hello everyone i need a little help thank you in advance

[Alexander15992]

I was recently gifted a 30 gallon tank went out bought gravel and a bio wheel filter and have a led light bar by aqueon. just curious about stocking ideas i have two children and they love helping there grandparents feed the fish and watch them. my parents have a 150 saltwater tank but I'm doing a freshwater tank. i wanted something they'd enjoy with me as much as they do with there grandparents. thank you for all of your tips tricks and advice its truly appreciated. heres a small list of fish i like I'm not sure on compatibility tho.
pepper cory cats
cherry barbs
dark kuhli loaches
koi angels
otocinclus cstfish
bumblebee catfish
discus
tiger shovelnose cafish
either neon tetras or cardinal tetras
either a rubber lip pleco or a scarlet dragon l-025
i saw a scarlet dragon one time and fell in love i am not sure if there hard to find because i haven't seen once in a very long time.
if theres any compatibility with any of these fish that'd be great if not its all good if theres any other ideas I'm open to any ideas and curious about a planted tank ? if its different or not ? and i know all those fish wouldn't fit in my 30 gallon tank as well. but thank you all for all your ideas and helping me out with this once i get it up and going i will post pics have the tank cycling

 

[msweitzer24]

Hi I have a 25 and have many plattys, tetras, and endlers. I highly suggest getting a brislenose pleco for the tank because it will help control algee and keep the out side of the tank cleaner. Here is a picture of one

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[msweitzer24]

Sorry here is the pic

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[Fishfur]

Some of those species become enormous with time.. the shovel nose for one. Best to stick to a small bottom dweller and since you like cories, there's little need to have any other bottom feeder. But kuhli loaches and cories do get along, and so long as you provide plenty of hiding places for them, having both is not a problem.
Be aware, both kuhli loach and cory cats need a group of their own kind to be content and show off their normal behaviours, instead of hiding most of the time. Three is the bare minimum, and six is far better, for both of these fish.

Cherry barbs are nice fish. Bright colours, and peaceful. Again, best kept with one male to a few females, and thankfully, it's easy to tell the sexes apart.

Angel fish are lovely. And you could have a pair in that size tank, but not more than a pair. They can be aggressive, especially if you end up with a mated pair, but even two females will lay eggs from time to time, they just won't be fertile. If you get young ones, and get a few, you'll end up having to rehome most of them when they get larger.

Discus are out of the question. They do best in species only tanks, need very careful attention to water parameters and can be very sensitive. Not ever a good beginner fish to have.

Otos are great algae eaters, but unless you have algae, don't have Otos. They often die within a few weeks, because they are starved after being caught and need time to grow their digestive bacteria again. They often don't eat manmade food, and if you're sharing with the kids, I think, best not to get a fish that's so cute when the chance of losing most of them is relatively high. A mystery snail or Nerite snail will do an excellent job of cleaning off glass and leaves and whatnot, kids usually find them interesting as well.

The plecs for the most part grow too large. Bristlenose are one of the few that stay smaller, but you're already thinking of two other bottom feeders.. so having 3 is really pushing it.

Smaller fishes for the mid or top level could be tetras. But cardinals rather than neons, I think. They seem to be a bit hardier. Or danios.. there are several types, the Zebra, Leopard, Kyathit [ two types, I like the one with a bright gold body and big black spots like a cheetah], or rasboras, such as the Harlequin. That one comes in at least two colour forms.. the usual one is similar to new copper in colour, with a big black mark on the side. The other is called Purple, males have an orange head, females a yellow head, the rest of the body dark purple to black. Lovely, hardy fish that are easy to keep, much easier than tetras can be.

Danios, harleqins, kuhlis and cories can all be kept without a heater so long as room temps are reasonable, they're not true tropicals. Semi tropical.. the barbs I've kept have done fine at room temp too. Your choice really. Tetras and Angels would need a heater.

If you intend to get bottom feeders like cory or loaches, get a softer, sandier substrate rather than gravel. It's much kinder to their barbels, which may get badly worn on coarser gravels.

Having some easy live plants is a nice touch and fish like it. Loaches need a lot of hiding places, so plants provide some of that. Smoother rocks only.. they can be damaged badly by sharp edges on rocks or decor. Wood's great to have as well.

Scarlet dragon is not one I'm familiar with, I'd have to look it up

Edit.. I don't see a fish called Scarlet Dragon.. can you direct me to a picture of it perhaps ? I wonder if you mean a Betta fish.. if so, can't really have one in a community tank, they can be quite aggressive, and with Angel fish especially, would probably not do well at all.

 

[Alexander15992]

Sorry here is the pic

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Gorgeous pleco I haven't seen one of those

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[Alexander15992]

Some of those species become enormous with time.. the shovel nose for one. Best to stick to a small bottom dweller and since you like cories, there's little need to have any other bottom feeder. But kuhli loaches and cories do get along, and so long as you provide plenty of hiding places for them, having both is not a problem.
Be aware, both kuhli loach and cory cats need a group of their own kind to be content and show off their normal behaviours, instead of hiding most of the time. Three is the bare minimum, and six is far better, for both of these fish.

Cherry barbs are nice fish. Bright colours, and peaceful. Again, best kept with one male to a few females, and thankfully, it's easy to tell the sexes apart.

