63l Tank, What To Do?

[Daveptkd]

hi all,

i have a 125l tank up and running, and have bought a 63l tank (fishless cycling) which i originally got to keep guppies only (and maybe a cory or 3), BUT, having read info on the livebearer section I am put off by the tonnes of fry I can expect, and my lack of space for more tanks (plus I think the wife would shoot me).

can you guys and gals give me some ideas on what else I could do with this tank? ( i think it works out to 16 us gals).

many thanks

Dave

 

[carrera]

you could try dwarf puffers. ive wanted to try them for a while now, they look great think you could have 3 in that tank

 

[Daveptkd]

you could try dwarf puffers. ive wanted to try them for a while now, they look great think you could have 3 in that tank

nice idea, I like them, site says "3 gallons per fish " and a pH of at least 7, mine is 7.4.

off to bed now, 01:19 in uk!!!! any more good ideas?

thanks

 

[dwarfgourami]

You could always get 6 or 7 male guppies, that should keep you safe from fry . You might also be able to get hold of virgin female platies from another aquarist; somebody advertised for those on the sell and swap forum recently, and I thought it was a really good idea. Don't trust a shop to do this; even if they separate the sexes, they don't know how they were kept at the breeder's.

But you might feel safer with egglayers: harlequin rasboras, glowlight tetras, black widow tetras, black neons, or some other small tetra or rasbora. Just remember that these are all schooling fish so get a group of 5 or 6 of ONE kind, not a couple of each.

Another possibility is a trio of honey gouramis (1 male, 2 females); they are probably a little hardier than the dwarf gouramis.

Cherry barbs look nice too and can be kept in pairs, trios (1 m, 2 f) or bigger groups (but don't put lots of males- the red ones- in with just a few females-the brown ones).

Dwarf puffers are lovely fish but you need to remember a few things: they are aggressive so not for a community tank; they may refuse to eat flakes; you need to provide lots of plants to break up their sightlines if you keep more than one as they are strongly territorial.

 

[Daveptkd]

Hi,

Would just mail guppies be ok together then? I thought I had read that all males might not work?

also, IF I did go for male and female guppies, could I keep a male and female drawf gourami? and would they eat any potential fry?

many many thanks (tank is SOOOO close to finishing it's cycle now )

Dave

 

[dwarfgourami]

Keeping male guppies can be difficult. The trick is to keep plenty of them (5 or more) so that the alpha fish has several inferiors to take his machoism out on and it's not just one or two fish who get it in the neck all the time.

One gourami would actually be happy on its own (they're not terribly social fish) and would probably help eating the fry. And the guppies themselves might well do this, some eat their babies, others don't.

 

[Daveptkd]

Keeping male guppies can be difficult. The trick is to keep plenty of them (5 or more) so that the alpha fish has several inferiors to take his machoism out on and it's not just one or two fish who get it in the neck all the time.

One gourami would actually be happy on its own (they're not terribly social fish) and would probably help eating the fry. And the guppies themselves might well do this, some eat their babies, others don't.

thanks again for the reply,

ok, I think (once cycled), 3 male guppy, 6 female and Gourami (dwarf or opaline/blue), and maybe a cory (or two) or small plec to clean up!! not sure what my totoal stocking capacity is in this tank!!

yeah - I think that sounds good.

Dave

 

[geo7x]

cories like to be in groups of 3+, most people say more, so 3 at the very very very very least, certainly not one or two

 

[Daveptkd]

cories like to be in groups of 3+, most people say more, so 3 at the very very very very least, certainly not one or two

hi - thanks - that's why i am not sure on my stocking levels, either 3 cories or 1 SMALL plec! I wasn't very clear, I should have said, one or (two, three.....!)

cheers

Dave

 

[mark.w.jones]

Keeping male guppies can be difficult. The trick is to keep plenty of them (5 or more) so that the alpha fish has several inferiors to take his machoism out on and it's not just one or two fish who get it in the neck all the time.

One gourami would actually be happy on its own (they're not terribly social fish) and would probably help eating the fry. And the guppies themselves might well do this, some eat their babies, others don't.

thanks again for the reply,

ok, I think (once cycled), 3 male guppy, 6 female and Gourami (dwarf or opaline/blue), and maybe a cory (or two) or small plec to clean up!! not sure what my totoal stocking capacity is in this tank!!

yeah - I think that sounds good.

Dave

Well 16 US gallons means roughly 16 adult inches of fish.

Guppies are about 1 - 1 and half inches each when fully grown so 9 of them will just about fully stock your tank to be honest. You'll certainly be overstocked if you add all the others + your male and female guppies will breed like nobodies business.

How about 5 male OR 5 females guppies (if you go for all males you need to keep as eye out for aggression.)

1 small Gourami sp.

and 4 pygmaeus cories (1" each, any less than 4 and they'll hide all the time).