Ideas For Intermediate Fish?

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

So, I have two tanks I need to stock and Id like ideas! I have a 10g and a 30g. I have Hard Water. My 10g is 10"L x 20"W x 12"H and my 30g is 30.25"L x 12.5"W x 18.75"H 
 
 I am an intermediate aquarist so feel free to have an open mind and don't be picky! Lay it all out there!

 

[fluttermoth]

First of all...

Is your water hard or soft?

What are the dimensions of the tanks?

From how far away will you mostly be viewing them?

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

First of all...

Is your water hard or soft?

What are the dimensions of the tanks?

From how far away will you mostly be viewing them?

Hard Water
 
my 10g is 10"L x 20"W x 12"H  my 30g is 30.25"L x 12.5"W x 18.75"H 
 
My 10g will be in my room so about 2-3 feet and my 30g will be in the living room... so at many different lengths

 

[Wills]

What about one big school on micro schooling fish in the 10g - like, Galaxy Rasbora, Chilli Rasbora, Ember Tetra or Green Neon Tetras. Or do a mix with some micro catfish and micro feature fish Like a trio of Anchor Catfish and 3 Sparkling Gourami or you could look at small killi fish like Clown Killis which work nice in these mixes. Badis are good for this size tank also Or add in a small group of cherry shrimp.
 
In the big tank what about a group of Cupid Cichlids and plan the tank around them?
 
Wills

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

What about one big school on micro schooling fish in the 10g - like, Galaxy Rasbora, Chilli Rasbora, Ember Tetra or Green Neon Tetras. Or do a mix with some micro catfish and micro feature fish

Like a trio of Anchor Catfish and 3 Sparkling Gourami or you could look at small killi fish like Clown Killis which work nice in these mixes. Badis are good for this size tank also Or add in a small group of cherry shrimp.
 
In the big tank what about a group of Cupid Cichlids and plan the tank around them?
 
Wills

Looks amazing! Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Keep them coming!

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm going to say this before Ninjouzata gets a chance - for the 10G, 2 pairs of Peacock Gudgeon (aka Peacock Goby). Provide plenty of small caves (I use shortish lengths of ½" plastic pipe, the kind used for water plumbing), and you may well get them breeding. You could add a few male endlers for a bit of variety, or some amano shrimp - I wouldn't recommend any of the smaller shrimp species, as my Peacock Gudgeons thought the Cherry Shrimp were lunch.
 
For the 30Gallon, I'd recommend a trio (1M 2F) of one of the smaller apistogramma species. My personal favourite is A. Agassizii, although A. Hongsloi and A. Cacatuoides are also stunning. Then have a large shoal of a smallish barb/tetra/rasbora species. I have a similar sized tank which has Cherry Barbs, Pentazona Barbs and Cardinal Tetras, but you can also have any of the species that Wills suggests too (remember that Galaxy Rasbora have been rename Celestial Pearl Danio). You could also do 2 smaller shoals, especially if one of these is one of those micro species. Finish off with a group of 6 of the smaller cory species, Pandas are ideal, but also look at Salt & Pepper Cory (not to be confused with Peppered Cory).

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

I'm going to say this before Ninjouzata gets a chance - for the 10G, 2 pairs of Peacock Gudgeon (aka Peacock Goby). Provide plenty of small caves (I use shortish lengths of ½" plastic pipe, the kind used for water plumbing), and you may well get them breeding. You could add a few male endlers for a bit of variety, or some amano shrimp - I wouldn't recommend any of the smaller shrimp species, as my Peacock Gudgeons thought the Cherry Shrimp were lunch.
 
For the 30Gallon, I'd recommend a trio (1M 2F) of one of the smaller apistogramma species. My personal favourite is A. Agassizii, although A. Hongsloi and A. Cacatuoides are also stunning. Then have a large shoal of a smallish barb/tetra/rasbora species. I have a similar sized tank which has Cherry Barbs, Pentazona Barbs and Cardinal Tetras, but you can also have any of the species that Wills suggests too (remember that Galaxy Rasbora have been rename Celestial Pearl Danio). You could also do 2 smaller shoals, especially if one of these is one of those micro species. Finish off with a group of 6 of the smaller cory species, Pandas are ideal, but also look at Salt & Pepper Cory (not to be confused with Peppered Cory).

