Help me choose the right fish

[liulady]

Hi all,

I've been lurking for the last month or so as I've been helping my son get his new aquarium cycled. It is a 30 gallon hexagon and we are almost there (I think) with the cycle.

So, now it is time to start thinking about the actual fish that will someday soon (I hope) live in it.

It will be a freshwater, non-planted (or at least not REAL plants), community tank.

My real hope, since this is my son's first real tank (he has a 10 gallon with 1 goldfish in it...learned the hard way about the size of tank needed for goldfish, etc.) is that we can get some peaceful fish that will be happy without bugging each other. I'm hoping to avoid a lot of trauma with the fish attacking each other, etc.

Can you guys give me some direction on a good start for this tank? In particular, what types of low-maintenance type fish will live happily together in a 30 gallon tank?

Thanks!
Beckie

 

[Luananeko]

You have a lot of flexibility with a 30 gallon compared to your former 10 gallon, so it really depends on what kinds of fish you like. Most schooling fish do well in a 30 gallon community, especially if you stick to larger schools (8+). Just make sure to pick ones that have same water chemistry needs.

Either way, without knowing what kinds of fish catch your eye it's a little hard to make recommendations. If you don't already know what you like your best bet is to go to your LFS and write down the names of any fish that catch your eye. Bring that list here and we can help give you ideas on which might work together best

 

[Evansimp]

I'm personally a huge fan of rainbow fish! I would suggest some of those! Maybe a school of about 5 or 6? Very fun fish! Also maybe add some tetras?

 

[Mebbid]

Stocking for a hex aquarium is a bit wonky due to dimensions but here are some fish that will generally go well together.

Guppies - 1m/2f
Mollies - 1m/2f
Platys - 1m/2f
BN Pleco - 1 at most
Cory Cats - 4 or more
Harlequin Rasboras - 4 or more
Shrimp
Nerite Snails

If you want to look into those and pick a few we can offer some suggestions as to how many to get

Another possibility is to put an angel fish in the tank but they tend to go better with hardier fish such as tetras or some barbs. It can be a bit more of an aggressive tank but I've never really seen any issues with stocking those fish together.

 

[liulady]

Thanks! I'm going to check out some of these suggestions this weekend.

I guess my main goal as we start this tank is to keep things as "non-agressive" as possible. Also, not wanting to have the whole breeding thing going on. Should we stick to all males or all females? Or, will that in itself cause problems?

 

[Luananeko]

If you want to avoid breeding as well as aggression then stay away from livebearers entirely (guppies, endlers, platies, swords, mollies). You can do all male groups of them, but the males are single track minds... So they still try to breed with each other which results in the target nipping back. This is fine as long as you have a larger group so the attentions are diffused, but they can still gang up on each other at times.

Better options include:
Cory cats
Small loaches (dwarf chain loaches are my favorites, but they're expensive)
Dwarf rainbowfish (Threadfins, Gertrude, etc)
Barbs (Tiger Barbs are on the nippy side, but are fine in large schools, or you can go with more passive ones like Cherry Barbs or such)
Tetras
Danios
Rasboras
Etc.

None of the above listed fish will likely breed unless you do some special conditioning, so it's a good idea to have both males and females of the barbs or rainbows for the most fun and natural interactions. Aim for slightly more females than males for best results. You can also add in a solo Pearl, Honey, or Dwarf Gourami as a centerpiece fish if you want. Bettas are another common centerpiece fish, but they have widely varying personalities and not all are community friendly.

Hope this helps

 

[Fishperson]

Tetras, danios, rasboras, and barbs are your best bet, with some corys as a clean up crew. Luananeko is right in that you should stay away from livebearers in general for what you want. Livebearers are fish that give birth to live fish, egg layers lay eggs (duh), just so you know what we mean. Livebearers can breed a lot, very quickly. I recommend:

Black skirt tetras: Need at least 6 of these. They can get kind of big though, almost 3 inches, but they are cool and pretty hardy.

Bloodfin tetras: Need at least 6 of these. They are very hardy fish, I highly recommend them.

