How Many

[Zachary1941]

Hi,
Hopefully my tank will within the next week or two be cycled..It is a Jewell 125 which i believe is 31 us gallons...80x35x42.Cms.

Yesterday visited a large fish shop and was impressed with the conditions and species of fish they have...My aim to to have small shoaling fish.. starting with ...Zebra Danios and after approx 6 months when the tank has matured add ..Harlequins and Cardinal Tetras...Now going by the 1 " per gallon rule im thinking of about 9 of each (Which would leave me a little understocked which i prefer to do) ...Ouestion ...What is the minimum number of each species of these fish i could have so they feel they are in a shoal and not on there own... I read on here somewhere that unless there is enough of them they feel as if they have lost the rest of the shoal and will die.......Min no per species please ? Regards Zac

 

[M.R Otter]

The zebra danios should be around 4-7 in order to make them feel like home.

The Harlequins must be around 5 or more to make the feel comfortable.

The cardinals should be more than 7 to make them feel secure.

 

[Zachary1941]

The zebra danios should be around 4-7 in order to make them feel like home.

The Harlequins must be around 5 or more to make the feel comfortable.

The cardinals should be more than 7 to make them feel secure.

Thank you ,
I will certainly take your advice and keep the wee guys in those numbers...Just one more question ..I think it would be great to have apart for the above mentioned a centre fish (Possible 2, tank size permitting) But, are there any fish that would be compatable with the wee ones that arn"t live bearers..Maybe no bigger than 3 " fully grown...I would like to stay away from live bearers as i dont have the knowledge or experience to deal with them...Regards Zac

 

[M.R Otter]

okay then here is an another list of center fish and some info about about them:

(1)Lace gourami(peaceful must be in a pair only 2)

(2)German blue ram(very peaceful cichlid but needs plants in the tank)

(3)Siamese fighter fish(males are colourful but females are more peaceful)

(4)Dwarf gourami(peaceful must be in a pair only 2)

(5)corydoras catfish(very useful at eating left overs and uneaten food)

Hope my advice helped!!

 

[lilfishie]

i would go 10 of each then maybe a few honey gourami (2 or 3)

 

[azzaknight]

instead of the rams which are very sensitive to water if it is not kept clean, is apistos grama or dwarf cockatoo cichilid.

 

[Zachary1941]

Thanks Guys. Have taken on board...will now research these fish you have told me about...Regards Zac

 

[meguro]

2x keyhole cichlids or bolivian ram

 

[arobinson1984]

If your tank is the jewul rio 125 which is the same as mine, then its about the minimum size that you could put an angel fish in as the tank is about 18" in height. As long as your cardinals aren't too small or aren't neons then you wouldn't have any prob with an angel as your centrepiece fish, they are beautiful.

Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with everyone above, some excellent advice up there!

I'd comment that I believe the "Lace" gouramis that otter is talking about is another common name for the more common name of "Pearl" gourami and they would indeed be a good choice as I've also found them to be quite peaceful in the past. So in your research you could compare them to the Honey's which are different but are the other most peaceful of the gouramis I'd say.. its a hard call and probably either would be good so it might come down to availability. The Pearl/Lace ones would probably get a bit bigger (anyone agree?) and the coloring is different, the Pearls being a kind of beautiful tan/brown pearly with lots of lighter spots and lace-like characteristics, whereas the Honey's are known for having little of their true orangy-yellow,,red (?) (anyone elaborate?) show up in the store but its said to be quite beautiful once they are settled.

Otter's comments on minimum numbers for those 3 species of little ones strikes me as very good. I happen to have all three of those currently and have been observing their behaviours in various numbers like that.

~~waterdrop~~