Fish for existing/new tank?

[JackHammer]

I currently have a 34 litre Aqua Style all in one tank. I have 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Guppy, 2 Neon Tetras, 1 Pearl Danio, 1 Leopard Danio, 1 Zebra Danio and a Bristlenose Catfish. I have only had the tank for around 2 months (and this is my first tank) but am looking at upsizing. I think I will be getting the same Aqua Style setup but in a 165 litre version. With the upsize I am looking at getting more fish to add to my community. I have small black painted rocks as my substrate, I have a few plants and I keep the water at around 24-26 degrees Celsius.

Once I am ready to add more fish, are there any that I should go for/stay away from?

Thanks

 

[bud29]

It's very good you are upgrading. Your 34 liter is at the moment pretty overstocked. Your first order of business with the new tank should be getting 3-4 more neons and 4-5 more pearl, leopard, and zebra danios, as they are schooling fish.

And by the way, welcome to the forum!

 

[JackHammer]

I will definitely be getting more neons as I would like a nice little school of them but I didn't know that about the Danios, so I will get on to that also.

Thanks!

 

[Rivercats]

I would have suggested a couple angelfish but not with neons as neons would be a food item. You could however think about getting a nice pair of Bolivian Rams. I suggested Bolivian Rams over German Blue Rams simply because they are hardier and GBR's need to go in a mature tank. Another good fish that would do well with your stock would Threadfin Rainbowfish just be sure to get females as well as males so you get the full benefit of the males displaying those awesome fins. They also color up very nicely with time (when newly added to a tank the females especially are pretty washed out). Both males and females base color is a yellowie green irridencense. If you wanted a school of fish with alittle bigger size you could do 6 Rainbowfish, not my favorite but comes in alot of colors. I'd also look into 6 Cory Cats for bottom movement.

 

[JackHammer]

Thanks for the tips!
Those Bolivian Rams look awesome! I definitely think I'll have to get some of those! The other fish are cool too, I like the Cory's.
With the threadfin's, if I have a male and female aren't I pretty much guaranteed to get baby's? I'm not entirely sure if I want to have to deal with babies...

 

[Rivercats]

In community tanks fry rarely survive due to preditation, even from the parents. My threadfins spawn off and on and the other fish can't get to the eggs to eat them fast enough. I'd say your pretty safe! Oh I also have some longfin white cloud mountian minnows and they color up awesome. Plus with the longer fins and they way the males display they are a nice addition. I keep threadfins, white clouds, rummy nose tetras, and cardinal tetras together with my various rams and angelfish.

 

[JackHammer]

Oh okay. As bad as it sounds, I kind of hoped the other fish would eat them but at the moment I only have males so its not an issue.
Would the long fins be a problem around fish such as the Danio's as they are pretty active and my zebra Danio "predator" is, as the name implies, a bit of a bully...?

 

[Rivercats]

They don't have the really long flowy fins like the danio's do. It's just they aren't really short like the reg white clouds. I guess I'd call them extended, just longer than normal ones but nothing like what you see in danio's. Have you thought about rehoming the danios since they aren't your favorite fish? Personally I'm not too fond of them myself.

 

[JackHammer]

My danios have really small fins
I have thought about it but I don't really have anywhere to re-home them

 

[Rivercats]

My danios have really small fins
I have thought about it but I don't really have anywhere to re-home them

I thought you had a longfinned one. Here's a link since I can't get my pic's to upload which I will post if I can get them to work later. Anyway this is what I have and actually they came from here... Long Fin Red White Cloud - Large Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale

As for the danio's, call some of your LFS's as many will take fish in and give you store credit for them. It's worth a try.

 

[JackHammer]

nah, mine look like this - http://www.seymourfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Zebra-Danio.jpg

oh okay, i might give it a try when i get the new tank.

 

[JackHammer]

im waiting for the link of a picture of my kind of Danio to be approved but in the mean time, im looking up bolivian rams. i read that they are cichlids, doesnt that mean that they cant go with my other fish and would need different water parameters?

 

[Rivercats]

im waiting for the link of a picture of my kind of Danio to be approved but in the mean time, im looking up bolivian rams. i read that they are cichlids, doesnt that mean that they cant go with my other fish and would need different water parameters?