Cherry barb: Need at least 6 of these. They are easy to keep as well, and pretty cool looking.

Cory catfish: There are tons of different corys out there, and I think all of them are suitable for 30 gallons. You need at least 4 of them, but more is better. They need smooth gravel, or sand, but they are really awesome fish. Also, they eat any waste that falls on the bottom, so they are useful to have around.

Dwarf gourami: These can get semi-aggressive, but it shouldn't be too bad, and with the fish I mentioned, they should do fine. They are very cool and colorful, but should pretty much only be kept alone.

Harlequin Rasbora: Need at least 6 of these. Pretty hardy, and very tight schoolers when in big groups. Cool coloring too.

Honey gourami: Just like dwarf gourami, but not quite as colorful but completely peaceful.

Neon tetras: Need at least 6 of these. They are kind of shaky at first, but once you have them for a few weeks they become very hardy. Just acclimate them well first.

Zebra danios: Need at least 6 of these. They are incredibly hardy fish, I definitely recommend them. They are very active swimmers that stay near the top.

Remember that these are only some of the many options. But they are the best I could think of.

 

[liulady]

Thanks!

You guys are awesome! Thank you for all the great and very specific answers to my questions. After looking at an empty tank for a month, it is exciting to be getting close to the finish line on this cycle.

When I tested today, I am at 0 ammonia and finally have some nitrates...probably between 20-30 ppm. Those pesky nitrites are just hanging out at .25 ppm, though. So, hopefully, I'm CLOSE to the end. I keep dosing up the ammonia to 4 ppm each day and I can't wait until the day that the nitrites drop to 0! Anybody think that I should do a pwc or should I just be patient at this point?

Last week, I did two 75% pwc back-to-back because the nitrites were off the charts. Since that point, they have hung out at .25-.50 ppm.

 

[Fishperson]

You guys are awesome! Thank you for all the great and very specific answers to my questions. After looking at an empty tank for a month, it is exciting to be getting close to the finish line on this cycle.

When I tested today, I am at 0 ammonia and finally have some nitrates...probably between 20-30 ppm. Those pesky nitrites are just hanging out at .25 ppm, though. So, hopefully, I'm CLOSE to the end. I keep dosing up the ammonia to 4 ppm each day and I can't wait until the day that the nitrites drop to 0! Anybody think that I should do a pwc or should I just be patient at this point?

Last week, I did two 75% pwc back-to-back because the nitrites were off the charts. Since that point, they have hung out at .25-.50 ppm.

It seems you are almost done! It is a great feeling isn't it! Probably another few days, a week at most.

 

[liulady]

Excellent! Yes, I'm so glad to be close to the end. It was really cool to observe the process, though. I feel so much more knowledgeable about the tank having gone through the cycle like this. SO much less stressful than our fish-in goldfish tank cycle for our first tank.

 

[Fishperson]

Excellent! Yes, I'm so glad to be close to the end. It was really cool to observe the process, though. I feel so much more knowledgeable about the tank having gone through the cycle like this. SO much less stressful than our fish-in goldfish tank cycle for our first tank.

IKR. I could never do a fish in cycle in an unplanted tank. It would drive me nuts.

 

[liulady]

More questions....

Ok, had some fun looking at fish this weekend at our lfs. I have a few more questions now:

1. The ph in the tank is on the high side. It seems to hover right around 8. I think this is a factor of the water in our town. Is it of benefit to purchase fish from our local store as opposed to one a distance away?

2. Our lfs has a large selection of tetras. Black skirt tetras were listed as a good, peaceful community fish. Is this true of some of the other varieties? Or, are some tetras more aggressive? I guess I'm wondering if we can mix it up and have a few different types of tetras in the tank without worrying if they will all get along.

3. I was hoping to find some harlequin rasboras. We need a top-dwelling fish for this tank. Our lfs only had something called scissor tail rasboras (or something like that). Is there another name that the harlequin rasboras might go by? The employee who didn't seem terribly knowledgable, thought that they might be rosy barbs or something else like that.

