do they mix well? Neons.zebradanios.mollies.dwarfgourami

[Ponch]

I agree. I think that sounds fine. You will have to be pretty diligent on water changes because of the bioload on the mollies, but IMO its quite do-able.
Do you have a plan for fry?

Thanks for the additional thoughts!

Re: water changes, I'll say on top of the nitrate levels and do what is necessary but am hoping that it won't be more than once per week. Do Cory's have a bio-load closer to a neon tetra or a molly?

Re: fry.... Will use the 5 gallon for the females to give birth and provide fry a safe haven and temporary home. Then either sell or give fry to the LFS. Anything else to consider here?

 

[absolutangel04]

For corys, its about the same as a tetra of similar size, but less than a molly. Mollies have larger biolaod than many comparatively sized fish.
For the fry, no thats fine. I was just asking because some people don't look into places to sell or house them until they already have too many. It sounds like you are on top of that. I put my molly fry in a 5g grow-out tank until they are big enough to not get eaten my the angels in my bigger tank.
As for the water changes, you will have to wait and see how frequently it has to happen, but I am guessing once a week will be fine.

 

[Ponch]

There are other little schoolers too if you wanted something instead of neons like penguin tetras, emeber tetras, and harlequin rasboras. You could get a bigger schooling fish instead of the neons like black neons, cardinals, kerri blues, lemon tetras, or Pristella tetras. I suggested the smaller ones first because they have less bioload so you can get a slightly bigger school of them or else ou can keep a small school and maybe be able to fit in one more molly.

i've been doing more research on tetras and see that both the penguin tetras and pristella tetras can tolerate a wider range of water conditions and therefore are hardier than most other tetras. I like the neons but now thinking I may prefer one of these breeds instead. They're all quite attractive. They would need to co-exist with 3 mollies and 4-5 cories in a 26 gallon though. Is any one breed best for that arrangement (neons / penguins / pristella tetras)? THX

 

[absolutangel04]

IMO, any of those species would be fine. The penguins are not as common, so you can check your local availability. Behaviorally, any of those species would work out great. I recommend the penguins personally. Their small size means a bit less bioload and they are super cute!

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

If you do have live bearers like mollies be careful you could end up with more fish than you want. This could cause your bioload to skyrocket and end up doing more tank maintance or getting more filtration which could cost more money.
I had started out with a good mix of fish in my 55 gallon and have excellent filtration so I am not to worried but right now I have just under 48 fish and 4 african dwarf frogs. Some of the fish I did not buy they were from the live bearers. I had 5 red swordtails now I have 15 swordtails in addition to all my other fish but I could not get rid of them because they did not ask to be born. Trust me I could not get away with just one simple sponge filter or a simple HOB filter. So if you end up with a lot of fish you may have to get rid of some or rehome them or spend more money and upgrade the filtration but even then you might have teritoral problems etc in the tank.

 

[Ponch]

IMO, any of those species would be fine. The penguins are not as common, so you can check your local availability. Behaviorally, any of those species would work out great. I recommend the penguins personally. Their small size means a bit less bioload and they are super cute!

Cool. Based on what I'm seeing on live aquaria.com though the penguins look like they grow bigger than the pristellas - 3" vs 2". See this link http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+890+1579&pcatid=1579 and this one http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+890+2748&pcatid=2748. Is that your experience too or no?

 

[Sisserydoo]

My dg spends most of his time at the bottom, searching through the gravel for food.

 

[Ponch]

If you do have live bearers like mollies be careful you could end up with more fish than you want. This could cause your bioload to skyrocket and end up doing more tank maintance or getting more filtration which could cost more money.
I had started out with a good mix of fish in my 55 gallon and have excellent filtration so I am not to worried but right now I have just under 48 fish and 4 african dwarf frogs. Some of the fish I did not buy they were from the live bearers. I had 5 red swordtails now I have 15 swordtails in addition to all my other fish but I could not get rid of them because they did not ask to be born. Trust me I could not get away with just one simple sponge filter or a simple HOB filter. So if you end up with a lot of fish you may have to get rid of some or rehome them or spend more money and upgrade the filtration but even then you might have teritoral problems etc in the tank.

Thank for the thoughts - interesting experience you have had with live bearers - definitely appreciate the advance warning. One of the reasons I am getting mollies is to rear some fry. I do have a LFS that will take baby Mollie's and a 5 gallon grow-out tank so I *think* I'll be ok. I

Re: filtration I am setting up my 26 gallon With a aqua clear 30 hob and a 4x4 sponge filter. Not sure if that qualifies as "excellent" but would think its better than just having one or the other.

If breeding gets out of hand I figure i can always take the male back to the LFS and trade for another female.

 

[Ponch]

Cool. Based on what I'm seeing on live aquaria.com though the penguins look like they grow bigger than the pristellas - 3" vs 2". See this link http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+890+1579&pcatid=1579 and this one http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+890+2748&pcatid=2748. Is that your experience too or no?

Just visited the LFS which had some Pristella tetras. They were significantly bigger than the neons I have now. According to the LFS They confirmed that pristellas get bigger than penguin tetras - like you said AbsoluteAngel. So I guess the live aquaria page is incorrect!

 

[blackmolly]

i honestly think you'd be better just to get all females. they practically come pregnant lol, and they hold sperm so you'd still get plenty of fry... and if you wanted to, you could just raise a batch and pick out a male.

 

[FreshwaterFishJunkie]

Guess what this morning in my hornwort I found out the Red Swordtails had new fry, I found 2 hope they do not become lunch for someone. Well usually my fry survive in my tank.