Yes, they are South American Dwarf Cichlids but angelfish are also Cichlids. They are considered semi-aggressive but I've kept them forever and never had problems. Unless people are breeding them they are used as community fish. They only time I see aggression is if they spawn and then it's chase the fish off from their spawning site. It's not like they chase them down and try to kill them. The other fish get the idea real quick not to go in that area. I have 12 adult and breeding angels plus 3 pairs of breeding Rams in my 220g with alot of other fish and there aren't ever serious issues when one or more pairs are spawning. I keep them in smaller tanks also with other fish and no issues there either.

 

[JackHammer]

Okay cool, I'm going to go to my LFS and see if they have them or can get them in. I've read in some places it's better to just have one and others to get a pair. What's the difference?

At this point I'm looking at having 1 or 2 Bolivian Rams, About 6 Kuhli loaches, and possibly some Cory catfish or Siamese algae eater sharks but I don't want to overcrowd the bottom as I will keep the Bristlenose pleco I currently have. I will also keep my dwarf gourami and neon tetras, I will get more neons to make a school. Is there any others you would recommend? I think it will be a 165lt tank and I'm pretty sure it will have a decent amount of anubius on driftwood to create hiding places for the fish

 

[Rivercats]

If you only get one ram then they are usually just peaceful community fish. If you get a pair they are still peaceful community fish BUT if they spawn they get testy and run other fish away from their spawning site. I've always kept mine in pairs but if you don't feel comfortable with possible spawning aggression then play it safe and only get one. Another thing is if kept in a pair rams colors are so much more intense making them an even more beautiful fish than they already are.

If you don't want a couple angels which could potentially be problematic with neons you should look into some of the slightly larger different body shape tetras like Lemon, Diamond, or even Congo Tetras. They would work great with the stock you have listed. Or if you want a top schooler look into Threadfin Rainbowfish or Marble Hatchets.

 

[JackHammer]

I went to my LFS yesterday and they have Bolivians for $15 so I'm going to get one and then I might get a few more when I get the bigger tank. I think I'll get some of the bigger tetra species to go with them, I'll see how I go from there

 

[Rivercats]

I went to my LFS yesterday and they have Bolivians for $15 so I'm going to get one and then I might get a few more when I get the bigger tank. I think I'll get some of the bigger tetra species to go with them, I'll see how I go from there

Would you believe we went into a Pet Smart yesterday because they had a Fluval Edge for $109 so I went over to look at fish while she did her thing and low and behold they had about 8 Bolivian rams in one of those super high tanks that no one can see in (unless your really tall) and I got back and tip toed and I almost fell over as they had 6 males and 2 actual females! A manager came over to get me fish and we got to talking as she wanted to know how I knew there were two females and long story short I walked out of the store with 3 Bolivians for $7.98, 1 male and 2 females. I have always kept german rams, apistos, or kribs so am kind of excited to see what these Bolivians are like. You should get them if they have them locally.

 

[JackHammer]

Would you believe we went into a Pet Smart yesterday because they had a Fluval Edge for $109 so I went over to look at fish while she did her thing and low and behold they had about 8 Bolivian rams in one of those super high tanks that no one can see in (unless your really tall) and I got back and tip toed and I almost fell over as they had 6 males and 2 actual females! A manager came over to get me fish and we got to talking as she wanted to know how I knew there were two females and long story short I walked out of the store with 3 Bolivians for $7.98, 1 male and 2 females. I have always kept german rams, apistos, or kribs so am kind of excited to see what these Bolivians are like. You should get them if they have them locally.

That's so cheap! I spoke to the lady at my LFS and she said she would be happy to take my danios and do a swap so I think I'll do that. I just have to get the nitrate levels down as they are a little high ATM.

 

[Rivercats]

That's so cheap! I spoke to the lady at my LFS and she said she would be happy to take my danios and do a swap so I think I'll do that. I just have to get the nitrate levels down as they are a little high ATM.

Do a 50% WC and another one the next day and take a reading. You can even do 2- 50% WC's about 4 hours apart if they are super high. Get it down to around 20ppm and then if you do a 50% WC weekly it should stay down which is where it needs to be for rams.

 

[JackHammer]

Last time I did a water test (a few days ago) it was at 5ppm. I'll do another WC tomorrow and see how it looks. Is 5ppm too high to put the ram in?