Hello, fish people.

[Cechoo]

Hello. You all may refer to me as Cechoo.

I am 23, a student, and an avid gamer. I'm not a newbie to the aquarium hobby, but by no means am I a veteran. I first got into the hobby through my mother. I remember being completely in awe at the Violet goby, bumblebee gobies, and mollies that she kept in her 70 gal brackish tank. I have kept a few tanks while I lived with my parents(a betta, assassin snails, kuhli loaches, and angels) I had to give up the hobby, however, when I moved off to college.

I have recently gotten to a more stable living situation, and decided try my hand at fish keeping once more.

Time to introduce my tank:

It's a freshwater 15 Gal that's about 1.5 years old now with an over the back filter, heater, and whisper air pump connected to a piece of limewood. It currently contains 4 Kuhli loaches(they are my favorite) and 5 ghost shrimp. I have attempted introducing 3 zebra dainos at one point, but instead of schooling, they fought constantly and nipped one another's fins, so I returned them. I have also tried 3 male fancy guppies(all of which apparently succumbed to major fin rot on the first day while still in quarantine). I cannot find a reliable LFS at my location so I am stuck with PetSmart and Petco, both of which don't seem to have very healthy fish. So I just have these cute and quirky bottom feeders for now.

The tank is currently decorated with silk plants, a tiny piece of drift wood, and a few rocks. I want to eventually replace all of my fake plants with real ones. To get started, I have java fern and a few marimo balls in order atm and should get them for my tank in a week or so. I also want to replace the yucky gravel with some type of sand, but the method of how and type of sand is still to be decided.

 

[shellyx]

Welcome to the forum

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp and snails

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[darkhymn]

Welcome to the forum! Your zebras likely failed for two reasons. First, they're extremely active and need more space to swim than a 15g offers. Second, they're schoolers that do best in groups no smaller than 6. They love to play tag and race around the tank, play in the currents and bubbles, and just be active and playful in general. Sorry to hear about your guppies
What you'll want to do with petco and petsmart is find out what day they get new stock in, and how long after that (usually the following day) they will sell the new stock. Then go in on that day and pick the healthiest looking, most active fish in the tanks. Remember to research the fish you're buying beforehand so you know what you're looking for, and so you know what you'll need to do to care for them.

 

[jetajockey]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Cechoo]

Welcome to the forum! Your zebras likely failed for two reasons. First, they're extremely active and need more space to swim than a 15g offers. Second, they're schoolers that do best in groups no smaller than 6. They love to play tag and race around the tank, play in the currents and bubbles, and just be active and playful in general. Sorry to hear about your guppies
What you'll want to do with petco and petsmart is find out what day they get new stock in, and how long after that (usually the following day) they will sell the new stock. Then go in on that day and pick the healthiest looking, most active fish in the tanks. Remember to research the fish you're buying beforehand so you know what you're looking for, and so you know what you'll need to do to care for them.

Thank you for the advice. I figured the dainos had something to do with space. I also keep reading conflicting information on fancy guppies, so I think I'm going to just stay clear of those from now on anyways.

Thank you for the welcome everyone.

 

[darkhymn]

I've read that guppies can be sensitive to water quality changes. Sounds to me like yours were sick when you got them, however.
Real plants are a goal of mine as well. I believe I've read that java fern and some mosses do quite well in low tech, low light setups. You'll have to let us know how that works for you!
If I might make a suggestion (based purely on research, I have no personal experience here), if your loaches are a little shy, one or two more might help them to feel more comfortable.
What kind of fish are you thinking of to fill those upper reaches? You've tried some schoolers, so if that's what you're looking for, Rasboras are a nice, easy, attractive mid to top dweller with a bit of natural curiosity and playfulness who might do well. My harlequins are delightful.

 

[Cechoo]

I've read that guppies can be sensitive to water quality changes. Sounds to me like yours were sick when you got them, however.
Real plants are a goal of mine as well. I believe I've read that java fern and some mosses do quite well in low tech, low light setups. You'll have to let us know how that works for you!
If I might make a suggestion (based purely on research, I have no personal experience here), if your loaches are a little shy, one or two more might help them to feel more comfortable.
What kind of fish are you thinking of to fill those upper reaches? You've tried some schoolers, so if that's what you're looking for, Rasboras are a nice, easy, attractive mid to top dweller with a bit of natural curiosity and playfulness who might do well. My harlequins are delightful.

My loaches seem pretty darn active, wiggling across the tank on a daily basis as a group. When they arn't huddled under the rock, they tend to perch in the branches of two of the fake plants in the corners of the tank.(One is behind a broad leafed plant where it stays quite dark even with the light on.) They are almost like "tree loches." Haha. Yea I hope to get my live plants in soon to enhance the livelihood of both my loaches and my shrimp.

I would love a top dweller in my tank, but it would seem that I would need something VERY tiny to fit a schooler in my 15 gal tank. I just looked up Rasoras. It's a very pretty fish, but it seems to call for large schools. The only solitary i can seem to find is a betta, and I'm worried about one eating my shrimp. I am probably going to just stick with shrimp and loaches(maybe adding a couple more like you suggest) for the time being, unfortunately. Well at least until I can upgrade my tank to a larger one.
My mother has a beautiful 35 bowfront that she isn't using, so I was thinking about obtaining that at some point.

 

[darkhymn]

Have you looked into dwarf/honey gouramis? They usually need to be in groups of three (a male and two females), but they are generally a little smaller and less aggressive than bettas. I find them to be beautiful top dwellers.

 

[samanthawilson4]

Man that is one beautiful tank you have there. I am just now getting mine going. I am going to try to raise crawfish for food for my family. Got to try everything at least once right? I hope that in the future we will have a chance to help one another. And I hope that you Saturday is a pleasant one. Blessings to you and yours.

 

[Oto]

Welcome! For fish, have you seen endlers? They're related to guppies, but they are smaller and hardier, and would do great in a 15 gallon tank. In my opinion, they're better looking. They're a bit hard to find though.

 

[Cechoo]

Have you looked into dwarf/honey gouramis? They usually need to be in groups of three (a male and two females), but they are generally a little smaller and less aggressive than bettas. I find them to be beautiful top dwellers.

Thanks for the info. I will look into honey gouramis.