15 Gallon Stocking Help!

[verdamper]

Hi all

my 15 gallon tank has finally finished cycling my stocking suggestion is

5 endlers livebears

4 myers hatchetfish

4 pygmy corries

3 sparkling gourami

From information on this site i believe these all only grow to one inch!! The problem is i have been to five local fish shops today and none stock any of these fish or will be getting any in soon!!!!

any other suggestions for my stocking of retivley small fish, i want to abide by the inch per gallon rule but still want a good number of fish!!

please help

 

[verdamper]

please any help and i will be greatfull!!!!

 

[dwarfgourami]

The smaller tetras- neons, for instance- you could probably get away with counting as one inch; their bioload is quite low. Also male guppies- just make sure you have at least 5, to spread aggression with these little hormone bundles. Or you might want to look into 2 inch fish. Many corydoras come into this category, platies and female guppies, many tetras, honey gouramis.

 

[chiqui_baby]

Neons may not be a good option to start with unless you know you are going to a good LFS. Some places have such poor quality fish that you'll be lucky if they reach 2 days! Guppies are beautiful and you can have fun with those. Swordtails are also nice, I'm not sure if you've seen them? Keep looking at these sites and remember not to stick TOO closely to the 1 inch per gallon rule. Works with neons but you'd never stick a 12 inch fish in a 12 gallon tank. Remember that some fish need a lot of room to swim, even if they only become 2-3 inches Congrats on your tank being cycled though! Good luck!

 

[dwarfgourami]

Neons may not be a good option to start with unless you know you are going to a good LFS. Some places have such poor quality fish that you'll be lucky if they reach 2 days! Guppies are beautiful and you can have fun with those. Swordtails are also nice, I'm not sure if you've seen them? Keep looking at these sites and remember not to stick TOO closely to the 1 inch per gallon rule. Works with neons but you'd never stick a 12 inch fish in a 12 gallon tank. Remember that some fish need a lot of room to swim, even if they only become 2-3 inches Congrats on your tank being cycled though! Good luck!

Very true about the neons- if you keep them they should be the last fish in the tank, after it's been matured with other fish over a period of months.

Swordtails are great fun, but unfortunately need more space than a 15 gallon. Platies are a good alternative, a bit smaller, quite a bit fatter and a lot more laidback.

Guppies can suffer the same problems as neons, i.e. poor quality, but here it really pays to check out several shops as guppies often show their problems quite openly- do not buy from a tank where there are sick or dead fish, o where any fish are passin white stringy poo, avoid any fish whose small bodies seem to struggle with large tails, avoid fish with bent spines (either ill or elderly), go for the strongest swimmers you can find. I did badly with the lot I bought last year, but have now found a better supplier.

 

[chiqui_baby]

Swordtails are great fun, but unfortunately need more space than a 15 gallon. Platies are a good alternative, a bit smaller, quite a bit fatter and a lot more laidback.

Guppies can suffer the same problems as neons, i.e. poor quality, but here it really pays to check out several shops as guppies often show their problems quite openly- do not buy from a tank where there are sick or dead fish, o where any fish are passin white stringy poo, avoid any fish whose small bodies seem to struggle with large tails, avoid fish with bent spines (either ill or elderly), go for the strongest swimmers you can find. I did badly with the lot I bought last year, but have now found a better supplier.

That is true too. The breeding can be a problem. I would say try to get same sex if you're going with live bearers if you're starting out and have a 15 gallon. Look around for good guppies. Can be hard but the fancy ones are worth it. Any fish where the LFS has a lot of can be problematic unless they know what they're doing. Have you added any fish or thought of what to add?

 

[verdamper]

Hi everybody thanks for the help.

I think im going to go with some honey or dwarf gouramis to start with and then try and get some other smaller fish over a period of time. i might have to travel a bit further or ask fish shops to order fish for me. but there is no rush really

 

[K-Hulk]

Very nice selection of fish

Try going a pair of Apisto's !