Which Fish to Join this Tank?

[trennamw]

Anxiously waiting for my very first "real" fish tank to cycle, interested in opinions and suggestions on the inhabitants.



(Eta 29 gallon tank)... My favorite book so far, The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David Boruchowitz, has a lot of stocking schemes for beginners. There is a lot that I love about the idea of this one, "Teeming with Tinies."



I like: The thought of a lot of fish forming a handful of schools. The neutral colors with interesting patterns. That they aren't the exact fish I see in every single tank.



The things I don't like/wonder about: I find Pristellas a little creepy, and Pygmy Gourami a little boring. I also aesthetically don't like the idea of an equal "volume" of 6 different fish. I'd prefer a sort of pyramid scheme, with a large volume of 1, medium volumes of 2-3, and a small volume of 1 "accent."



And the book was published in 2001 so maybe there are changes in what's available or known about each fish.



So what modifications do you suggest on:



-- 6 Spotted Danio (I'm considering "Burmese Gold Ring Danio" I saw at LFS)

-- 6 Botia Sidthimunki (Dwarf Loach, black and white spotted pattern)

-- 8 Dwarf Pencilfish (which supposedly feel secure in this mix of tines)

-- 5 Dwarf/Pygmy Cories

-- 6 Pristella

-- 2 Pygmy Gourami or honey dwarf Gourami (about 2")

*** The author, whose fish keeping credentials are impressive, calculated the fish not based on inches of fish, but the volume of the fish. This is more than 1" per gallon because the fish are "skinny."



My initial thought is to swap the Pristella for 6 more Danios, and swap the Gourami for ... ?



Yes I'll add slowly, starting with the 6 Danio, going through the list, adding the final 6 Danio if I've been able to keep the water conditions stably healthy.



A photo of the tank (taken when I was too excited to wait for the water to clear) is below. (not a bow front; bad photo) Aesthetically I'm interested in a sort of natural river-ish look. Interesting patterns, variety, but a lot of neutral colors. I'm super picky about aesthetics, so the appearance is as important to me as the science.

 

[trennamw]

Photo didn't work. Consider it neutral, natural ... not a lot of hiding places but I'm told with all small fish they won't feel the need for it. Substrate is sand, small gravel, medium gravel, some 2-3" flat river rocks. About 9 plastic plants.

 

[venymae]

I personally like the look of fewer larger schools, than I do multiple smaller schools. What size tank do you have? Besides size of fish the other thing you need to take into account if you are going to swap out fish, is there activity level. For example zebra danios are small in volume, but very high in energy and therefore not suited to smaller aquariums even though there size looks like they would be. You can always leave out the gourami's and see how you like it simply without them (there is NOTHING wrong with understocking) or you could simply wait to find that "perfect fish" there really is no rush. Take your time, do it right. Do a little research and you should be good! Good luck and post some pics (try again, I know it didn't work the first time) we'd love to see your tank.

 

[trennamw]

Oops ... Lol ... 29 gallons. photo before the water cleared.

 

[venymae]

Oo! Love your set up! Looks very natural. Have you considered doing a black background? It really makes your fish 'pop' and would work well with your more neutral tones.

 

[Claireabigailq]

For an easy background just tape black construction paper to the back of the tank and you are all set!

 

[Coursair]

Pygmy Cories are awesome ! Esp in large groups. C hastatus and C pygmaeus are both midwater swimmers and love to perch on plant leaves. They do feed on the bottom as well as midwater. C habrosus is a normal Cory shape and is mostly a bottom dweller. Some of my favorite fish !!!

Other good choices:
ember Tetras, CPDs and Threadfin Rainbows.


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[trennamw]

What's a cpd? I'm new here ...

I did in fact consider a black background, to make the mechanicals less obvious and to contrast the white sand. Thanks for the affirmation it'd make the fish stand out! My beta tank has the same led lights and is inside a black bookcase, but I wasn't sure it'd go as well with fish that aren't a bright color.

 

[Coursair]

CPDs = Celestial Pearl Danios aka Galaxy Rasboras aka Danio margaritatus.

Lovely. Tiny fish. I call mine Tiny Trout. Keep 7 in a 10g.


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[trennamw]

Love the CPDs!! Is there any way in which they wouldn't directly interchange with the spotted danio? Same size, needs and behavior?

 

[threnjen]

Just keep in mind the Sidthimunki loaches are crazy expensive. They are 10 bucks each at Wet Spot and that's if you buy 6 at a time. I want some too but ouch They are so cute though.

I personally think the CPDs are so small they would kind of get lost in your tank. They are exceptionally pretty though. But they make a better nano fish in a really small tank like a 5-10. At Wet Spot they are on the row with the nano fish

You saw my favorite fish today, the German Blue Ram! Also I really love angels too. They are so elegant and graceful.
The ram though, you need to wait a few months after cycling to be sure your tank is well established, because they need really perfect water quality, and nitrates that don't go over 20.

Your tanks have really pretty aquascapes.

If you like the body shape but not the look/color of Pristella, look at: Black Skirt, White Skirt, Bleeding Heart, Rosy, etc etc there are a ton of tetras with the same basic "look" in different color combos

 

[trennamw]

Thanks Jen!! I was reading about the Ram on the way home and can see how it'd be added last and after a loooong time of great and stable water conditions. Looks like it also might need a better hiding spot than I have, though it's tank mates would be tiny.

