New 30gal Tank

[smudgeman]

I recently purchased a 30gal tank for $20 that needed resiliconing. I siliconed with properly rated aquarium safe silicone using tips found here and it holds water fine.
Im going to use an aquaclear 200 HOB filter and an airpump. Going to install a tank heater too.

Wanted to know what people recommend for stocking it.
my 10gal tank currently has:
1 male betta
6 what I believe are a breed of red swordtailed fish
1 african dwarf frog (used to be another one with him but he got stuck under a fake rock and drowned still sad about it)
It has a heater, air pump and HOB
I think maybe since I already remove the adf from the tank to feed him(the other fish eat to fast) Ill keep a couple adf in the 10gal together and not move them to the 30gal
I was thinking along the lines of:
some bala or clown loachs but dont know if theyll be to large for thank.

thanks.

 

[Wills]

Hi welcome to the forum that tank sounds like quite the find! Unfortunately no the bala shark and the clown loaches will each grow to a foot each so they really wont work in your tank they usually need at least a 6 foot tank. Though there are similar options for you to consider, how about zebra loaches or dwarf chain loaches instead of the clowns and instead of the bala sharks how about some kind of rasbora like a scissor tail they are very similar to bala sharks. But these are only if you want to have fish that look like bala sharks and clown loaches I think there are hundreds of other fish that will work well for you in that tank I think you just need to think and read about them. In a 3 foot tank your feature fish could reach 4-5 inches max and then the keep the rest of the max sizes under that as well.

With your existing fish I would move your sword tails over to the new tank when it is cycled. But I would keep the betta with the ADFs as bettas can often limit your stocking in a larger tank and quite often they do better in smaller tanks because of their massive fins. And if the betta is living well with the ADFs now you could add in 2 or 3 more ADFs and then re plan your stocking with the swordtails as a starting point. With sword tails you usually need to keep them as 1 male to 2 female otherwise the males will fight and become "frustrated" So when they get to the big tank maybe take back 2 or 3 of the ones you have at present. If you like the fish I mentioned before how about.

3 Swordtails 1 male 2 female
6 Scissortail Rasbora
6 Zebra Loaches

Hope thats helped Wills

 

[smudgeman]

Hi welcome to the forum that tank sounds like quite the find! Unfortunately no the bala shark and the clown loaches will each grow to a foot each so they really wont work in your tank they usually need at least a 6 foot tank. Though there are similar options for you to consider, how about zebra loaches or dwarf chain loaches instead of the clowns and instead of the bala sharks how about some kind of rasbora like a scissor tail they are very similar to bala sharks. But these are only if you want to have fish that look like bala sharks and clown loaches I think there are hundreds of other fish that will work well for you in that tank I think you just need to think and read about them. In a 3 foot tank your feature fish could reach 4-5 inches max and then the keep the rest of the max sizes under that as well.

With your existing fish I would move your sword tails over to the new tank when it is cycled. But I would keep the betta with the ADFs as bettas can often limit your stocking in a larger tank and quite often they do better in smaller tanks because of their massive fins. And if the betta is living well with the ADFs now you could add in 2 or 3 more ADFs and then re plan your stocking with the swordtails as a starting point. With sword tails you usually need to keep them as 1 male to 2 female otherwise the males will fight and become "frustrated" So when they get to the big tank maybe take back 2 or 3 of the ones you have at present. If you like the fish I mentioned before how about.

3 Swordtails 1 male 2 female
6 Scissortail Rasbora
6 Zebra Loaches

Hope thats helped Wills

Theyre all female except for one.
The betta doesnt have large fins but its possible to keep him with the adfs. He doesnt bother the fish or the adf. Just does his own thing.
I figured the tank would be too small for the fish I asked about.
Not going for any perticular look. Just saw some interesting fish at petco/petsmart that I thought about. LFS down street Ive only been in once but he was kind of shady so didnt really take interest in much to see what he had in stock. He was all about talking people into stuff and not helping them with what they wanted.
Will do some looking into different fish as you know the info listed at petco and petsmart arent always "accurate" for the benefit of the fish.
Looking for variety and good community fish for the tank.
Thanks.