Ok i have a 15 gallon that has some dwarf rainbowfish ( praecox) in it just now. They will be moving into my community tank in about a months time.

I am looking to make the tank then into a species tank for something a little different!

I have thought of 3/4 options so far and would like your opinions/suggestions as they are usually incredibly helpful lol

1) Bumblebbe gobies

2)Puffers

3)Shell-dwelling cichlids

4)Breeding tank for Apistogramma cacatoides or blue rams?

5) Other

Thanks in advance 14gtr14

This post has been edited by 14gtr14: Oct 14 2006, 11:15 PM

If you choose dwarf cichlids (shellies, apistos, etc) in a tank that size then you are only going to be able to keep between 2 and 3-5ish fish depending on the species (enough for a pair or a harem depending on breeding habits). If that is fine by you then that would be the way I'd go, I love dwarf cichlids, especially shellies. A tank of Lamprologus Ocellatus (one male and 2-3 females) would be awesome. Put a few rocks in with plenty of shells and it would look great and stem the bickering which can sometimes happen within a harem.

This post has been edited by Dragonscales: Oct 14 2006, 02:23 PM

Congo puffer?
FW, gets to 6", will be fine in that tank...
Or the bumblebees, as you say, but would do best in BW, not fresh...

MIkey

Oooh, that's several attractive options you've got lined up there. I would probably go for the shellies; I've had my eye on Neolamprologus multifasciatus for a long time.

Apisto's are great fish. Have two in my 17 gal community tank and the male has really great finnage and colours. They'd be great as a species tank though. You could still have a few tetras as dither fish too.

How about a gourami (dwarf, honey, chocolate) breeder also?

i've already got the apistos, they're in my communtiy tank. So it would just be the pair.

About the gobies: I have read that there are 2 variants of the bumblebees: a fw one and a bw one. Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think so lol.

Keep the opinions coming, great so far!!!

congo puffer? I have never seen these for sale. Someone's got one in the Buy/Sell section just now, but it's something like £30, I cant spend that much unfortunately:(

mmm, well there most probably is a type of BBG that does as well in FW as BW, however in lfs BBGs are simply labelled "bumblebee goby" and to define whether the type is right takes a very keen eye if possible at all, there are loads of different types of BBG reaching fish shops, you cant be sure that youll get the type that doesnt mind FW.
Whatever the species of bbg, the all do either as well or better in BW that FW, some wont last long in FW. However, the chances are that at your lfs they will be housed in FW, and to acclimate them to BW takes a few water changes, but we'll get to that point if we get to it.

lol ok cheers, i would love to make the 15 gal brackish, but i dont have the money just now. (am i right in saying brackish is nearly as expensive as SW to run?)

no not as much just have some salt in the water not as much as salt water but a higher amount than a community fish tank I think correct me if im wrong

no, it is not nearly as expensive as you think. The only extra thing you'll need is marine salt and a hydrometer. For bumblebee gobies you only need an s/g of 1.005 at the most (1.000 being completely freshwater, 1.020 being bottom end marine i think) so it is closer to FW than SW.

sweeeeet. lol ok, thanks. How much is a hydrometer? I'm guessing this is for measuring the salt level?

What would my options be for a 15 gal brackish then? Do you think it would be worth going brackish over one of my previous suggestions?

Thanks

I'll also post a topic in the brackish forum about this.

This post has been edited by 14gtr14: Oct 15 2006, 10:28 AM

it depends what type you get. The swinging needle ones are said to be inaccurate blah blah blah, and the floating ones are said to be not much better, but to be honest brackish fish arent fussy, in the wild the s/g of their habitat swings around all the time, so they dont mind if the s/g is a little different one week from the week before. The cheaper types (ie floating and swing needle) would be fine imo, i think theyre about a tenner not sure. Its only if you get into marine that you might want to get a more accurate hydrometer like a refractometer, but they cost a fortune.

edit: yes it is for measuring salt level (to you and me anyway, i think there are more technical ways of decribing it)

This post has been edited by geo7x: Oct 15 2006, 10:33 AM

haha! cheers. what options would i have in brackish then?

I think if i go the brackish route it'll be the needle or floaty one i'll take. I'm not going to spend loads.

Thanks for your info geo7x

Well you could have some bumblebee gobies (SG of about 1.003-5) or (if im right in thinking), you could have a figure 8 puffer (SG 1.003-12). Im sure there are a couple of other gobies you could have in there, or you could even go fully SW and get some LR and clownfish and gobies, and hermits, snails and shrimps....But then all that stuff gets much more expensive.

MIkey

ye i would love to go full marine reef, but i don't have that sort of money and/or time really!

what about my original plans? Anymore suggestions??

thanks

do you want brackish or FW? oddballs? community? cichlids?

options: FW species tank with puffers or shell-dwellers
Brackish with not too sure!

just thought i'd let you know that i am almost definitely going to go down the Indian dwarf puffer Biotope route.

How many of these would go in the tank ok? seven?

thanks

14gtr14