So for the 10 I could do 4 Peacock Gobys?
 
And for the 30 I could do 3 Agassiziis and 5(ish) clown killis?

 

[the_lock_man]

 

I'm going to say this before Ninjouzata gets a chance - for the 10G, 2 pairs of Peacock Gudgeon (aka Peacock Goby). Provide plenty of small caves (I use shortish lengths of ½" plastic pipe, the kind used for water plumbing), and you may well get them breeding. You could add a few male endlers for a bit of variety, or some amano shrimp - I wouldn't recommend any of the smaller shrimp species, as my Peacock Gudgeons thought the Cherry Shrimp were lunch.
 
For the 30Gallon, I'd recommend a trio (1M 2F) of one of the smaller apistogramma species. My personal favourite is A. Agassizii, although A. Hongsloi and A. Cacatuoides are also stunning. Then have a large shoal of a smallish barb/tetra/rasbora species. I have a similar sized tank which has Cherry Barbs, Pentazona Barbs and Cardinal Tetras, but you can also have any of the species that Wills suggests too (remember that Galaxy Rasbora have been rename Celestial Pearl Danio). You could also do 2 smaller shoals, especially if one of these is one of those micro species. Finish off with a group of 6 of the smaller cory species, Pandas are ideal, but also look at Salt & Pepper Cory (not to be confused with Peppered Cory).

So for the 10 I could do 4 Peacock Gobys?
 
And for the 30 I could do 3 Agassiziis and 5(ish) clown killis?
 

 
Yes, and I would suggest a group of 6 Celestial Pearl Danios or Chilli Rasbora for the mid-level.

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

 

 


I'm going to say this before Ninjouzata gets a chance - for the 10G, 2 pairs of Peacock Gudgeon (aka Peacock Goby). Provide plenty of small caves (I use shortish lengths of ½" plastic pipe, the kind used for water plumbing), and you may well get them breeding. You could add a few male endlers for a bit of variety, or some amano shrimp - I wouldn't recommend any of the smaller shrimp species, as my Peacock Gudgeons thought the Cherry Shrimp were lunch.
 
For the 30Gallon, I'd recommend a trio (1M 2F) of one of the smaller apistogramma species. My personal favourite is A. Agassizii, although A. Hongsloi and A. Cacatuoides are also stunning. Then have a large shoal of a smallish barb/tetra/rasbora species. I have a similar sized tank which has Cherry Barbs, Pentazona Barbs and Cardinal Tetras, but you can also have any of the species that Wills suggests too (remember that Galaxy Rasbora have been rename Celestial Pearl Danio). You could also do 2 smaller shoals, especially if one of these is one of those micro species. Finish off with a group of 6 of the smaller cory species, Pandas are ideal, but also look at Salt & Pepper Cory (not to be confused with Peppered Cory).

So for the 10 I could do 4 Peacock Gobys?
 
And for the 30 I could do 3 Agassiziis and 5(ish) clown killis?
 

 
Yes, and I would suggest a group of 6 Celestial Pearl Danios or Chilli Rasbora for the mid-level.
 


For which tank?

 

[RyanTheFishGuy64]

What about one big school on micro schooling fish in the 10g - like, Galaxy Rasbora, Chilli Rasbora, Ember Tetra or Green Neon Tetras. Or do a mix with some micro catfish and micro feature fish

Like a trio of Anchor Catfish and 3 Sparkling Gourami or you could look at small killi fish like Clown Killis which work nice in these mixes. Badis are good for this size tank also Or add in a small group of cherry shrimp.
 
In the big tank what about a group of Cupid Cichlids and plan the tank around them?
 
Wills

Could I put some clown killis with the cichlid? Are Cichlids only species tanks?

 

[Wills]

African Cichlids are mainly species only but Americans do much better with other fish in the tank. Especially dwarfs like the Apistos and the Cupids.
 
You would need to decide between the Cupids and the Apistos though I dont think the tank is big enough for both as they both need to be in groups. I would personally go with slightly bigger fish than the micro fish just to be safe, it would probably be ok but yeah just to be safe. Things like Pencil Fish and Cories would be good companions
 
Wills