Fish stock 58 gallon | fish jumble game.{aka bug Menagerie}

[webmoose]

Substrate / light / water is in my 58.

Here is a list of fish that currently have my attention:

rainbow fish
blue gourami
opaline gourami
cories panda / pigmy / bronze
dojo loach
otto's
red tail or rainbow shark
german blue rams

Let's play a game. Pick combos you think would work. kinda like a word jumble game. ITS FISH jumble game. feel free to tell me your thoughts including don't you dare put a gourami in with a rainbow fish. I assume they would not like each other. Anyone know?

[Endgame319]

Any of those fish would be fine together with the exception of the sharks. I would skip them unless your planning a semi-aggro tank. Here's what I would do:

For the Bottom:
2 Dojos
6 Panda or Bronze Cories

Bottom to middle:
3 Rams

Middle-top:
6-10 of your favourite tetras (IMO tetras are needed in every community tank)
5 Small Rainbows (Axelrodi, Praecox, or Boesemani)
1 Gourami (Either, Opaline is just a color morph of the blue gourami)



That total inches per gallon should end up around 60, dojos dont really follow that rule too well because they are long and thin. You could probably even chuck a couple otos in there, if you have good filtration.

[webmoose]

gourami and shark agression concern me would like a gourami but are they all as agressive as the opalines?

[Endgame319]

Gouramis aren't really aggressive, except against other male gouramis. Sometimes it works, but thats the exception and not the norm.

[webmoose]

Thanks for playing along EndGame I can't wait to go out and get some fish!!!

[Menagerie]

I want to play!! Pisces still has pygmies and some beautiful rams . Plus I would get panda cories and tetras (serpea) for a red color. I don't know what dojo loaches look like, but I just bought two yo-yo loaches and they add a yellow color I was missing (BUT they would be another bottom dweller. I have never had rainbowfish, but keep reading about them and they sound lovely.
FYI--I am very bias towards cories--I have 13 in my 50 and five in the 10 gal. If cichlids would leave them alone, they would be in there too!! I don't know the dimensions of your tank, my tank is only 18" deep--lots of "floor space" for my bottom dwellers!

[webmoose]

Hey Menagerie thanks for playing along with me. I was at Pisces today and saw those rams and pigmy's... I might break down and get them tomorow. My tank is 36x18x21 I really like the cories I have as well and couldn't imagine a tank without them.

What kind of cories do you have?

[Allivymar]

Oooo. I want pygmy cories! I have been looking for them in this area for almost a year *sigh*

What kinda rams?

Just a thought, and someone pls correct me if I'm wrong, but do both the rainbows and the gouramis inhabit the top of the water column? There may be a problem between em if they do...

[webmoose]

Thanks for your input Allivymar I am pretty sure Rainbows will win out on my list. I would only add the gourami if he/she played along. The rainbows are def'nátely the more important on my list.

I am not sure I think they might be German Blue Rams. Maybe Menagerie remembers. 1 looked a bit un happy but the rest looked pretty active and happy. I was pretty excite to see the pigmies as well. As soon as I saw the rams in the store I thought of you Allivymar.

I let you know if I break down tomorow and pick up some fish.

[webmoose]

my list looks like this right now:

rainbow fish
cories panda / pigmy / bronze
dojo loach
otto's
german blue rams

ottos will be added once the tank is established

[Allivymar]

Nice combo in terms of fun fish to watch. Watch the dojos and the rams; the rams may get cranky if the dojos invade their space since both are bottom dwellers, but they should be ok (both of em will likely ignore the corys). Btw, you have an awful lot of bottom dwellers (dojo, rams, corys, otos) and only one top dweller. Maybe reconsider one of the bottom guys for a midtank fish?

[Menagerie]

What kind of cories do you have?

Besides pygmies--panda, julii, aeneus, paleatus in the 50 gal. I must admit, I'm not a big fan of my aeneus--he got bigger than I wanted, but he he adds color.

