Am I just being greedy?

[FishQuest]

My boyfriend and I are planning a tank while the aquarium cycles. He wants soooo many different kinds of fish but I'm adamant that we need to do this wisely and have the best outcome to the fish. Do you think this is too many? Or should I go for a tank with less?

 

[mudraker]

How big is the tank? I've never used aquAdvisor but I've heard its not always the best for stocking advice..
I can tell you that mixing the badis with gouramis may not be the best idea, all three types of danios are best kept in groups of six, not five and the Kryptos (glass cats) really need to be in groups of 7 or more to show most natural behavior.

Yes, I have kept or do keep most of these fish

 

[FishQuest]

Oh poo! Badis was my favourite out of the lot, haha, oh well. The tank is 180 litres, which is around 50 gallons. I don't mind ditching Danios for more Kryptos!!!!!

 

[Dallascowboys16]

also the celestial pearl danios are extremley tiny fish that will will not do well in a 50 gallon. They really need a small species only tank.

 

[FishQuest]

Oh geez, I'm definitely glad I asked! Is this a little better?

 

[Mebbid]

The dwarf gouramis should really only be kept to 1 per tank as they get aggressive towards each other. I agree with the other things that were said about the fish that you like.


Generally, it's best practice to have up to 3 different larger schools of fish and then a couple centerpiece fish. Adding too many different species of fish tends to make a tank kind of crazy.

If you do like a large number of different fish you might look into stock an all male african cichlid tank. You take a single male of different species and keep them together. Mbuna are my favorite.

 

[FishQuest]

I've removed the other gourami from the list and left 1. If I got rid of a school what would be a good centrepiece to replace it with?

 

[bettaowner]

Instead of a dwarf gourami, one or two moonlight gouramis would be nice centerpiece fish.

 

[mudraker]

I have two more cents to add: One you are not being greedy but it is fish lust, lol.

Second, I have a small school of Glass cats I keep with CPD just fine. They've all live together since last August with zero issues. In fact, I put them with the cats when they were about half grown fry. The Glass cats are very cool, shy until they get comfortable in the tank, but are not timid at all once they feel safe. I've never observed them being aggressive with the other fish, even the CPDs.

Others may have had a different experience.

 

[mudraker]

Here is a photo of glass cats and cpds I just took. They look amazing together, though this isn't the best example for a lot of reasons.

 

[FishQuest]

I went fish shopping today, and all my boyfriend kept asking is "why are those gouramis happily living together?" I didn't know how to answer, is it because they're still small so they're not fighting over territory yet? He was being so persistent, lol...

I saw the Kryptos, they looked amazing swimming in formation! But none of the pet stores have the loach I want, would it be okay to buy fish online, or does that come with risks? Still cycling so were a long way off, but I totally spent 200$ today just on the tank. lol.

 

[trennamw]

Visually speaking I'd try to get 10-12 of something. I resisted this suggestion and got 6 each of several different fish and even though the colors compliment it looks ... Well ... If I were after a collection of a few shiny coins I got what looks like the bottoms of a whole families pockets.

 

[mudraker]

I totally spent 200$ today just on the tank. lol.

Fish lust is expensive.

As for online buying, its not that much different than store buying. Avoid chain stores, and if you use an auction site such as Aquabid or Ebay, make sure the person or store you are buying from has a good reputation for selling fish (sometimes a good reputation is only as a customer).

I buy almost exclusively online or trade with other aquaholics online and have a much better survival rate and WAY less disease than buying for Petco or one of those.

 

[FishQuest]

Great advice! Thank you! And yes, it's very expensive. I have to start all over since my external filter flooded today when trying to siphon it to help it start. Sigh.