And that's good to know about the loaches. I saw another one there I liked that I think stayed small but I'll keep looking at alternatives.

The fish guy who talked me into the power head instead of the bubbler said the fish would enjoy the current but now I'm reading the danio love just a gentle current ... It's a aqua clear 40 and really moves the water. Having see how differently the betta behaves when his water is more turbulent than he likes I want to explore that more too.

My plan was about 3 fish a week, even though the tank will be cycled, so I have a lot of time to think.

 

[Coursair]

With Nano fish they do need a well planted tank to feel secure. They more hiding places the more you'll see them. I have 7 CPDs in a heavily planted 10g with a black background. My friend has 9 CPDS in a lightly planted 20 Long with no background. It drives her crazy that mine will come out much more than hers. They are shy, but there are always some of mine in view. When I feed them and watch the tank this is what I see. Disclaimer...old vid of my 10g
http://youtu.be/aptmdICahvM


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[Coursair]

And i usually don't recommend mixing timid tiny fish with larger, more aggressive eaters. Rams can eat some of the Nano fish AFAIK.


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[threnjen]

Right but Op doesn't have a tiny tank, she has a 29. I meant more visually the CPDs are going to get visually lost in such a big tank. They are such a bitty fish.

Trenna if you def want a small loach the Sidthimunkis are a really good bet because they are peaceful community loaches. A lot of the other loaches can be annoying to their tankmates.
Also Sidthimunkis eat snails!
And they are mega cute. I really want some.

 

[Coursair]

Right but Op doesn't have a tiny tank, she has a 29. I meant more visually the CPDs are going to get visually lost in such a big tank. They are such a bitty fish.

Trenna if you def want a small loach the Sidthimunkis are a really good bet because they are peaceful community loaches. A lot of the other loaches can be annoying to their tankmates.
Also Sidthimunkis eat snails!
And they are mega cute. I really want some.

Yes, I saw the OPs tank size. I saw the OP wanted tiny fish. I know Rivercats I think has CPDs in a big tank.

I think you just need bigger groups. 20 CPDs or Gold Rings instead of 5 for example.

But that's my thinking. I love my Nano Fish.

The visuals are live plants with life swimming about


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[trennamw]

Yeah I was just curious if anyone had tried a large large school of tiny tiny fish in a bigger tank. If none of the fish are big I'd think the little ones would stand out.

But the necessity of more plants and my growing fascination with a few other larger fish has me steering back toward my original plan. I already have a garden and barely have time to maintain it!!

Definitely doing what I can to make the budget fit the loaches Jen... I'll get them last, probably 2 months from now.

 

[trennamw]

I lost track of which thread I'm on. Lol. In this scheme I do think the CPDs would get lost. But less so in another one I had going that was a few large schools of very small fish.

But I'm coming back to this list every time I consider something else.

I do like thereadfin rainbows, and am liking the Pygmy (sparkling) gourami more though am concerned they'd need more cover.

The loaches are definitely happening if the wet spot keeps the price around $10 each for 6. And 6 zebra danios, maybe more if they wouldn't collectively scare the shyer fish.

Going to the wet spot today to confuse myself further.

 

[trennamw]

Wow. Fun afternoon at our LFS, The Wet Spot. Lucky to have a store like that right near home!!

I've gone around and around but I keep coming back to a variation on this "Teeming with Tinies" 29 gallon scheme from the book I'm loving most ... Several schools of small fish, which makes the usually shy species feel more secure. Colors are blacks and silvers with some brown and reddish.

6 Spotted Danio (I may sub a larger number of Danio Tinwini; Burmese Gold Ring Danio).

8 Dwarf Pencilfish. These supposedly aren't so shy, with all these other little fish.

6 Harlequin Rasbora (in place of the Pristella). The other fish have lots of stripes and dots so that differently shaped black marking is nice.

6 Dwarf Loaches (Sidthimunki). LOVE these, love that they eat snails, and I can shift my budget to accommodate.

5 Pygmy Cories.

And, just skipping the Sparkling Gourami. They're so pale and so small, having two seems pointless?

Probably a mystery snail and some ghost shrimp too. Can't do too much for cleaning, right?

(Again, stocking scheme came originally from a book by Boruchowitz, credit where credit is due).

 

[threnjen]

Before you buy the dwarf cories, ask if they are the same ones that have been sick, and if they are AVOID THEM. They had a tank of dwarf cories that were in their own words "being treated for months" for something "unknown". I was unfortunate enough to unknowingly buy a batch in between quarantine cycles and what they had was columnaris which is a nasty, horrible awful disease which wiped out a good amount of my tank. I didn't find out they were sick until a follow up visit to the store where I saw they were in QT and asked about them and the salesgirl told me they had been sick for months. I actually told her specifically that it was columnaris but she just gave me a blank look; I don't think she knew what that was. She told me they were treating it with API General Cure which uses Metronidazole as its antibiotic which only treats anaerobic bacteria (Columnaris is aerobic) which is probably why she said she had been treating it for months without achieving a cure.

Just make sure it's a new batch/stock and not the same stock that has been going in and out of QT. I do not have faith that the columnaris was cured based on her confusion.