Centerpiece fish for 13 gallon?

[robbyno22]

We have a planted 13 gallon tank that currently houses 5 neon tetras, and 1 mystery snail. We plan on adding 5 endlers and a few RCS. According to aqadviser, we have room for 1 more small school of nano fish, or a centerpiece fish. My husband really wants a cp fish, and really likes the dwarf gouramis. My concern about them is how sensitive they are, since they will be going in a 2 yr olds bedroom! Are there any fish that would get along with the endlers and neons, or should we just get another small school?
Thank you for your suggestions!

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[twiddlemuffin]

How about a betta ?

 

[venymae]

I've had luck with female bettas. Also you might up your schools a little (6-7) the look much nicer that way. Also a brightly colored platy or two might look nice. Both have done very well with my two year old son, especially since we explained to him that "poking the glass gives the fishes booboo's, so lets not do that" He calls the bettas "cute fish" and the platy "orange cow fish"...beats me where he got that from! Anyway, both are good centerpiece fish and hardy.
BTW- where did you find a 13 gallon?! That seems like such an odd size!

 

[azmodan]

Honey gourami could work.

 

[venymae]

Honey Gourami would work too, though they are a little more delicate and usually like a lot of surface coverage. Make sure you research them a little before deciding if they would be a good fit for your tank.

 

[Mebbid]

Dwarf gourami sensitivity is overstated. If you line them then I would say go for it as they are a good beginner fish. I wouldn't however put bettas in with neon tetras since the bettas require a higher temperature than the neons.

 

[venymae]

They do have overlap in their temp requirement though. Your bettas would be at their low end and the neons at their high. I still think it works.

 

[robbyno22]

My neons seem to prefer warmer water...I'm going to lower it though because at the lowest setting, my heater is making the water 80-81. They seems to do best at 78-79, but I just moved, and can't maintain that temp in the new place without the heater. We lost our our betta after we moved him from his 3.5 gallon bowl to the tank, so we don't really want to go that route My hubby is being so picky! He doesn't like the other gouramis! We are going to go to another LFS today to look around. It's supposed to be the best in the area, so maybe they will have a few options that we haven't seen.
Thank you for your input! It's hard because I hear about a fish, then research it, but maybe I just haven't heard about the perfect fish yet, ya know

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[Mebbid]

neon tetras have a preferred temp of 68 - 74. Try dropping it a few more degrees.

 

[robbyno22]

Yeah, I started with it low, but we lived in an extremely warm apartment with no air, and the tetras were much more active and ate more when the temp was higher, so I was trying to keep it at 78, but it's gonna have to be lower

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[Mebbid]

Yeah, I started with it low, but we lived in an extremely warm apartment with no air, and the tetras were much more active and ate more when the temp was higher, so I was trying to keep it at 78, but it's gonna have to be lower

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That's normal. The warmer the water, the more active the fish are and the more they eat. However it will decrease their life span

 

[Fishguy1111]

You could also just make the schools bigger.

 

[Fishperson]

I also have had good experiences with neons in 78 degree water, but often higher. I don't think it's a major problem.

 

[robbyno22]

Water is at 77-78 right now. Will different tetra species shoal together? We found some red phantom tetra that we really liked, and the LFS lady said that with what we have/want in our tank, we could easily do 3 of the phantoms. However, I'm seeing on line that they need a minimum of 5-6 in one school. Will they school with my neons? Also, she said they have a really small bio load, so would it hurt to go over 100% on aqadvisor in order to get a larger school?

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[Fishguy1111]

Squad visor is kind of conservative, so it would be ok, as long as you stay below 115ish%.

 

[Fishperson]

What're the dimensions of the of the tank? They do need room to swim around, I don' think it's too good of an idea.

 

[robbyno22]

It's a 13 gallon, but the length of a 20. The phantom aren't big swimmers, so they are perfect for our size tank and the small fish we have

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[Fishperson]

It's a 13 gallon, but the length of a 20. The phantom aren't big swimmers, so they are perfect for our size tank and the small fish we have

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If you think so...

 

[robbyno22]

We got 2 black phantoms, as they do well in pairs. We will be adding 3 more, we just need to decide on red or black. We decided to get less endlers to accommodate the phantoms. So far, even with just 2, they are doing great! Within minutes they started shoaling with the neons, and 30 mins in, they had their full coloration. They've been in almost 24 hours now, and seem so much happier! I really like the black ones, but they swim more than the red, so we will probably get the other 3 in red. And yes, I know the black and red aren't the exact same fish, but from all my research, they will school together.

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