How many of each type should i have?

[donnaR]

Me again, still getting started.....

So to recapp, I have a 10G tank, in which 3 black phantom tetras made their home some 6 weeks ago. They have never been much the active swimmers, so I chalked it up to them needing some new friends (which I was planning to do anyway). Yesterday I added 2 mickey mouse platys, they seemed to be very fast movers in the tank at the store, so I figured they'd shake things up a bit and get everybody moving about. Well, all 5 of them just kind of hang out. The platys ate great last night when I fed them, diving to the top and all (which the tetras don't do, they wait for food to fall), and today I haven't seen them eat a thing. They are acting more like the tetras, laying low. (ps. i checked water, all is good)

Do I need more #'s of each type to get them behaving more typically? Or is this typical behaviour? With a 10G I am limited in my total #'s, and I'd like to add some neons for colour and zippiness, but should I do anything first with my tetra & platy #'s? Should I go with 4 of each? Or 6 of each and skip the neons? I'm confused about the "schooling" aspect of some fish. Schooling fish do better in groups of 6 or more correct? And should a person stick with even numbers?

So many questions I know........ sorry for being such a newbie! I can't wait until a year from now when we move into a permanent home so I can set up a nice big tank in addition to one or 2 smaller ones For now I gotta stay small, and with the learning curve and all, i suppose its better this way. This hobby is somewhat addictive heh? lol.

 

[TankGirl]

The behavior of these fish depend graetly on the genders that you already have. The black phantoms can be easily sexed, since the females have a bit of red in their fins, while the males' dorsals are higher and they lack any red.

The platy males have a gonopodium, which is a modified anal fin that is more cylindrical, while the females have a typical fan-shaped anal fin.

What would be ideal is to have one or two male black phantoms and 3-4 females to get the best behavior out of the tetras. If you don't want baby platys everywhere then stick with all females or all males of those, but you could have maybe 3 of those if you increase your black phantoms, at which point you will be approaching full stocking level once the fish reach their mature size. The only other thing I might consider adding would be a trio of corydoras cats for the bottom. It is easy to overstock a 10gal so I would err on the side of caution.

If you have your heart set on the neons then I would not add any more tetras or platys and get maybe 4 or 5 neons.

 

[donnaR]

Thanks Tankgirl! I appreciate your tips..........

Donna

by the way, I think I have one female and two male black phantoms. the platys look identical. if I could get a decent picture of them, I'd post it, but they never turn out as good as everyone else's. kinda blurry.