4. It was mentioned that cory catfish need smooth gravel or sand. Well, we have probably your run-of-the-mill gravel in this tank. How does one find "smooth" gravel? Is it larger than regular gravel?

Thanks!

 

[Mebbid]

Ok, had some fun looking at fish this weekend at our lfs. I have a few more questions now:

1. The ph in the tank is on the high side. It seems to hover right around 8. I think this is a factor of the water in our town. Is it of benefit to purchase fish from our local store as opposed to one a distance away?

2. Our lfs has a large selection of tetras. Black skirt tetras were listed as a good, peaceful community fish. Is this true of some of the other varieties? Or, are some tetras more aggressive? I guess I'm wondering if we can mix it up and have a few different types of tetras in the tank without worrying if they will all get along.

3. I was hoping to find some harlequin rasboras. We need a top-dwelling fish for this tank. Our lfs only had something called scissor tail rasboras (or something like that). Is there another name that the harlequin rasboras might go by? The employee who didn't seem terribly knowledgable, thought that they might be rosy barbs or something else like that.

4. It was mentioned that cory catfish need smooth gravel or sand. Well, we have probably your run-of-the-mill gravel in this tank. How does one find "smooth" gravel? Is it larger than regular gravel?

Thanks!

1. pH isn't that big of a deal in where you purchase fish. When you buy fish from somewhere with a different water supply just take more time to acclimate them. Take out 1/2 a cup of bag water and replace it with 1/2 cup of your tank water. Do this every 10 minutes or so until the pH is equalized. This will give the fish plenty of time to acclimate to the new pH level of your tank.

2. I would probably stick to a single breed of tetras. They will school together and having a school of all the same color fish is a really nice touch.

3. The scissor tails are a vastly different fish that get up to 6" in length. I would search around more for the harlequin rasboras as they are more suited to the smaller footprint of a hex.

4. You should find the smooth gravel in your LFS. The standard colored gravel has rough edges while the smoother gravel tends to have a more natural look to it. Sand might be a nice touch in a hex tank as it will help you keep the substrate cleaner.

 

[Luananeko]

Ok, had some fun looking at fish this weekend at our lfs. I have a few more questions now:

1. The ph in the tank is on the high side. It seems to hover right around 8. I think this is a factor of the water in our town. Is it of benefit to purchase fish from our local store as opposed to one a distance away?

2. Our lfs has a large selection of tetras. Black skirt tetras were listed as a good, peaceful community fish. Is this true of some of the other varieties? Or, are some tetras more aggressive? I guess I'm wondering if we can mix it up and have a few different types of tetras in the tank without worrying if they will all get along.

3. I was hoping to find some harlequin rasboras. We need a top-dwelling fish for this tank. Our lfs only had something called scissor tail rasboras (or something like that). Is there another name that the harlequin rasboras might go by? The employee who didn't seem terribly knowledgable, thought that they might be rosy barbs or something else like that.

4. It was mentioned that cory catfish need smooth gravel or sand. Well, we have probably your run-of-the-mill gravel in this tank. How does one find "smooth" gravel? Is it larger than regular gravel?

Thanks!

1. A pH of 8 is fairly high, so you'll definitely want to check the water parameter range for the fish you plan on getting. Fish that are from South America (such as tetras) in particular tend to prefer acidic water. You can help buffer the tank into the correct range via a variety of ways if you get any that need the lower pH. Plants and driftwood will naturally tend to lower the pH, as does the use of peat, or there are various buffers that can be mixed into the water you'll be using in your water changes.

2. Some tetras are nippier than others (worst offenders usually being Serpae Tetras), but Black Skirts are usually pretty tame. The larger the school the less likely they'll nip at their tankmates. If you aren't sure on a species on how nippy they are, ask here and we can tell you

3. Mebbid beat me to this one

4. Try running your hands through the gravel. If it feels scratchy at all, then it will hurt the cory cat's barbels.

 

[bud29]

1. A pH of 8 is fairly high, so you'll definitely want to check the water parameter range for the fish you plan on getting. Fish that are from South America (such as tetras) in particular tend to prefer acidic water. You can help buffer the tank into the correct range via a variety of ways if you get any that need the lower pH. Plants and driftwood will naturally tend to lower the pH, as does the use of peat, or there are various buffers that can be mixed into the water you'll be using in your water changes.

