Best community fish 4 new tank?

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fastfly48

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
274
Location
Perth. Western Australia
At the moment I have 4 neons and 3 danios.
My tank (75L) is about 4 weeks only and I think my cycle is finishing up.
I've been doing almost daily water changes of 30%, and the fish seem happy...YIPEE! :D
So I was wondering what fish would be best to now soon include (slowly and carefully that is!) in my tank.

I was thinking....
another 3 or 4 neons
1 or 2 cat fish to eat the scraps. Which ones are best for this again?
1 sucker fish. I'm guessing it could help out with the algae?
Hmmm...any suggestions? I was thinking about maybe a clown loach but he would get to big hey?
Oh, also I really don't like guppys or gold fish looking fish!

Thanks. I'm sure you guys will have some ideas for me!

Ry.
 
fastfly48 said:
I was thinking....
another 3 or 4 neons

Good choice.

1 or 2 cat fish to eat the scraps. Which ones are best for this again?

I would go with a smallish school (3-5) of small Corydoras (like pandas)

1 sucker fish. I'm guessing it could help out with the algae?

It would...consider a young brstlenose cat or a pair of otocinclus.

Hmmm...any suggestions? I was thinking about maybe a clown loach but he would get to big hey?

Far too big...and they really need to be in groups anyways.

[/quote]
 
Hi,

Am new here and don't want to start treading on the Advisor's toes already (!!) but I would avoid Oto's at this stage.

They are a very delicate little fish that require a mature, stable tank to survive. If you put them in your tank now it is quite likely they will die.

A bristlenose would be okay but 19 gallons doesn't provide too much swimming room for a fish that grows to 4" long.

How about a couple of Apple Snails? The tank is a good size for them and the snails will do a decent job of any algae that may grow.

Then, once your tank has stabilised and matured you could take the snails back and introduce a pair/trio of Oto's

steve
 
If you can find them, you could try some pitbull plecos? They stay tiny and do a pretty good job and they're pretty hardy :)
 
While I agree a 4" fish normally wouldn't go in a 20g, a bristlenose isn't a real active swimmer, it wouldn't be that big a deal. Plus it'll take him a year or more to hit 4", and by that point they may have upgraded tanks.

Ottos can be tricky. Always make sure they have kind of fat bellies, and not sunken in. If they don't eat, the bacteria in their stomach dies, and they just starve. Its also best to wait until you have some brown diatom 'algae' growign on the glass/rocks/decorations before you add ottos, so that they have a food source when they enter the tank.
 
I would go with a smallish school (3-5) of small Corydoras (like pandas)
I second that. Corys are so cute and fun to watch. They also do a great job of cleaning up food that has fallen to the bottom of the tank.
 
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