My First Mixed Tank!

[zophie]

Emperor's are pretty big tetras, getting to 2 inches at maturity. The ancistrus gets to 4 to 5 inches. It would have to be an either/or thing between the catfish and the emperors. Personally, I like a completely different idea for your 20G, though it might not sound appealing initially to you. I think you should keep looking at tetras, searching for a still smaller tetra that you still like but that will look good with the neons/cards. I would try to do low-tech planting and get the tank pretty crowded with slow-growth plants. Two larger shoals of smaller tetras moving among these plants would produce a very nice picture. If you could find a tetra with similar size to the cardinal, you could stock each shoal to about 10 fish I think. If the chosen fish grows a bit larger then the number of that species might need to be left at 6 or so. Just a thought.

~~waterdrop~~

Hey waterdrop, sorry for saying this, but I was doing research, and it looks like Cr=ardinals and Emperors get to about the same size.... 2 inches max....

Actually, never mind that. I went to actually see some Emperor Tetras, and they looked way bigger then Cardinals. er....Why?

 

[Assaye]

Emperor's are pretty big tetras, getting to 2 inches at maturity. The ancistrus gets to 4 to 5 inches. It would have to be an either/or thing between the catfish and the emperors. Personally, I like a completely different idea for your 20G, though it might not sound appealing initially to you. I think you should keep looking at tetras, searching for a still smaller tetra that you still like but that will look good with the neons/cards. I would try to do low-tech planting and get the tank pretty crowded with slow-growth plants. Two larger shoals of smaller tetras moving among these plants would produce a very nice picture. If you could find a tetra with similar size to the cardinal, you could stock each shoal to about 10 fish I think. If the chosen fish grows a bit larger then the number of that species might need to be left at 6 or so. Just a thought.

~~waterdrop~~

Hey waterdrop, sorry for saying this, but I was doing research, and it looks like Cr=ardinals and Emperors get to about the same size.... 2 inches max....

Actually, never mind that. I went to actually see some Emperor Tetras, and they looked way bigger then Cardinals. er....Why?

They do get a bit longer and they're much deeper bodied with longer fins. Plus the specimens you saw might have been different ages. Most cardinals seen in pet shops are juveniles.

 

[zophie]

Emperor's are pretty big tetras, getting to 2 inches at maturity. The ancistrus gets to 4 to 5 inches. It would have to be an either/or thing between the catfish and the emperors. Personally, I like a completely different idea for your 20G, though it might not sound appealing initially to you. I think you should keep looking at tetras, searching for a still smaller tetra that you still like but that will look good with the neons/cards. I would try to do low-tech planting and get the tank pretty crowded with slow-growth plants. Two larger shoals of smaller tetras moving among these plants would produce a very nice picture. If you could find a tetra with similar size to the cardinal, you could stock each shoal to about 10 fish I think. If the chosen fish grows a bit larger then the number of that species might need to be left at 6 or so. Just a thought.

~~waterdrop~~

Hey waterdrop, sorry for saying this, but I was doing research, and it looks like Cr=ardinals and Emperors get to about the same size.... 2 inches max....

Actually, never mind that. I went to actually see some Emperor Tetras, and they looked way bigger then Cardinals. er....Why?

They do get a bit longer and they're much deeper bodied with longer fins. Plus the specimens you saw might have been different ages. Most cardinals seen in pet shops are juveniles.

Oh, Okay. So... any ideas an]bout my seacond tetras?

 

[zophie]

Okay,everyone. What about this?

6 Cardinal Tetra
6 Silver Tipped Tetra
1 Ansistrus

Does that sound good?