Centrepiece For A 2 Foot Tank

[Lizzie71]

I am still in a dilemma with the stocking of my new 2 foot tank (14 UK gallons/18 US gallons). I know that I am going to put in quite a few plants, with a big piece of wood as a centrepiece, and I have some fine, natural looking gravel in already.

I know that I want a shoal of small to medium tetras, possibly lemon ones, I think they look stunning against a planted background. But I would like a centrepiece, a pair or trio of slightly larger fish.

These are the options I'm considering:

a pair of German rams
a pair or trio of pearl gouramis
one or two paradise fish

But I'm open to other suggestions if anyone wants to add anything

Or maybe I should just get two different shoals of tetras? Or some tetras and some zebra danios?

 

[rabbut]

Out of your list, I think a pair of rams would be best. Only add them once the tank has matured though. Paradise fish can be very nasty i temprament. The pearl gourami can get quite large, possible too large, for the size of tank you have. Hows about;

10 lemon tetras
pair of rams.

These are good numbers of each type of fish, and in a large shoal, the lemmon tetras will realy colour up well

All the best
Rabbut

 

[purplekaz]

I love my trio of Honey Gourami.
They're quite timid but great fun to watch.
They seem to change colour when they flirt with each other, the male developing a dark blue patch on his neck.
They look quite delicate. Not the most colourful type of gourami, but I love them.
Also they're small (about 2") so would fit well in your tank size.

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks, that's a good suggestion!

Would there be room for corys too or would that be too much? Or a BN plec?

 

[rabbut]

Corrys are dooable . say reduce the numbers of the lemon tetras a little though....something like;

5 lemon tetras
pair of rams
5 corrys

or

5 lemon tetras
trio of honey(or even red robin, a red colour morph of the honey) gourami
5 corrys.

Pygmy corries would be ideal. Failing that, panda corrys would be ok. Try to avoid the larger corries as they will out-grow the tank

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Lizzie71]

Both good options, thanks. Will probably be getting the first few fish next week, so I'll let you know what I go with

 

[Lizzie71]

On second thoughts I probably won't get the corys as my gravel may not be suitable. I will probably stick with the tetras and rams or gouramis.

Might add a few shrimps to clean up too, if I think I need it. Or a smallish plec.

 

[Biulu]

If you are having quite a lot of plants, what about otocinclus? They are great algae eater, and stay much smaller than the average plecs.

Honey gouramis are a good choice and in that size tank you can keep a trio (1 male, 2 females). They are definitively easier to keep than rams as these need a mature tank and very stable conditions. Another gourami might be the banded or the sparkling gourami. Also very nice.