10g To 50g

[Catfish Jack]

Well i got some good news today. My parents are gonna buy me a 50gal tank i seen at petsmart. im very excited. but at the same time im concerned about my old 10G tank. i really like my fish (6 glo-light tetras, 3 neons tetras, 3 sunset coral platies, and a zebra cory) and id like to move them to this new tank. i plan on fully planting it and id like to still have a community tank for the reason i would like more small fish rather than a few large ones.

i think i will add more of the species i already have, and id like to introduce some different ones. ive had a few things in mind, but im not completely sure with compatibility and size issues. some of the new species im interested in introducing are dwarf chain loaches, guppies, and maybe some different types of tetras.

please feel free to give me any comments, suggestions, or criticism. thank you.

 

[jkrekord]

Perhaps add a few glowlights and black neon teras, they will shoal together with the normal neons but the varying colours will add some diversity to the group. Definatley up the number of corys, to about 5 or 6. You could have a group of dwarf chain loaches, or perhaps try khuli loaches. A group of guppies would be nice, just be aware that they could breed rapidly and overwhelm the tank (same with platies).
If your going with a planted tank platies are a useful fish in little groups as they have a nice habit of breakin up surface scum which can collect. Perhaps add some dwarf gouramis or honey gouramis, or maybe even sparkling gouramis. or possibly even either 1 of each i suppose. You coould add a nice group of harlequin rasboras, maybe even a type of danio.

 

[Catfish Jack]

thanks for the suggestions. i had planed to get a small amount of guppies, to allow room for breeding. or maybe there are some kind of predatory fish that could eat the fry? honey gouramis are a also one i had been interseted in, im sure ill get some of those.

after i thought about it for a while and srufed the web for other species i had a few more questions. i was wondering about maybe a couple of red clawed crabs. would these bother that loaches or corys? will larger tetras bother smaller tetras in a tank of larger size. and could peacock eels live with some of these small fish?

 

[jkrekord]

Crabs are a definate no, they will kill your fish as they are predatory an quite merciless, very unsuitable with fish. What larger tetras do you ave in mind? And im afraid i dont know to much about peacock eels, howerver i would guess they'd be unsuitable fish. You could perhaps try khuli loaches?

 

[Catfish Jack]

will khuli loaches eat snails?

 

[jkrekord]

Im not entirley sure, i doubt it, but i dont know.

 

[Biulu]

Don't worry about the tetras, they will be fine. Just make sure you have at least 5-6 of each. Kuhli loaches don't eat snails as far as I know. There are others that do, though. Just make sure you have a tight fitting lid, and they can't get into your filter. These guys are known to get into the weirdest places!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Just another comment about khuli loaches... the more you have the more active and visible they will be. If there is just one or two they will most likely spend most of their time hiding.

 

[Catfish Jack]

anyone got a pic or a link to a pic of these khuli loaches?

oh yea, why do you guys not recomend the chain loaches?

 

[jkrekord]

Khuli loaches

I expect chain loches would be fine, but i dont know mucha bout them, just personally i think khuli loaches are an incredible fish.

 

[Catfish Jack]

well, i got my 56G tank today (larger than i expected), and at a bargain of $299.99 with a stand included.

on my trip out today to get this tank saw some of these khuli loaches. these are quite interesting fish, very eel-like. i guess i will be getting some of these and the black neons. i had no luck finding the chain loaches at petsmart or pet land.

 

[jkrekord]

Sounds cool, are you planing on a centre piece fish?

 

[Catfish Jack]

well, id like to have a large school of tetra. i think ill take your advice on the glo-lights, neons, and the black neons. along with those im gonna get some harliquins, more zebra corys, possibly some khuli loaches, a dwarf gourami, and some more sunset platys.

i just have a feeling that my tank is gonna look a bit bare with these small fish.

EDIT:I just got a good idea for a centerpiece, maybe a german blue ram.

 

[Teelie]

Kuhlis do eat smaller snails but leave the bigger ones alone. I have a tank full of MST and a few pond snails and 4-5 Kuhlis and it's been that way for a few years. They'll nip the smaller ones but not enough to impact the reproducing.

 

[Catfish Jack]

Kuhlis do eat smaller snails but leave the bigger ones alone. I have a tank full of MST and a few pond snails and 4-5 Kuhlis and it's been that way for a few years. They'll nip the smaller ones but not enough to impact the reproducing.

so, will they keep the population of these snails low, and keep my tank form looking almost infested with them?