Beautiful fish for 15Gal

[Tuck]

I have a 15 gallon tank that I'm setting up, a d I plan to stock it as follows:

Male guppies,
Range of tetras,
Red Cherry Shrimp,
Some Snails,
Possibly a Cory or 2?

So I'm just left looking for a beautiful fish with a slighter larger size to be the main fish in the tank, any ideas? Or would I be overstocked?

 

[Sharpchick]

I have a 15 gallon tank that I'm setting up, a d I plan to stock it as follows:

Male guppies,
Range of tetras,
Red Cherry Shrimp,
Some Snails,
Possibly a Cory or 2?

So I'm just left looking for a beautiful fish with a slighter larger size to be the main fish in the tank, any ideas? Or would I be overstocked?

You're already overstocked.

 

[Tuck]

You're already overstocked.

I don't see how.. Having 10 small fish and 2 corys in a 15g.
Your the first person to say I'm overstocked.

 

[Sharpchick]

You didn't specify the number of any of the fish except the cories, and 2 on them is a bad number because they are shoaling fish. Five or six is what it will take on cories to make them feel secure. Pygmy cories would be best for that size tank, and you'd then be stocked halfway.

Guppies can be little poop machines. That adds to ammonia in the tank. Most snails are also heavy on the poop, except for nerites, which can't live long without algae or a substitute. Since you are talking about a new tank, there would not be any algae in the tank for nerites or any other snails.

Shrimp keepers will tell you that the only truly successful tank mates for shrimp are algae eaters. The shrimp usually become snacks, or die because they see all the predatory fish and stay in hiding.

I don't know about being the only person to say you are overstocked. I can't see that anyone else has replied to this thread. Having a successful tank, where all the fish are well cared for, means more than buying a bunch of pretty fish and dumping them in there.

Fifteen gallon tanks are pretty limited for stocking purposes, unless you are going shrimp-only, and then, that's a very good size.

 

[AngelFishGirl]

I have a 15 gallon tank that I'm setting up, a d I plan to stock it as follows:

Male guppies,
Range of tetras,
Red Cherry Shrimp,
Some Snails,
Possibly a Cory or 2?

So I'm just left looking for a beautiful fish with a slighter larger size to be the main fish in the tank, any ideas? Or would I be overstocked?

How many tetras (and types) are we talking about? And male guppies? He is right about you already being overstocked but it is okay to be a little bit overstocked as long as you are diligent with water changes and closely monitor your levels.
Do you have a test kit? And have you cycled properly?

I don't know why the other guy is being so rude about it. We are all here to help each other out. We all make beginner's mistakes.

 

[AngelFishGirl]

I don't know about being the only person to say you are overstocked. I can't see that anyone else has replied to this thread. Having a successful tank, where all the fish are well cared for, means more than buying a bunch of pretty fish and dumping them in there.

There really is no reason to get snippy. Everyone was a beginner once and everyone makes mistakes

 

[Sharpchick]

There really is no reason to get snippy. Everyone was a beginner once and everyone makes mistakes

I responded to a vague number of fish, and a specific statement. The OP seems to want to just put colorful fish in the tank with no real thought about the needs of the individual fish and inverts, and said specifically that s/he had been told that would be fine.

range of tetras is very vague. Tetras are also shoaling fish, and adding one of this one, and two or three of that one is not a good idea. After you get a shoal of cories and a shoal of tetras in a 15 gallon tank, you are pretty much stocked.

This also sounds like a new tank, and what I've always heard, and better yet, experienced, is that cories and tetras should be added to a tank after the cycle is complete. Neons and cardinals in particular can be killed with bad water chemistry.

Adding a larger centerpiece fish to the vague plan was part of what the OP asked. I said the tank was already overstocked. You agreed.

Would you proceed with the plan outlined in the first post?

 

[Sharpchick]

Here are two useful tools for people who are thinking about starting freshwater fish tanks.

Freshwater Fish Compatibility

Intelligent Freshwater Aquarium Stocking Calculator

 

[AngelFishGirl]

Sharp - I apologize. I took your wording as an aggressive statement.

OP - on top of the links Sharp provided you, once your tank is cycled, check out AQAdvisor. It's a great website to help you out on stocking. Use it as a guideline - not as law - for stocking.