Hi all...

[Jantaris]

Hi everyone...
I'm new to the forum, of course, and, yes, new to keeping aquariums, although it is something I enjoyed watching my parents do as a child. Enjoying this interest with my own family now.
I'm here to learn as much as I can. I'm a bit of a research junkie so I have been spending a ton of time reading all kinds of things.
Our 30 gallon is set up, has been cycled, we're over-filtering with a hang-over filter, and it has a few fish in it and we're hoping to add more. We have the angel, which was actually kind of a rescue. It is such a gorgeous fish and almost to full size with beautiful silver and black marbling, golden stripes on the top fin. We can also see a beautiful iridescent green hue on it when the light strikes just right. Just lovely. Looks to be a boy *if* the hump on its forehead is truly an indication, but I know this is sort of a hit or miss way of sexing angels. It was owned by a teenager who got sick of it so the tank (20 gallon!!! for this big angel!) was not maintained, filter was not working at all, and mom just wanted it out of the house. So we took it in and are housing it in our 30 gallon, which we had live bearers in before (they are now in the 20, which as a result is slightly overstocked with 12 fish (platys, tetras, and too many mollies!!!---working on that!!! Oh man, the potential for a ton of fry here!!!). Angel seems to be thriving, eating well, and enjoying the tank.
Most interested in hearing ideas on how to further stock our 30 to make our lovely angel and the kribentis and danios we added happy. Thinking some dwarf gourami (how many is a big question) and maybe some cherry barbs (although I know from lots of posts there have been mixed views on mixing some of these fish, some positive, some not so). As I noted above, we have some overcrowding happening in our 20 g so we may simply move a few live bearers over and then see where we are, but we'd love some dwarf gourami. We're curing a gorgeous piece of driftwood for the tank and need to build up some more plant life, but it seems we're off to a relatively good start..
I have future ambitions of upgrading our tank to maybe a 55, and would also love a salt water of some variety (maybe a reef).
Looking forward to poking around a bit more. Google searches on fish have brought me to this site a lot so I thought I should finally just join the community.
That's a lot for an intro post but just wanted to let you know where I am with all this. Feel free to chime in on anything I've put here. Otherwise, I'll likely be posting questions about stocking and other issues as I find the appropriate places to do so.
Have a great holiday weekend!

[Ian086]

to AA. I am not too familiar with your stock, so I won't even try and advise you but i'm sure you will get help you need in no time. You certainly came to the right place!!!....

[Jantaris]

Thanks Ian, I appreciate your message. We're really enjoying our tanks and learning so much. I'm really looking forward to hearing from some of the others on stocking. Hope you're enjoying the long weekend!

[Ian086]

Originally Posted by Jantaris

Thanks Ian, I appreciate your message. We're really enjoying our tanks and learning so much. I'm really looking forward to hearing from some of the others on stocking. Hope you're enjoying the long weekend!

I certainly am enjoying it. It's nice to be off work!!!...

[Fishanatic]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice It might be good if you want to have a reef, but it's tough work. It pays off with the beauty of the fish and the wider variety then fresh water though
Good Luck

[Jantaris]

Thanks for the welcome and input.
Yes, reefs. Oh, they are just so gorgeous! I know you can do a live rock one without the reef but the coral is just so amazing and creates a wonderful ecosystem. I'll be asking more about that as we get closer to making a decision/purchase.
But even just with our tropicals, this is such a rewarding venture. So relaxing. I'm also very happy to have the sound of the flowing water and pumps. And our tv, with Netflix, DVD, and all that, is hardly ever on anymore. It is bringing more calm and flow to our home. Yeah, it's work to maintain, but absolutely worth it.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the weekend, Ian. We're a home-based family with our own business so most days the routine is similar. But the Easter Bunny came for a visit, nonetheless. Easter Bunny actually brought a mystery snail to kiddo yesterday!

[Ian086]

Happy Easter holidays to you too.....

[Convict2161]

Welcome to the family! Hope you enjoyed your Easter.

[Jantaris]

Excellent video, Convict 2161. Cichlids are gorgeous fish. We have the kribentis and angel but not sure any other types of cichlid would work for our tank's plan (slightly, very very slightly, semi aggressive community). Although I wish they would...
Thanks for the welcome.

[Sillyfishies]

Regarding stock, I wouldn't put more then 1 gourami in that tank. All the pretty dwarf gouramis are male. 2 males = lots of fighting. A female is a dull gray color and is hard to find. Do you have a pair or just one krib?

If you could give me a full stock list I can give more advice

Andrew

[Jantaris]

Hey Andrew...
Thanks for your reply. Right now, I simply have the angel, 2 kribs (m and juvenile f) and 6 zebra danio. I had the aquarium stocked with live bearers but moved them to a 20 when we inherited this angel. Any suggestions would be appreciated...

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by Jantaris

Hey Andrew...
Thanks for your reply. Right now, I simply have the angel, 2 kribs (m and juvenile f) and 6 zebra danio. I had the aquarium stocked with live bearers but moved them to a 20 when we inherited this angel. Any suggestions would be appreciated...

I would reccomend another school (harlequin rasboras?) and 5 corys.

[Jantaris]

Thanks. Would you skip a gourami altogether then? I don't wanna pick a fish for being pretty and then screw up the balance of things. All is peaceful right now...

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by Jantaris

Thanks. Would you skip a gourami altogether then? I don't wanna pick a fish for being pretty and then screw up the balance of things. All is peaceful right now...

1 dwarf or pearl gourami I think would be fine with that.

[Jantaris]

Great. Thanks for the input and have a great night...