Needing Help Deciding on What to Put in 6.6g/25l Tank! (see post #27 for NEW information on poll)

[gilltyascharged]

The Microdevario are bigger and deeper bodied than B. urophthalmoides and they are a lot more active, using the whole of a 42 x 18 inch tank. I would not like to confine mine to a 25 litre tank.

Thank you for letting me know! I didn't even think about the body shape (deep vs slim). Regarding recommended tank size, I was looking into M. nanus beforehand (18" x 12")…either way, it's good to know that they are extremely active. What is your experience on keeping Boraras in a 25l? SeriouslyFish also recommends an 18 x 12 inch tank for them, as "[they] still needs space to swim and dominant males will form temporary territories when spawning." As far as footprint goes, my tank takes away a good 2" x 8" swimming area away, and is 16l less volume than what it would be in their recommended tank size. Typing this out, it feels like a no, but I've also had people state that overall it should be fine.

 

[Essjay]

I once got some B. brigittae for a 26 litre tank, but after a week or two moved them to a bigger tank. This 26 litre tank was taller and narrower than a typical 25 litre tank and it was possibly the lack of swimming length they weren't happy with.

 

[gilltyascharged]

I once got some B. brigittae for a 26 litre tank, but after a week or two moved them to a bigger tank. This 26 litre tank was taller and narrower than a typical 25 litre tank and it was possibly the lack of swimming length they weren't happy with.

In that case, mine probably won't work... it's about 3cm less than the typical width (22cm), and compensates by being 3cm (28cm) taller. Unless they used both the middle AND upper column for swimming space, I'm a worried that they wouldn't have enough swimming length.

 

[gilltyascharged]

@Beastije I saw in your listed tanks that you have a 25l with Indostomus paradoxus...a quick trip to SeriouslyFish showed me what they were, and now I'm curious--would you say they difficult to maintain (ex. water/chemical sensitivities, aggression, behavioral peculiarities needing accommodation, etc.)?

 

[Beastije]

@Beastije I saw in your listed tanks that you have a 25l with Indostomus paradoxus...a quick trip to SeriouslyFish showed me what they were, and now I'm curious--would you say they difficult to maintain (ex. water/chemical sensitivities, aggression, behavioral peculiarities needing accommodation, etc.)?

Weell, hard to say. First of I waited around 6 months for mine to arrive, cause they are not sold captive bred, they are sold wild caught and they have to come from thailand only in some part of the year ( think spring) when they are caught. Second they are super super super tiny, your usual cherry shrimp is bigger than them. That means food is a problem. Absolute no interrest in frozen, wouldnt even try dry food, live and only small live food. Like you can forget about mosquito larvae, even when I sifted them through small sieve to get to the smallest size, no interrest. They are just too fast for the indostomus to catch. I hope they snack on baby shrimp, though I sort of doubt it, but if yes it at least supplements their diet at my place. I still have a large and thriving shrimp colony with them though. I only feed bbs and microworms, cause I do not have other live food. Scuds and some other small critters that naturally develop in a tank after a long time do not interrest them, I think I even have springtails on the surface, zero acknowledgement.
I mean I havent managed to kill them yet, but I also have not managed to breed them yet. I am thinking ramshorns or the shrimp are the breeding problem.
I am very mild with them, low flow, almost no filter, water changes once a month with additional water top offs every once in a while, stable parameters, small amount of food and sort of letting them be.
They look amazing, but are not terribly active and most people would not find them interesting.
I made some videos in summer

 

[gilltyascharged]

