1st ever tank - red eye tetra suitable tank mate

[richardh]

This is my 1st ever post and I'm very much a newbie, so please bear with me.

I've just set up my first tank: a 65 litre (17 us gal) freshwater tropical and recently introduced 5 red eyed tetras a few days ago.....following the advice of the local pet shop as they are hardy fish for the newbie They seem happy and the tank is just starting cycling. As its such a small tank I intend to have approx 12 fish in it. Does that seem about right?

Big Question is what species will live happily with the tetras and also add a bit of colour to the tank?

I have soft water in my area that is slightly acidic (ph 6.4-6.8). Tank is set at 25c.

All help greatly appreciated
Richard

 

[Seanh84]

I have had 5 red eye tetras for nearly a year now, i have dwarf gounomi's, angels, mollies, clown plec, striped cory, and a catfish with no problems

Platys are fine and hardy
I had guppys with them for a while

 

[HN1]

There are a lot of fish that will peacefully co-exist. I would recommend waiting until you are completely cycled to add anything however.

 

[LyndaB]

Red eye tetras can reach 2 - 2 1/2 inches in length. They can be very nippy amongst themselves and having a larger school of at least 8 can keep that aggression down. I think your tank is too small for the proper school size of this particular tetra.

 

[richardh]

Thanks for the advice. I will wait until the tank is fully cycled before introducing more delicate fish.

Would the tetras really get to that sort of size in such a small tank?

Love the idea of having an angel fish in there, but presumed they would need a much bigger tank?

 

[LyndaB]

If they didn't reach that size in a small tank, it would be because their growth was being stunted. Not a good thing.

You're right, the tank is much too small for an angel. That poster was just mentioning various species that were compatible with the tetras, not necessarily in your tank.

 

[richardh]

So given the size of the tank, maybe 2 bottom feeders like plecs, a gourami, and maybe 2 or 3 of something else. Sounds good to me.

Thanks guys!

 

[HN1]

No plecs. Shrimp and snails would work though and are very interesting. Smaller cory species would also be an option.

 

[absolutangel04]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Knowing the exact length/width/ect. will be helpful to us to try to advise you. Most common schooling fish (like the red-eyed tetra) need horizontal swimming room, so that is important for us to know.
Also, I would not advise putting a gourami into a tank that small with red-eyes. Mine are pretty nippy and I know other people who have similar experiences. They also will chase round similarly sized small schoolers, so the tankmates I would suggest are rather limited, but knowing the dimensions will help.

 

[richardh]

Tank dimensions are 20" wide x 18" high x 13" deep. As you can tell, this is certainly not a long tank, but a very high one

 

[absolutangel04]

Ok. Well, I wouldn't really suggest adding too much more, but I think a few platy would probably be ok. They are small, hardy, and colorful.
The tank bottom isn't very big, but I think you be ok with either 4 julii or panda corys (IMO, you would want a species that only reaches 2 inches or less, not the bigger 3 inch corys like albinos and peppered). Instead, you could get 6 pygmy corys because they only reach an inch.
Thats all I personally would suggest adding. Like I said, I think you would run into problems with a gourami in a tank that size.
There are also some really cool snails out there. Otherwise, maybe 2-3 otos. JMO.

 

[richardh]

Thanks for the advice. The last thing I want to do is overcrowd the tank, so a few bottom dwellers and a couple of platys should just about do it!

What are most colourful of the corys to go for, keeping at or around 2" when fully grown?

Sorry for asking so many questions, but I am very new to this :-S

 

[absolutangel04]

Thanks for the advice. The last thing I want to do is overcrowd the tank, so a few bottom dwellers and a couple of platys should just about do it!

What are most colourful of the corys to go for, keeping at or around 2" when fully grown?

Sorry for asking so many questions, but I am very new to this :-S

Truthfully, most corys are not extremely colorful. I suggested the julii and panda because they some of the most commonly available small species (at least where I am). You can google a few more smaller species though if you would like. The platys would be the colorful ones in tank. But, platys come in great, vivid colors. Also, the corys are really cute little guys who behave very differently from the platys and red-eyes, so I think you will have a nice behavioral variety.

 

[HN1]

For cories you can look for habrossus, hastatus, and pygmaeous. They are all sold as "pygmy" cories. Pandas would work too, julii get too big for that bottom IMO. I think shrimp would be a far better option than cories for that footprint though.

 

[Seanh84]

Can you have shrimp along with plec cory and other catfish, my catfish is nearly a year and is about 3 inch. Not sure on which type it is but its a smooth golden colour with a large black spot towards the back?

 

[richardh]

Thanks all, I guess it will boil down to what I can find in my area.
Now on to monitoring the water quality!

 

[LyndaB]

Can you have shrimp along with plec cory and other catfish, my catfish is nearly a year and is about 3 inch. Not sure on which type it is but its a smooth golden colour with a large black spot towards the back?

You should start your own thread with your questions. It's not considered proper forum etiquette to hijack someone else's thread.

 

[giants1249er]

I have black skirts with my red eye tetras. They get along just fine. I also have ghost shrimp with them...the red eye tetras sometimes pick at them and steal their flakes while the shrimps are eating them.

 

[absolutangel04]

I think skirt and red-eyes sounds good, but that tank is definitely not big enough for skirt tetras IMO. They get pretty darn big because they are tall in addition to their length.

 

[richardh]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will stick to just the red eye tetras and eventually introduce a few platy, cory and the missus fancies a shrimp as well.