2. Some tetras are nippier than others (worst offenders usually being Serpae Tetras), but Black Skirts are usually pretty tame. The larger the school the less likely they'll nip at their tankmates. If you aren't sure on a species on how nippy they are, ask here and we can tell you

3. Mebbid beat me to this one

4. Try running your hands through the gravel. If it feels scratchy at all, then it will hurt the cory cat's barbels.

Most fish will adapt to a pH of 8, I have had tetras spawn in 8.4. Just be sure to acclimate the fish well and you should be fine. As for tetras, I disagree that black skirts are tame - they can be quite nippy - they are right up there with silvertips, red eyes, diamonds, and serpaes IME.

Usually barbel erosion on corys has to do more with bad water quality than it does with substrate. If the substrate is rough instead of smooth, barbels may erode quicker when water conditions are bad - however keeping the water clean really should help you avoid the problem in the first place.

 

[liulady]

Super happy to report that it looks as if the tank has cycled! I'm giving it this week to be sure (since my son is at camp anyway...don't want to add any fish without him). But, the nitrite level finally dropped to zero with plenty of nitrates. Going to have to do a huge water change, but it was very exciting to see the nitrite vial finally stay aqua colored after weeks of purple.

So, I think we are going to take our chances with the black skirt tetras being "nippy". I'm hoping that by getting 6 of them, it will help them to keep it to themselves and not bother the other fish. Our lfs just has a nice bunch of black skirts, and my son really liked the look of them, too.

What do you think of this stocking idea? I'm not SET on any of it...just trying to get an idea at this point.

6 black skirt tetras
6 harlequin rasboras
1 gourami (either dwarf or honey...not sure which)
maybe 3-4 cory cats?

Do we have room in the 30 gallon hex for 6 zebra danios? Or is that just too much?

Also, on the cory cats. Since they need to come to the surface, is it cruel to keep them in a hexagon tank where the surface is WAY up there? Not sure how often they need to get to the top.

 

[Mebbid]

Super happy to report that it looks as if the tank has cycled! I'm giving it this week to be sure (since my son is at camp anyway...don't want to add any fish without him). But, the nitrite level finally dropped to zero with plenty of nitrates. Going to have to do a huge water change, but it was very exciting to see the nitrite vial finally stay aqua colored after weeks of purple.

So, I think we are going to take our chances with the black skirt tetras being "nippy". I'm hoping that by getting 6 of them, it will help them to keep it to themselves and not bother the other fish. Our lfs just has a nice bunch of black skirts, and my son really liked the look of them, too.

What do you think of this stocking idea? I'm not SET on any of it...just trying to get an idea at this point.

6 black skirt tetras
6 harlequin rasboras
1 gourami (either dwarf or honey...not sure which)
maybe 3-4 cory cats?

Do we have room in the 30 gallon hex for 6 zebra danios? Or is that just too much?

Also, on the cory cats. Since they need to come to the surface, is it cruel to keep them in a hexagon tank where the surface is WAY up there? Not sure how often they need to get to the top.

The corys don't need to get to the top but the gourami certainly does. I don't assume it would be too much trouble for him but I would hesitate to put a betta in a tank like that.

 

[Scottyhorse]

I have a betta in what I think is a 25 gallon hex. To my surprise, he zooms all over the tank , and even sleeps at the bottom.

 

[bud29]

IMO a betta would have its fins destroyed in a tank with black skirts. I am sure somebody, somewhere, has made it work, however that would definitely be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[liulady]

It's so funny how these threads tend to get sidetracked by a random comments Don't worry...betas were never even a thought for this particular tank.

Anyone care to weigh in on the list I gave, though? Too many fish or are we in the ballpark?

Thanks