Fish community ok?

[Alaris]

No tank yet, just thinking about what fish I want. Going to be 55g FW. (In/gal rule ~ 25-30 fish)

8 Cardinal Tetras
6 other Tetras (haven't decided which kind yet)
6 other Tetras (haven't decided which kind yet)
Maybe 4 Otos OR 4 Corys
And my husband wants about 5 fancy guppies.

I've been reading about guppies and how prolific they are. We don't really want to raise fry so I will let them be food. However I've also read that tetras might nip at them? And that males will nip at each other?

What do you think of this fish community? I really do want something very peaceful.

 

[Sum22]

I've had glowlights and neons in the past and I didn't have any problems with them nipping other fish. The key seems to be to keep them in larger groups of 6+ and they should play amongst themselves.

 

[Alaris]

Yes I've read that neons won't bother guppies, but will other tetras?

 

[Sum22]

As long as you have 6 of them, I doubt it. They are classified as a peaceful fish. Once you decide on the exact species you want, you should be able to find information about whether or not they nip fins.

Most the nipping stories come from people who keep 3 or less tetras. Since you are planning more, I doubt it will be an issue. Really, the best thing to do is monitor the fish. If it becomes a problem, return the fish and try a different species.

 

[rich311k]

You should be fine. Depends on what the other tetras will be. I can tell you that is going to be a very light stocking. You can get a lot more fish for the bottom. More like 8-10 cories plus the ottos. Consider a large school of one type of tetra, that can be a more dramatic display. If you like schoolers look at the various rainbow fish that are availalbe as well.

 

[haykay]

I agree 2-4 ottos and 8-10 cories and even more if you get a dwarf or smaller species! Depending on the other tupes of tetras you get you could potentially up their school numbers too, but you may consider just have 2 schools and increasing their numbers greatly! (say 10-12 cardinals)

 

[meegosh]

Just thought I would chime in with my experiences... I have 6 neons tetras, 2 diamond tetras with my two female guppies and one male. I had the guppies in their own, species only tank but they kept eating the fry. Now that they keep dropping fry like crazy I moved them into my 30g long with the tetras. They have been in there for 3 weeks or so and I haven't had any problems with nipping. They actually seem to ignore each other.

I would definitely go for the cardinal tetras over the neons if you can find them. I wish I had a good supplier of cardinals. I started with 8 neons and two of the smallest ones died within a few days (noticed they weren't eating from the start). The other 6 have gotten quite large, all at least 1" and their colors are amazing!!! Very dark blue and dark red.

Just a quick note about tetras eating the fry. I don't think the cardinals will eat the fry, nor would neons. I haven't seen my diamond tetras eat any fry but as I understand it... its a 50/50 shot if they will eat them. I have one lone fry in my 30g that the tetras haven't found yet or are leaving alone. I'm not sure of the total number of fry as I wasn't home.

 

[blazeyreef]

I agree 2-4 ottos and 8-10 cories and even more if you get a dwarf or smaller species! Depending on the other tupes of tetras you get you could potentially up their school numbers too, but you may consider just have 2 schools and increasing their numbers greatly! (say 10-12 cardinals)

I would say 6+ ottos at minimal. They realy do prefer to be in a school
with cardinal tetras, black neons, glowlights and maybe a school of threadfin or celebes rainbows would all be great additions and would not bother anything. I have glowlights, celebes and black neons with guppy and they are all fine
10 coryadoras would be a nice school
good luck

 

[FishEggs]

Just wondering if you were going to have live plants? if so and you could afford it you might want to consider a 75 gal. it gives you more depth (front to back) for nicer aquascaping and it's still only 4ft wide. that would also allow many more fish!!! you would just want to have your plants established and growing b4 putting tetras in there. i think they snack on the plants.

 

[Alaris]

You should be fine. Depends on what the other tetras will be. I can tell you that is going to be a very light stocking. You can get a lot more fish for the bottom. More like 8-10 cories plus the ottos.

rich and haykay,
I could seriously get that many bottom dwellers? I don't want to max out my stocking, but I would like having a large school of cories plus the 4 ottos.

meegosh,
Yes I am definitely going for the cardinals over the neons. My husband saw them at PetSmart and loved them. (Not really going to buy from there unless I can't find them at lfs.)

Just wondering if you were going to have live plants? if so and you could afford it you might want to consider a 75 gal. it gives you more depth (front to back) for nicer aquascaping and it's still only 4ft wide. that would also allow many more fish!!! you would just want to have your plants established and growing b4 putting tetras in there. i think they snack on the plants.

75 gal is too large for me. We were originally looking at a 29gal when we saw the gorgeous 55g. I measured the space in the bedroom and we can't get one that is any deeper. Basically it's on the wall opposite the foot of the bed. This is an apt so the room isn't really "master." If it were a deeper 75, then we'd have to squeeze by.

I'm not going with live plants because I'm a newbie and I don't want it to be too difficult for me to maintain the tank. I'll be happy if I keep the fish alive and happy.