Adding a school in my 30g

[purestar]

Seeking some stocking advice for my new 30 gallon planted. I plan on having a pair of dwarf gourami and a pair of bolivian rams. I'd like to add a school, preferable with a bit of colour or some sort of pizzaz, that would be compatible with these pairs.

Anyone have any favorites that could work?

Would some threadfin or dwarf rainbows work? I also like serape tetra, but am afraid of nipping or harassing the other fish.

Thanks

 

[rmiller]

I would be leery of adding 2 dwarf gourami. Males can be aggressive toward each other. If you want male and female you'll need to do 1 male to 2 females.

The serpae can be very nippy, but you'll definitely want something larger than neons or cardinals.

 

[Rivercats]

Either Threadfish or Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish would work. Cardinal, Neon, or Rummynose tetra's are a good choice as are Harlequin or Purple Rasbora's. I also would only do 1 Dwarf gourami.

 

[purestar]

Thank you both. I will do only one dwarf gourami (or perhaps a slightly bigger variety to avoid DG disease) because it's safer than trying to pick 1M,2F. Is it cruel to keep only one of a species? No buddy sounds a bit lonely, although I'm sure this is better than being stressed out with territorial battles.

I will also pass on the serpaes...

 

[Rivercats]

In that size tank I would do a Pearl gourami which is larger but generally quite peaceful. Or you could do a single Honey or Sunset Honey gourami which is small like the DG but much hardier and generally much more peaceful.

Since the kids like babies have you considered getting some Endler's? The males are colorful like Guppies but much smaller and you could add a few and still have a group of schooling fish.

 

[josh7]

I wouldn't get endlers with a pearl or honey gourami they can eat them easily.

I would do a stock of

1- Honey Gourami
2- Rams
8- Harlequin Rasbora or Bleeding heart tetra
6- Cory's or kuhli loaches or dwarf chain loaches.

 

[purestar]

Thanks everyone. I will consider the rasboras as an alternative. My son's daycare has a tank full of endler babies... so cool to watch the wee ones I am hoping that my rams will be successful in raising some fry! I'll have to pass on the loaches as the dwarf variety are almost $30/fish at my LFS and I have Burmese border loaches in my other tank (which are eating all the amazon swords I plan on moving to this tank). But perhaps I'll get some cories. I love those little guys.

Another interesting option I am considering is the frucata rainbow fish. Their "wings" and displays are fascinating...

Ah, so many fish, I wish I had an entire fish room! LOL.

 

[Rivercats]

I wouldn't get endlers with a pearl or honey gourami they can eat them easily. QUOTE]

Actually I have kept both with Endlers and even have Endlers with a Betta in a 12g right now. Honey gourami's are generally the mellowest of all the gourami's. I've also never had problems with Pearl's in the 30+ years I've kept them with various small fish. Anytime you stock a fish that is known to be aggressive or semi aggressive, heck even peaceful you can still have aggression issues. Also gourami's have small mouths and couldn't just easily eat them. It's like saying all angelfish will eat neons.... it's simply not true.

 

[Rivercats]

.Another interesting option I am considering is the frucata rainbow fish. Their "wings" and displays are fascinating...

I have a large school of Threadfin rainbowfish in my 220g angelfish tank and with the males very long fin's the displays are quite spectacular even more so than the Frucata's.

 

[josh7]

Uhmm how is that not true? I'm pretty sure angels are plenty big enough to eat neon tetras that ya know max out at .75 to an 1 inch long. They can easily eat them. Yah a gourami has a small mouth but a pearl gourami or an adult honey could eat a fish that was slender and .5 inches long like an endler any day. It's simply true.

 

[Rivercats]

Just because a fish is larger does not mean they will automatically eat smaller fish. I didn't say they "couldn't", I said "It's like saying all angelfish will eat neons" It's not true because not all angelfish will automatically eat neons. Just as not all gourami's will eat Endlers. There are too many factors at play to say just because you keep this smaller fish with this larger fish the smaller fish will be killed and eaten... it simply isn't true. In fact just about any species of fish can kill other fish and eat them. So just because a fish "could" kill and eat another fish doesn't mean it's going to happen. If that were the case we'd have a hard time stocking our tanks.

