65l Tank Fish Ideas

[peterf]

Hi All

I have just gotten my first aquarium and I am looking for some advice on what sort of fish would go well together and be suitable for my tank. I am totally new to this so I will try to give you as much info on my tank as possible.

The tank is 65L (17/18Gal approx) with the following dimensions H 37 x W 60 x D 32 cm. I am using an Interpet PF2 filter which is advertised to do 110gal/hour and a Delta therm heater and we have soft water in my area.

I am currently 2 weeks into my fishless cycle I don't want to do a fish in cycle as I don't like the idea of Stressing fish when there is a way to do it with out the risk, especially as I am new to this and the chances of me killing the fish due to inexperience is quite high. I have been researching the process for a few weeks now and found this guide to be the best so far so I am following it and the directions on my tapesafe and filter start to the letter
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

I am using small gravel as my substrate (I am prepared to change it if needed) and i have quite a few ornaments for the fish to hide in and swim through

I am starting to see things happen with regards to the chemicals in my tank so it has gotten me thinking of putting fish in my tank. I know i am still a month or so off actually adding fish however id like to be well peppered and informed before I go ahead and get some.

I have asked around my local pet stores and been horrified at the advice i have been getting (my favorite was to get a betta and a dwarf gourami as they wont attack each other).

I like the idea of having 2 shoals of smaller fish and then a larger or very brightly colored centerpiece fish. I was thinking of may be a shoal or either neon or cardinal Tetras a shoal of Corydoras (not sure on the type) and my be either a betta OR dwarf gourami as a center piece. This is just my initial idea from my research on the internet.

What i would like to know is would my above idea would be suitable and if so how many of each also does any one have any suggestions or changes that I could/should make. I would quite like a colorful tank with different looking fish so any suggestions on different species would be welcome, however the fish come fist so I don't want to get ones that will either fight each other or grow too big for my tank.

Thanks for any advice you give and I'm sorry if this post seems a bit disjointed I just wanted to give you as much info as I could before you made any suggestions.

Cheers
Pete

 

[PrairieSunflower]

How about a shoal of neons (8 or so) and a shoal of neon green rasboras (8 or so). For some nice colors you could get a few male guppies. All of those make good community fish. Also platies come in a lot of colors too, the benefit with them is that both the males and females are equally colorful (my personal preference is getting virgin females). You need to be careful that you are prepared with livebearers as they are prolific breeders... hence why I would stick to one sex.

 

[the_lock_man]

Personally, I like your ideas, they're not too different to what I have/had.

Re the Tetras, I would go for cardinals, rather than neons, as the neons can be a bit fragile in new tanks.

Re the cories, go for panda cories, or one of the dwarf species (pygmaes, habrosus or hastatus).

Then your choice of gourami or betta.

 

[peterf]

Hi

Thanks to both of you for the reply, its good to hear that my initial ida wast too far out. I have been strugeling to find small fish that will go well in my tank (not entirely sure what to search in google) so the different speices suggestions really help. I had looked at platies however I heard they can get very big (last thing I want to do is have a fish thats too big for my tank and end up having to re home him). I like the look of the hastatus cories and the green neon green rasboras so thanks for that. Im still devided on the gourami or betta question though both fish look really nice so I have a feeling its going to be more a coin toss for them.

 

[fluttermoth]

For small shoaling fish, you could also look at ember tetras, green neon tetras, chili/mosquito rasboras or celestial pearl danios.

 

[peterf]

I really like the celestial's however I'm strugeling to find them in the uk however I have time on my side to source them

 

[the_lock_man]

Whereabouts are you in the UK? Most branches of Maidenhead Aquatics stock them. Also some indie stores still refer to them as Galaxy Rasboras.(a bit like referring to British Airways as BOAC)