Fish Stocking

[jkb1977]

I have a 48l (12 gallon US)tank. This is a list of what i want when fully stocked. Any comments appreciated please.

2 Danios
2 Platties
1 Molly
1 Dwarf gouramis

 

[fishprotector]

The Danios are shoaling fish and do better in groups of at least six. They are also very active and really need at least a 4 foot tank. Plus they are sub tropical and prefer cooler temps than the rest of your proposed stock.

Why not go for 8 Tetra, one DG / Betta and some Pygmy Corydoras?

 

[jkb1977]

I already have 1 danio 1 platy & 1 molly. I told the fish shop what type of tank I had, & asked if those fish were suitable. They said they were. No mention of Danios schooling!

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid you've discovered something that us regulars know all too well; you cannot trust people who work in fish shops.

While very many of them are good fishkeepers who give good advice, there are many, many more who will say anything just to make a sale and, unfortunately, until you are an experienced fishkeeper yourself, you won't know which is which.

Zebra danios are defintely a shoaling fish that need to be kept in a group of at least 6, and really aren't suitable for smaller tanks like yours; as fishprotector says, they are very active and need quite a lot of swimming space.

 

[jkb1977]

Any advice what I can do? As I'm now going to be stuck with an unhappy fish.

 

[fishprotector]

Can you not take the Danio back and swap him / rehome him?

 

[onidrase]

I believe molly's prefer brackish water as well.

 

[the_lock_man]

I believe molly's prefer brackish water as well.

There's a lot of debate on this subject, but in my opinion, they do just fine in fresh.

JKB, one thing that's been forgotten to check - what Danio is the Danio you've got? If it's a Zebra/leopard/albino, then the advice above holds. If it's a Giant, the the advice above holds. If it's a Celestial Pearl, then they are fine in your tank, but you still need to have them in larger numbers.

If it's not a Celestial Pearl, then I would swap it for a shoal of Celestial Pearl Danios (aka Galaxy Rasbora) or Chilli Rasbora, say 8-10 of them, plus your platies.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I believe molly's prefer brackish water as well.

There's a lot of debate on this subject, but in my opinion, they do just fine in fresh.

I believe that mollies requiring brackish water is a myth, however, they can survive in it. They do require hard water though, I believe. They can't survive well in soft water. When they don't make it in a fresh set-up, I think it is because the water was too soft, and people just assume it is because of the lack of salt rather than the lack of other minerals.

 

[tropicalfish311]

i would just get rid of the molly

 

[jkb1977]

ok revised stocking plan as follows:

1 molly
1 guppy
2 platy
1 dwarf gouramis
1 dwarf rainbow

again any comments please

 

[the_lock_man]

There's nothing there that's going to kill anything else, so yes you can do that if you want.

The Dwarf Neon Rainbow does prefer to be in groups of at least 6, and prefers a bigger tank than you have, so I personally wouldn't go for that. In your shoes, I'd scrub the Rainbow, and the guppy, and get a total of 4 platies and the DG.

Ultimately, though, it's your choice.

 

[jkb1977]

why would you scrub the guppy?

 

[the_lock_man]

why would you scrub the guppy?

Just because I prefer the way a tank looks with more numbers of fewer species. I have a group of guppies in one of my tanks, they're lovely fish, but in your case, you've already got one platy, so it made sense to me to increase numbers of that, rather than say get rid of the platy, and get 3/4 guppies.

And most fish like company of their own sort, even if they aren't a shoaling species.

 

[Fishy friend2]

why would you scrub the guppy?

Just because I prefer the way a tank looks with more numbers of fewer species. I have a group of guppies in one of my tanks, they're lovely fish, but in your case, you've already got one platy, so it made sense to me to increase numbers of that, rather than say get rid of the platy, and get 3/4 guppies.

And most fish like company of their own sort, even if they aren't a shoaling species.

+1 I agree it does kinda look weird with many different types of fish