Angel fish are lovely. And you could have a pair in that size tank, but not more than a pair. They can be aggressive, especially if you end up with a mated pair, but even two females will lay eggs from time to time, they just won't be fertile. If you get young ones, and get a few, you'll end up having to rehome most of them when they get larger.

Discus are out of the question. They do best in species only tanks, need very careful attention to water parameters and can be very sensitive. Not ever a good beginner fish to have.

Otos are great algae eaters, but unless you have algae, don't have Otos. They often die within a few weeks, because they are starved after being caught and need time to grow their digestive bacteria again. They often don't eat manmade food, and if you're sharing with the kids, I think, best not to get a fish that's so cute when the chance of losing most of them is relatively high. A mystery snail or Nerite snail will do an excellent job of cleaning off glass and leaves and whatnot, kids usually find them interesting as well.

The plecs for the most part grow too large. Bristlenose are one of the few that stay smaller, but you're already thinking of two other bottom feeders.. so having 3 is really pushing it.

Smaller fishes for the mid or top level could be tetras. But cardinals rather than neons, I think. They seem to be a bit hardier. Or danios.. there are several types, the Zebra, Leopard, Kyathit [ two types, I like the one with a bright gold body and big black spots like a cheetah], or rasboras, such as the Harlequin. That one comes in at least two colour forms.. the usual one is similar to new copper in colour, with a big black mark on the side. The other is called Purple, males have an orange head, females a yellow head, the rest of the body dark purple to black. Lovely, hardy fish that are easy to keep, much easier than tetras can be.

Danios, harleqins, kuhlis and cories can all be kept without a heater so long as room temps are reasonable, they're not true tropicals. Semi tropical.. the barbs I've kept have done fine at room temp too. Your choice really. Tetras and Angels would need a heater.

If you intend to get bottom feeders like cory or loaches, get a softer, sandier substrate rather than gravel. It's much kinder to their barbels, which may get badly worn on coarser gravels.

Having some easy live plants is a nice touch and fish like it. Loaches need a lot of hiding places, so plants provide some of that. Smoother rocks only.. they can be damaged badly by sharp edges on rocks or decor. Wood's great to have as well.

Scarlet dragon is not one I'm familiar with, I'd have to look it up

Edit.. I don't see a fish called Scarlet Dragon.. can you direct me to a picture of it perhaps ? I wonder if you mean a Betta fish.. if so, can't really have one in a community tank, they can be quite aggressive, and with Angel fish especially, would probably not do well at all.

Thank you for this very informative could I do 6 loaches and then a pair on angels and 5cardinal tetras?

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[Alexander15992]

Scarlet dragon

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[mikem691]

Scarlet dragon

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That's a L025 Pseudacanthicus sp. They reach about 16" really need to be in a 110 min. Beautiful pleco though.

 

[Alexander15992]

I've always wanted one and maybe one day when I get a bigger tank and a 110 gallon that's huge I don't know where to begin on stocking a tank like that the pic I post there very beautiful

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[Fishfur]

The loaches, Angels and cardinals would likely be ok. Though if the Angel fish are big, they may eat young cardinals. If you are starting with young Angels though, by the time they get some size, the cardinals would also have grown and should be ok. They're a good size when mature.

The rule of thumb is, if something is small enough to fit in a fishs' mouth, it will most likely be eaten. Angel fish like live food and as with many fish, can be predatory, so tiny fish in a tank with large Angel fish are likely to become snacks.

The pleco is gorgeous, I can see why you like him. Unfortunate that plecs get so large.

 

[PNWaquarist]

I agree with most of what Fishfur said, though I'm not sure that a mature angel wouldn't snack on the Cardinal Tetras. Angels get big fast. I'd go with a larger, flatter tetra, such as Bleeding Heart. Get a shoal of 7 or so. I would also do only one angel in that tank, and if your tank is less than 16" tall, it's too short for angels.

If you really want a pleco, Clown Pleco is probably the best choice for a small/medium tank. One Clown, 6 Kuhli Loaches, and 6 corys would work nicely with the angel and 7-8 tetras. Alternatively, you can remove either the loaches or corys and go with 6-7 Cherry Barbs.

 

[Fishfur]

Can't argue with that, though some of the adult cardinals I've seen have been remarkably robust fish. They are larger than neons when they're mature.. but it's true, Angels can grow quite fast. I had a 29 as my first ever tank, back in high school. Knew little, and it was hard to learn a lot, even from the library.

Had a pair of Angels, which became a mated pair that spawned regularly, though of course no eggs ever hatched, sadly. A few tiger barbs, a few neons, a cory and a kuhli loach, not knowing they needed pals, they had no pals. The poor loach lived 11 years. When I finally learned they need company, I felt so guilty ! Ditto the cory, he lived for 5 or 6 years though.

No cycling, you tossed everything out of the filter with every cleaning, and I wonder now how any fish survived it, but they did. I also had a few platies and a sword, who mated with them, but most of the babies were eaten within a day or two of birth. The Angels certainly got plenty of snacks !

I wish I'd known then what I know now, but I still enjoyed it a lot and the fish all did remarkably well, considering.

 

[Alexander15992]

Thank you both very much for the information everyone that has posted on here has been alot of help to me thank you all

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