30 Gallon Stocking

NinjaSmurf

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Posted a while back about trying a pair of Laetacara curviceps in my old thirty, but now have a better thirty I'm working with.

Tank is 36in long and 16in high. So far I have a bn, two guppies and ghost shrimp.

I was thinking something like this:

BN
trio of guppies
Laetacara curviceps pair m/f
at least 6 Corydoras trilineatus
? amount of schooling fish for dithers

I'm really stuck on what dithers to get. I don't really like most tetras or a lot of the rasboras at the lfs, the ones I've actually thought I could deal with would be marble hatchets, South Thailand Dwarf Rasbora, blue or gold tetras, rummynose, red phantoms or neons. Admittedly price is an issue, the south thailands are going to be pricer for me, but they are more the size I want at around an inch. I want to stay under 2 inches. And having never kept any of these types of fish or the curviceps, I'm not sure which ones will be a match for them as dithers. That and I'm hoping for something that will look good in the tank itself, which has white sand, green fake plants and very low light (15w total, which is why I can't have live plants yet). Also would prefer one that will be a little tighter schooling, although I know that has to do with how comfortable they are, I figure with breeding dwarves they might feel a little less comfortable and school tighter?

Sorry for the ramble, I'm just all excited but kinda lost at the same time.
 
Because the laetacaras are a bit timid at times, I think the hatchets are a good idea as they will be at the surface and act as proper dithers telling fish bellow them that the water is safe to come out in. As for the rest its upto you :) Rummy noses are the best shoalers but sometimes need higher temperatures long term, blue tetras need large numbers because of them being a bit nasty at times so maybe for that reason you could avoid them. The dwarf rasbora what do they look like are they red with black markings? If so they will be okay and a good idea as they will stay higher up in the tank.

Also in that tank you could probably consider an other pair of dwarfs perhaps you have the room? You could even do like a group of the laetacaras maybe even 6 of them with an aim to get 3 pairs in there? Their territories when breeding are so small its not going to be an issue and you will get some interesting behavior out of them as well :)

Wills
 
Well I'm going to have to check about the marbles, not sure how much they are or if they have them, their website doesn't exactly show everything (they don't even list the neons I know they carry), but I do like the idea of them.

Not sure if I want to have more breeding pairs of the same type, the lfs that said they'd take them off of me won't pay anything if I'm constantly flooding them with fry, but if it's not a lot they will pay. So maybe another type of dwarf (unless the acaras don't have a whole lot)? The one store I'm buying from started carrying apisto cockatoos at a price I can sorta afford, would a trio of them fit? If not it's not a big deal, I don't mind just having the one laetacaras pair.

One thing I was thinking, if I go with marbles, I think the middle section might be really empty. Any ideas on this?

Really appreciate the help on this, thanks guys.


EDIT: Here's the place I'm buying from, so you can get sort of an idea of what I can get a hold of. fish store
 
Had a bad day at the lfs. Just found out they don't carry hatchets, and only get them in very rarely, so that's a no go. Tried to get started on the cories, but the were all out and most likely won't get any in till Tuesday or Thursday, wouldn't be such a problem if they weren't almost an hour away... And when I went to look at the Laetacaras they only had one in the tank that was all buggered up and the tank was full of angels, so not sure if they are changing their stock around, or what. Very stressfull to say the least.
 
Awww man thats gutting :( I hate bad trips to LFS especially when they are far away. I know the feeling, but you did the right thing Ive gone quite a distance and then impulse bought and gone on to regret it.

Wills
 
Yeah, although I was severly tempted, I managed to just keep it at getting the female guppy I needed to finish the trio. Don't want to jinx it but she's doing better than the others I'd bought a few weeks ago that died.

Still not sure what to do about everything though. Guess I'll just wait a little bit, see what they are doing with their stocking, and talk to the bf about what types of fish he likes (he never really had pets as a kid, so now he's starting to get sucked into all fish stuff lol).
 
ive been looking for a JD for ages what ive done is just ring up every so often and ask if they have any saves a trip and disappointment :)
 
I normally try to call too, but I knew I had to get a lid (tank didn't come with it) and was in the area, so I figured I'd be able to get the cories (as every time I was there before they always had the type I wanted to get), lo and behold, not the day I want them :rolleyes:

On the good side, looks like the new guppy might be ready to pop soon... so yay!
 

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