Weell, hard to say. First of I waited around 6 months for mine to arrive, cause they are not sold captive bred, they are sold wild caught and they have to come from thailand only in some part of the year ( think spring) when they are caught. Second they are super super super tiny, your usual cherry shrimp is bigger than them. That means food is a problem. Absolute no interrest in frozen, wouldnt even try dry food, live and only small live food. Like you can forget about mosquito larvae, even when I sifted them through small sieve to get to the smallest size, no interrest. They are just too fast for the indostomus to catch. I hope they snack on baby shrimp, though I sort of doubt it, but if yes it at least supplements their diet at my place. I still have a large and thriving shrimp colony with them though. I only feed bbs and microworms, cause I do not have other live food. Scuds and some other small critters that naturally develop in a tank after a long time do not interrest them, I think I even have springtails on the surface, zero acknowledgement.
I mean I havent managed to kill them yet, but I also have not managed to breed them yet. I am thinking ramshorns or the shrimp are the breeding problem.
I am very mild with them, low flow, almost no filter, water changes once a month with additional water top offs every once in a while, stable parameters, small amount of food and sort of letting them be.
They look amazing, but are not terribly active and most people would not find them interesting.
I made some videos in summer

Thank you for the videos! I definitely enjoyed how clear they were--very easy to see the Indostomus! They definitely sound picky--provided my mom doesn't flip, I'm definitely open to culturing live foods! Micro, Walter, and/or banana worms definitely seem like the best place to start, but I wonder if they would take vinegar eels...I know they're free-swimming, which makes me wonder if they may be too fast for the Indostomus to catch.
Y'know what, why not--might as well add it to the list! (provided it lets me)

 

[gilltyascharged]

So, I became aware of the fact that there are two Indostomus sp. often traded and misidentified as one another, with one being Ind. paradoxus (the rarer of the two), and the other being Ind. crocodilus. The two are supposed to look almost exactly alike, with the only difference being that Ind. crocodilus has dark barring outlining the ventral, anal, and dorsal fin, and occasionally a white bar to accompany it. Is it possible you have the latter species versus Ind. paradoxus?

 

[Beastije]

So, I became aware of the fact that there are two Indostomus sp. often traded and misidentified as one another, with one being Ind. paradoxus (the rarer of the two), and the other being Ind. crocodilus. The two are supposed to look almost exactly alike, with the only difference being that Ind. crocodilus has dark barring outlining the ventral, anal, and dorsal fin, and occasionally a white bar to accompany it. Is it possible you have the latter species versus Ind. paradoxus?

It so is, I tried to get it identified, I am almost sure I have the crocodilus, but WHICH species has the stripe. And when, in mating season, all the time,...? I read every definition and I am not sure which one I have
This is mine

This is glasser definition for CROCODILUS

This is their PARADOXUS

And seriouslyfish will say:
paradoxus has dorsal and anal fins without dark markings, with a light brown bar in breeding males; ventral surface light brown; throat white, occasionally with a few brown spots; ridges of head bones weakly serrated or not serrated, depending on the bone.
In both I. crocodilus and I spinosus adult males possess dark bands in the dorsal and anal fins, these becoming more intense when breeding

So light brown/dark brown on a fish that is like 1 cm and mostly brown Like... I dont know

On the other hand, what does it really matter, they live in very similar environments, need the same conditions, eat the same food, breed the same way,...

 

[gilltyascharged]

It so is, I tried to get it identified, I am almost sure I have the crocodilus, but WHICH species has the stripe. And when, in mating season, all the time,...? I read every definition and I am not sure which one I have
This is mine
View attachment 332153
This is glasser definition for CROCODILUS
View attachment 332151
This is their PARADOXUS
View attachment 332152
And seriouslyfish will say:
paradoxus has dorsal and anal fins without dark markings, with a light brown bar in breeding males; ventral surface light brown; throat white, occasionally with a few brown spots; ridges of head bones weakly serrated or not serrated, depending on the bone.
In both I. crocodilus and I spinosus adult males possess dark bands in the dorsal and anal fins, these becoming more intense when breeding

So light brown/dark brown on a fish that is like 1 cm and mostly brown Like... I dont know

On the other hand, what does it really matter, they live in very similar environments, need the same conditions, eat the same food, breed the same way,...

