked until I saw tanks in Hong Kong.
Having seen a few display tanks I think bigger schools with a smaller number of species works best but it's down to your preference.
Long before your filter can no longer cope you'll know that your tank is "full". I'm not talking about a common pleco in 10 gallons, you still need to be reasonable.
Celestial danios are lovely. You'd need ... dozens to make an impact in a big tank.Rummy nose tetras are worth considering. Yes you can mix cories but they still prefer their own kind.
What's your pH and hardness? I've given up keeping tetras in my water (too hard). LFS has fabulous tetras (cardinals, rummy nose and harlequins) in his tank. They almost look like a different species they are so healthy and hearty. He used part RO to reduce the hardness.
In your situation I think I would get 20-30 of the tetra I like most, 12 pandas and take it from there.
I know you said "nano" fish but take a look at congo tetras in real life if you can. I think they are fabulous while still quite a subtle fish.

 

[tam]

Tank that big and well planted, if you stick with the smaller fish you should manage a cherry shrimp colony too. You could start with a pair and build a colony but start with 10 and it will grow quicker.

Pretty much any of the fish you mention could work, you need to narrow down which you like best i.e. you probably want neons or cardinals.

 

[Pffrt]

Yep.. One between neon and cardinals,.. i'm open to suggestions for the others ..

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

Embers are good, I would recommend them highly. Also think about Pencilfish for something at the surface.

 

[Mark bowen]

A shoal of embers look cool