30 Gallon Lightly Planted

[Captainrossguy]

My Aquarium is doing very well, but I would like some general advice. I would like to add either a pleco, a shoal of some type of tetra, or a dwarf puffer.

I use an aquaclear 50 filter' I keep the ph around 7.5, and the temperature around 78 degrees fahrenheit.


Stock:

6 Cherry Barbs (4 male, 2 female)

2 female platies (might sell if tank gets too overstocked)

5 guppies (2 male, 3 female)


Plants:

2 Amazon swords

Christmass moss

Common moss

Marimo moss ball

Driftwood

Assorted fake plants


Thanks for your help!

 

[PNWaquarist]

Bristlenose Pleco would probably work if you give it enough place to hide.

I don't believe that Dwarf Puffers are good community fish. People tend to keep those in species-only tanks.

What is your tank's GH? That may limit the species of tetras that you can keep. Many species also like heavily-planted tanks and can get stressed if there aren't enough plants to hide in. Bloodfin and Black-skirt Tetras are a little less picky regarding planting and water hardness.

It doesn't look like you're in danger of being overstocked any time soon.

 

[FWFishTanks]

Bristlenose Pleco would probably work if you give it enough place to hide.

I don't believe that Dwarf Puffers are good community fish. People tend to keep those in species-only tanks.

What is your tank's GH? That may limit the species of tetras that you can keep. Many species also like heavily-planted tanks and can get stressed if there aren't enough plants to hide in. Bloodfin and Black-skirt Tetras are a little less picky regarding planting and water hardness.

It doesn't look like you're in danger of being overstocked any time soon.

+1 on this post. maybe a school of 8 black skirts of different colors? I say such a large school because it lessens aggression, leading to less nippers and more fun. This is also a good choice because guppies are mostly top dwellers and cherries stick to the bottom. This school would fill the mid section of the tank, giving it a balanced active appeal. A bn pleco on top of the other stock would fill this tank nicely. Welcome to the forum Capn' Crunch!

 

[Fishfur]

Far as I know, puffers are simply not community fish. Too aggressive. Tetras mostly come from relatively soft acidic waters, but many of them are relatively adaptable and will survive in less than ideal conditions. They may not be able to breed, if that's important at all.

Locally our water is very hard, and quite alkaline but people here keep tetras all the time and for the most part they're fine. Some species do better than others.. but neons and cardinals are very popular.

There are some small rasbora species that school and like harder alkaline water better. Harlequins, which come in at least one colour morph, called Purple, usually. Very pretty and easy to tell male from female.. females have yellow heads, males are orange. The regular Harlequin is also very pretty, new copper colour with black blotch on the side. Somewhat unusual body shape, more like some tetras than most other rasboras.

There are a number of rasbora species other than the Harlequin, some are quite tiny species, thus a large school can be maintained in a relatively small space. Chili or Strawberry rasboras are among these. Strawberries are braver, Chilis I have heard can be very shy sometimes.

And there are some smaller danios that might work. Glo light danio or Dwarf spotted, are not as large as the Zebra or Leopard type. There's a danio that I really like, bit smaller than a Cherry barb, comes in two forms. I like the one that resembles a leopard.. Kyathit danio, one form looks a bit like a Giant danio in pattern, the other is bright gold with black spots.. very like a leopard and really striking. More of a shoaling than schooling species.

 

[Captainrossguy]

My ph is around 7.5 which Ive read is good for livebearers

 

[FWFishTanks]

My ph is around 7.5 which Ive read is good for livebearers

7.5 is good for live bearers, but it limits your tetra options. I keep my mollies and platies at about 7.0 just fine. Most tetras can deal with it, but some are more sensitive .

 

[Fishfur]

It's fine for lots of fish. Livebearers for sure, but danios would be fine in it too. My local water is about 7.5, and pretty darn hard. But I've successfully kept several species of danios, cherry barbs, many species of shrimp, cories, kuhli loaches, angel fish, tiger barbs, rasboras and a number of livebearers as well. Angel fish are very popular and their native waters are soft and acidic, but so many popular fish are bred on farms now, and that means they've been bred in water that's probably not that close to what they would have had in their habitat.

The biggest thing with fish is stability. If the conditions are stable, most fish are quite happy. There are some species that have very specific needs and aren't very adaptable, but the majority of fish commonly available are. If they weren't, there would not be many fish that people could keep, really.

If you have super soft, very acidic, super hard or extremely alkaline water, then maybe you have to resort to using an RO filter or something to modify the water and plenty of shrimp keepers do that, because most of the more exciting [ and costly] shrimp need soft acidic water. Most tap water isn't anywhere near what they need. Most water from public water treatment plants is within some fairly narrow parameters when it leaves the treatment plant, so tap water tends to be similar in cities, though of course it's not identical. Depends where it comes from originally to start with and just what treatment is performed, but since pipes are much the same in most places, water can't be too acid or the pipes will suffer, and the same for being extremely hard.. you get hard water scale plugging things up.

So not to worry. There are lots of fish to choose from.

 

[Captainrossguy]

Thanks for your help

 

[Captainrossguy]

Could I add a Kahului loach?

 

[FWFishTanks]

Khulis are social, so I would say four with regular wcs

 

[Fishfur]

I'd be more inclined to have six or seven if you have the space. They are social, and the more of them there are, the more of them you will see. The striped ones are shyer and really need plenty of hiding places. No rough rocks, they will squeeze into the tiniest spots and can damage themselves if the rocks are too rough or coarse. The substrate should not be coarse either. Smooth sand is best for them.. like cory cats, they have barbels which can be damaged and worn by coarse substrates.

Black kuhli loaches are more outgoing than the striped ones. Not as colourful, but you will see much more of them. They like to play a game I call 'ferris wheel', where two or three chase each other in vertical circles, often for quite a long time. Same cautions as any kuhli loach, no rough surfaces and a good number of hiding places. If they have lots of spots to duck into, they feel safer and will be out and about much more.