The rams at Pisces were German Blue (I believe). They are beautiful, but not the same species that I have (Bolivians), or I would have taken them home! I was at a cichlid specialty LFS (Tanks A Lot on Elbow and Hertitage) and spoke with Gary (wonderful knowledge of cichlids) about rams the other day. He said the majority of rams are breed in Singapore and the water is very soft. Once the rams get over here, they don't do well since the water is hard. He won't order rams, except from local local breeders. I know the rams at Pisces have been there since at least March 4 (I've been to Pisces often lately due to my ill Badis badis). I have driftwood in the community tank and know the pH is 7.2 (dont' have a hardness test ).
Hey, if you are going to Pisces PLEASE check that the Badis badis (two tanks) are still on QT--look closely and you will see at least a couple in each tank have velvet. Each time I have been in, the QT sign from one or the other tank has "fallen down." The employees NEVER want to look closely for long enough--the lighting is so dim--you can hardly tell the little guys are ill!!! I'm down to 2 out of 6 and the disease will NOT go away

[webmoose]

I picked up 5 pigmy cories. My tank is hilarous. It takes 5 minutes to find all 5 in the big tank. It's like a ''where is waldo book'" I passed on the Ram's. I found some Boesemani Rainbows. I didn't pick them up.. Figured I would ask here first. How sensitive are rainbow and should I be adding them once the tank has been up and running for a while? I plan on taking a seeded filter from my other tank to speed the cycle process along.

Comments on adding Rainbows to a new tank? I don't want to miss getting the Boesemani or are they fairly common? I want to get the Boesemani just want to do it right.. Please advise...

Thanks!

[Endgame319]

I would hold off on the boesemans untill the tank is cycled. Most people dont buy rainbows because they dont show their full color untill their adult, so I wouldnt worry. Try getting your tank seeded as fast as you can, I dont know how pigmies are but they dont sound like very hardy fish.

[Endgame319]

Bah! Double Post

[Menagerie]

I passed on the Ram's

WHY???
You didn't see the Apistos I bet (That's okay, I took them all home with me )

I found some Boesemani Rainbows

They will be mid-upper level dwellers (you can still do rams—I want someone to take them home before I do!). Pisces had a ton of all sorts of rainbows; my guess is they will be there for a while (and IMO they were pricey!).
BTW--my pygmies cycled my 5 gal, but it was seeded from an established tank . The pygmies that you have will probably be fine--they have been in the LFS for over a month!

[webmoose]

Hi all,

I did seed the tank from one of my established as well. Of course I have to get something in the tank other than just the pigmy's or my cycle will take 2 years...

The price was one of the reasons I held off. If they were going to be sensitive thru the cycle I didn't want to loose them at that price.

I passed on the rams for the same reason. Price and didn't want to risk pushing them thru the cycle process.

Ya I didn't see the Apistos! Some of the tanks looked a little rough around the edges I think it's a busy time of year for them.

Now I have basically an empty tank that is suppose to magically cycle with a filter from my other tank and 5 pigmy cory's.. *blush* So I am officially a idiot..

The only fish I own that I could potentially add without buying are: 2 Adult Bronze Cories / 4 cardinals / 2 neons / 5 young guppys / hillstream loach / 2 otto's none of which I assume are good fish to cycle with.

[dahamaker]

The dojo's are cool. They are also known as weather loaches. When the barometric pressure changes in your area, the loaches will go crazy. Swimming all over the tank. I actually prefer Yo-Yo's or Zebra Loaches. I love loaches as a whole.

Derek

[AtodaJ]

Yay! I get to show off one of my pics!



Dojos are the best fish imho. Very fun. They get along great with my Blue and Bolivian Rams. They look alot like eels but are very easy to care for and won't hide all the time. Dojos are pretty fearless and can be tamed quickly. I got mine eating out of my hand. I basically turn my hand into a little plate and he'll come up and get in my hand and chow down... he's very cute. The Rams can be tamed too. My Blue Rams will come right to the surface and kinda jump up a little when I dangle blood worms for them... very cute.

I recommend going with a Dojo Loach and the Rams but wait until you get the tank cycled. Also, if you think you might want to breed Rams then skip the Dojo as Dojo's do not get along with breeding pairs of Rams... he'll eat the eggs. I got no breeding pairs though so everyone gets along great.

[Menagerie]

Now I have basically an empty tank that is suppose to magically cycle with a filter from my other tank and 5 pigmy cory's.. *blush* So I am officially a idiot..

If you want to borrow two ugly tetras to cycle with you are more than welcome to (I just don't know if they would be enough bio mass ).


The Apistos were nowhere near the other cichlids--It was hard finding someone to give me information about them. Luckily, they have those two book racks--my fiancé and I stood there for a long while reading what we could before we took them home


AtodaJ--Nice looking ram!!