ADVICE for peaceful community tank

[goldengirl]

I have currently recieved a tank that it:
length - 76 cm
width - 32 cm
height - 32cm

I am a newbie with larger tanks and I really need some help picking my fish. commitment is not an issue, neither is care. I have all the time in the world.
Any suggestions on what kind of fish would co-exist well together in the size of tank that I have? I do not have live plants, I plan to stick with fake.
Help please?

 

[smilla4]

Eek. Metric.

I guess that's a 30 x 13 x 13 inches? How many gallons does that hold?

Do you currently have any fish that you're planning on putting in there?

 

[goldengirl]

Eek. Metric.

I guess that's a 30 x 13 x 13 inches? How many gallons does that hold?

Do you currently have any fish that you're planning on putting in there?

we are not sure of the gallons. it was given to me by my aunt... we think that it holds 20 gallons.
i currently have goldies in there cycling it. but they will not stay in there, im going from scratch.

 

[patryuji]

Yup, about 20 gallons. What do you want to do with it other than have a peaceful community? Lots of movement and color? Slow methodical fish which often stop periodically?

A school of tetras and some cories.
Livebearers and some cories.
Without plants I'd say to leave out most algae eaters unless you have it brightly lit with flourescent bulbs.
Many smaller loaches tend to be semi-aggressive so you probably don't want them.
I believe a few of the smaller plecos are also semi-territorial and therefore semi-aggressive.
You could toss in a few ghost shrimp as well.

If it were me I'd add a few plants so I could have a community with some bolivian or german rams included but I don't think they would be very easy to care for in an unplanted tank.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:e88ff6da27] Welcome to Aquarium Advice, goldengirl! [/center:e88ff6da27]
I have a 50 gal peaceful community tank with two smaller plecos, 11 cories, 5 serpea tetras, 4 silver tip tetras, 2 yo-yo loaches 2 Bolivian rams and 4 Apistos. The Bolivian rams and Apistos are dwarf cichlids and are my favorite. They require soft, neutral water and do quite fine without plants.
If you like the personalities of dwarf cichlids, they can do fine in your tank. They are not fast, nor do they dart around a lot.
There are many choices for a 20 gal, but it will fill up quicker than you think! Think about what patryuji said about the type of tank you want and we can help from there.

 

[goldengirl]

thanks for the welcome and the advice

 

[BrianNY]

Hi goldengirl . The best thing to do is to go window shopping at your lfs. See what fish catch your eye and then come back and discuss it here.

HTH

 

[goldengirl]

Hi goldengirl . The best thing to do is to go window shopping at your lfs. See what fish catch your eye and then come back and discuss it here.

HTH

well, i do like guppies, i know that sounds wierd concidering that they are a very basic fish to have, but I am thinking of getting a few guppies... but I cannot figure out what will co-exist happily with them

 

[goldengirl]

Yup, about 20 gallons. What do you want to do with it other than have a peaceful community? Lots of movement and color? Slow methodical fish which often stop periodically?

movement and colour, yet peaceful no aggression!

 

[grimlock3000]

One thing to look out for with Guppies is that they will breed like crazy in most conditions. Female Guppies are always pregnant if a male is around and give birth about once a month. You can use a breeding net or moss to catch and save some fry, but you can end up with a lot of extra fish pretty quickly

Also, if you mix males and females, get 2 or 3 females for every male you purchase.

 

[BrianNY]

I like that idea a lot goldengirl . Why not keep a species tank of just guppies. You can mix some cory cats (which are very peaceful). A tank of just guppies IMO is intersting enough to watch. Lots of movememnt and color.

 

[Christmasfish]

Sounds great!!
..nothing wrong with "basic" guppies. They now have so many styles and colors your tank can be a riot of color and flowing finnage.
And not only cories but otos are small and peaceable cleaning crew members.
It can be great fun!

 

[Guest]

if this is your first large tank...i think you said... start with hardy fish but i think your guppies will get real boring real quick...try a couple dwarf gouramis like neon blue, dwarfs or dwarf golds, they have amazing colour

 

[goldengirl]

i was thinking 6 females + 2 males...
yes, it is my first larger tank, but i have a 150 gallon pond and a 5 gallon tank. i have alot of experience with Koi and Goldfish, this is my first time branching out.
as for "roomates" i would a school of neons and an albino cory be ok?
are the temperatures ok?

 

[TankGirl]

I have Endler's livebearers (very similar to guppies) and take no special precautions whatsoever, other than planting and decorating for my esthetic taste. I still have way more babies than you can imagine, so be ready. Also, second Grimlock3000 and 2-3 females for every male is definitely important, or the females will get too much attention and stress. That generally means the tank is a little less colorful than you might want.

Peaceful community usually involves tetras and rasboras and the like, or you could just get a nice crew (8-9) of tiger barbs and some cory cats for the bottom and have a very lively, colorful tank.

It will be easy to overstock a 20 so give us some feedback and we will be happy to assist. Way to go, auntie!

 

[goldengirl]

ok. i understand the overstocking issue. i have done my research on guppies and also understand the breeding issue. i have had mixed opinions about what to mix them with... corys, barbs, tetras.. and i cannot decide see, i wanted to start with just male guppies... i think that would be easier for now... but then i cant exactly just add a female when i am interested in breeding.. because of the male : female ratio... heeeelpppp

 

[TankGirl]

Okay then, if you keep only males then you could definitely have about 4 cory cats for the bottom, and some tetras of just about any variety (well, almost...) so it will depend upon what you like. Many barbs are a little nippy and guppies have those flowy fins that might be too tempting, so you might want to avoid mixing them. Maybe some hatchetfish for the top level would be nice.

If you want to breed the guppies, then get an el-cheapo 10gal setup and keep 3-4 females in there, and every once in a while pop a male in for some...ahem...quality time.

 

[goldengirl]

lol. quality time eh? im not formilure with barbs... or hatchetfish...
i thought cory's didnt co-exist well with eachother...?

 

[patryuji]

corydoras are fine together. You can mix species of cory and they will still group together.

I would not call tiger barbs a peaceful community fish...but often my tank with some semi-aggressives looks quite peaceful. You could always check some online resources to find out what certain fish look like:
www.fishprofiles.com
www.aquariacentral.com

and there are others.

 

[Menagerie]

Cories are best kept in groups of 3+. I have 11 in my tank and they are doing great. www.liveaquaria.com is a great place to look up basic fish profiles