Poor little lonely tetras!

[Pinnyfish]

Hello,

I've just become the proud owner of a lovely little 35l tank (I think that's in the region of 9 gallons to our friends across the pond!) with the filter/heater and whatnot all built in. I've kitted it out with plants, substrate, hidey-holes etc, and am now getting to the tricky bit - which fish to add, and how to overcome the dreaded nitrate cycle.

I'd like to keep a tank stocked with compatible fish. Ultimately, regardless of which ones I go for, I want my new friends to be both happy and healthy. So I'd really appreciate some advice:

1. I've done the initial research and know it's important not to get carried away and add too many fish in one go, particularly with a little tank like mine. The general consensus is to add a new one every month or so until the aquarium is established enough to cope. BUT... What about the poor little shoaling fish that prefer to be in groups? Surely they'd be terribly unhappy if alone or in too few numbers for the first few months? Is it OK to buy three or four of them to start off with, seeing as they're smaller?

2. So far, I plan to keep some guppies, tetra (either neon or cardinal) and maybe a couple of platies. Can anyone foresee any problems with this setup? If not, perhaps you could also give me an idea of how many of each would go well together in a tank of this size. Not sure whether it makes a difference, but the tank is cylindrical, dimensions are 46cm (h) x 36cm diameter. Am I going to need to consider that some fish prefer a long tank rather than a tall tank?

Thanks so much for your help

 

[Blueiz]

Have you considered doing a fishless cycle?

 

[An t-iasg]

If I were stocking this tank, I would go with a school of tetras. Platies and guppies are livebearers and soon you'll be overrun with them in a small tank. If you do a fishless cycle as blueiz suggests, you can add the whole school of tetras at once after the cycle is finished.

The dimensions of the tank - tall rather than long - will affect your stocking decisions too. Tall tanks don't have as much water surface area as longer tanks for oxygen exchange.

 

[Pinnyfish]

Thanks for your help - I had briefly thought about cycling without fish but was feeling a tiny bit selfish (i.e. I want fish and I want them now!!!). But in response to your recommendations, I'm being very restrained - went and bought the Tetra SafeStart kit. And although I'm going to be champing at the bit for the next month, at least I know that when I finally get some fish, they'll be safe from poison. And hopefully, I'll be able to add a couple more fish than otherwise - no lonely little neons after all!