 

[Fishperson]

Uhmm how is that not true? I'm pretty sure angels are plenty big enough to eat neon tetras that ya know max out at .75 to an 1 inch long. They can easily eat them. Yah a gourami has a small mouth but a pearl gourami or an adult honey could eat a fish that was slender and .5 inches long like an endler any day. It's simply true.

What Rivercats meant was that not ALL angels eat neon tetras. Secondly, even an ADULT honey gourami generally wouldn't eat endlers. I mean, a pearl gourami, maybe, but definitely not a honey gourami. They max out at 1.75 inches. Of course, there is a possibility, but as Rivercats said, all fish are different. I once heard of a school of neons that harassed a betta to death. And other times, the exact opposite. It just depends on the fish, but way over 9 times out of 10 the honey gourami doesn't TOUCH another fish.

 

[josh7]

I'm just saying I wouldn't risk putting a small fish in with one that could eat him. Just like the angels and neons, you can get cardinal tetras larger and most likely won't get killed by angels. Just like with the gouramis your all talking about, just get guppies that are quite a bit larger than endlers. The guppies have a much Better chance since they are larger.

 

[Rivercats]

I'm just saying I wouldn't risk putting a small fish in with one that could eat him. Just like the angels and neons, you can get cardinal tetras larger and most likely won't get killed by angels. Just like with the gouramis your all talking about, just get guppies that are quite a bit larger than endlers. The guppies have a much Better chance since they are larger.

Small cardinals are equal in size to small neons, just as I've grown neons that in older age are as large as cardinals. I added 30 cardinals that were about 3/8" into my 100% planted 220g with 12 large adult angels with no issues. Your arguing a moot point since many of the fish added to an aquarium are quite small, even tiny compared to many other species that are larger. A large gourami could just as easily go after a larger guppy so the point is none have a "better" chance than any other "because" all fish and tank situations are different. Each situation has to be evaluated and a decision made. Also remember true large adult fish are rarely offered for sale and most of the time when stocking a tank most of the stock still has a lot of growing to do. You can't just assume anyone has a better chance than any other as there are too many factors to consider.

 

[josh7]

I'm just stating my opinions on tiny fish being mixed with big ones is all. If you don't agree with its fine aren't we all entitled to our opinion?

 

[Rivercats]

I'm just stating my opinions on tiny fish being mixed with big ones is all. If you don't agree with its fine aren't we all entitled to our opinion?

Yes everyone on a forum has their own opinions and I'm giving my opinion as to why I don't agree with yours which is also part of being on a forum.

 

[josh7]

Yes everyone on a forum has their own opinions and I'm giving my opinion as to why I don't agree with yours which is also part of being on a forum.

That's fine I never said you had to agree with me?

 

[Rivercats]

That's fine I never said you had to agree with me?

You seem to miss the point.. if someone posts something someone doesn't agree with anyone who doesn't agree can post why they don't agree. It's not a personal affront as you seem to think and if you read a lot of posts you will often find opposing opinions. I have simply posted in detail why I don't agree with what you posted, it's nothing against you but I feel more information needed to be provided to the OP so they could make their own educated decision on what they can do. Don't take things so personal as this forum is for learning so the more information people are provided with the better equipped they are to make decisions.

 

[josh7]

You seem to miss the point.. if someone posts something someone doesn't agree with anyone who doesn't agree can post why they don't agree. It's not a personal affront as you seem to think and if you read a lot of posts you will often find opposing opinions. I have simply posted in detail why I don't agree with what you posted, it's nothing against you but I feel more information needed to be provided to the OP so they could make their own educated decision on what they can do. Don't take things so personal this forum is for learning so the more information people are provided with the better equipped they are to make decisions.

I wasn't taking it personal it's not a big deal I was just stating why I think it's a bad idea and you were stating why it's fine. It's on no hard feelings.

 

[Sillyfishies]

Uhmm how is that not true? I'm pretty sure angels are plenty big enough to eat neon tetras that ya know max out at .75 to an 1 inch long. They can easily eat them. Yah a gourami has a small mouth but a pearl gourami or an adult honey could eat a fish that was slender and .5 inches long like an endler any day. It's simply true.

Unless you have some wild Altum angels, they most likely won't eat neons. Even though those are their natural food source. I wouldn't argue with Rivercats about angels or most other fish. She has been keeping fish for longer then we've been alive.