Ah, that makes sense. I saw the same photos as shown above from Aquarium Glaser and the descriptions online, and that is what made me curious. It's good to know that they have basically have the same care requirements though, in the case that I were to receive one or the other.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I stop filtration, wait until water movement stops, Feed top dwellers

MaloK, I had never thought of turning the filter off to feed before. I feed my fish frozen bloodworms once a week. I get a little aquarium water and melt a piece of the worms in it and then dump it in. They typically fly all over the place and I've been wondering how much actually ends up in the mouths of the fish.

The other day, after reading your post, I turned the filter off and did it. AMAZING! I also watched them slurp the worms up like spaghetti. One of the corys would suck one in, and you could see part of it sticking out of his gill- then he would chomp or something and boop! it would disappear. Also amazed how the little glowlight tetras could sit there and munch on a long worm, eventually getting the whole thing down the hatch. So much fun! Not sure why I never thought to turn off the filter, but it works.

With pellets and flakes it actually helps to have the filter on- they float and most fish run to the top to get them, but they swirl around to the flow and sink to the bottom where the corys and shier fish gobble them up.

 

[gilltyascharged]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have made some changes to the poll above; I have changed the answer to 3 versus the original 2, and have added choices. However, I cannot change the list and remove/edit choices, so here is my current version of it below:

 

[gilltyascharged]

(Bolded = viable option, Italicized = needs further opinion, Strikethrough = decided against, but cannot remove)

• Betta splendens
• Wild-type Betta--Saw two votes for, and Gary said they should be alright if I am meticulous
• Parosphromenus species--No votes, but SeriouslyFish and Paro Project say that this size tank is fine for a pair
• Sparkling Gourami--Saw two votes for, but there seems to be disagreement online about tank/group size
• Small Boraras--Received good feedback on, but never true confirmation
• Scarlet Badis--No votes, and no comments other than the one Gary made about softwater fish
• Dwarf Puffer--Same as above, but no comments...probably will ask about this one specifically in Oddball's Institute
• Dwarf Cory--cannot provide the preferred group size (7-10 minimum)
• Killifish
• Caridina sp.
• African Dwarf Frogs--a vote, but otherwise no comment.
• Indostomus sp.
• Asian Stone Catfish--I would probably want other species to go with it, but with it preferring groups I likely wouldn't have the space for compatible tankmates
• Parasphaerichthys lineatus--JUST added, saw on SeriouslyFish and they piqued my curiosity- will probably go to Gour/Anabantoid forum for further research

NOTE: I will likely be editing this individual post as I receive new information, as to keep things current and updated This way there won't be numerous re-postings of virtually the same list on my end, making things harder to refer back to in the long run.

 

[MaloK]

MaloK, I had never thought of turning the filter off to feed before. I feed my fish frozen bloodworms once a week. I get a little aquarium water and melt a piece of the worms in it and then dump it in. They typically fly all over the place and I've been wondering how much actually ends up in the mouths of the fish.

The other day, after reading your post, I turned the filter off and did it. AMAZING! I also watched them slurp the worms up like spaghetti. One of the corys would suck one in, and you could see part of it sticking out of his gill- then he would chomp or something and boop! it would disappear. Also amazed how the little glowlight tetras could sit there and munch on a long worm, eventually getting the whole thing down the hatch. So much fun! Not sure why I never thought to turn off the filter, but it works.

With pellets and flakes it actually helps to have the filter on- they float and most fish run to the top to get them, but they swirl around to the flow and sink to the bottom where the corys and shier fish gobble them up.

Yes sir,

Twice a week I was feeding all the fishes Like that and also do regular drop in the filter output and let everyone chase their lunch. You can feed gouramis a vast amount of shrimps and worms directly in the mouth with a dropper.

I really like that method, you can enjoy your fishes while they are eating, You interact directly with them. You can feed them a lot more and save your filter for the poops...

 

[gilltyascharged]

After so many changes made to the original poll (sparked by new information and discussion!), I have decided to create a new version of it based on the list I compiled in my last post. I wanted to thank everyone for the ideas and options presented to me in this thread, as they've definitely helped narrow down the search!