New fish advice - what to add to tank

[Kelly Preussner]

I am looking for some advice on what fish to add to my tank.
I have a 36 gal bow front freshwater tank.
I have 5 small platy fish, 2 swords, 1 adult black molly, 2 molly fry, 1 small guppy & 1 betta. I don’t want to add many more as I don’t want over crowding but maybe 2 more?? Any fish suggestions?? Thanks

 

[Essjay]

If any of the livebearers are females, you'll soon have extra fish; probably too many fish before long.


If this was my tank, the only thing I'd do is to move the betta to a tank on his own, then wait till the livebearers had more babies.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

my daughter got all male guppies to keep her population under control. Livebearers can hold multiple batches of fertilized eggs in their bodies so even if there are no males in the tank they probably can produce several deliveries of hundreds of babies. You can just let all the fish eat them or move them to a side tank where you can feed them baby food and keep mom and dad and everybody else from eating them. Then in the meantime be prepared for a second batch. So maybe that's what you did.
I don't think you're currently overstocked at all - it all depends on what you want to do with the fry if you get any born and keep them, then the population will increase astronomically as each generation in-breeds with it's brothers and sisters and the babies have babies. So think what you want to do. I'm mean - I would just let the fry get eaten but that's why I don't do livebearers.
What does everybody think about some tetra's? - if you like color the neo-tetras are amazing looking in real life - they actually look pretty naturally colored. These fish were originally developed to test chemicals in waterways and change colors if they detected a certain chemical - then somebody had the bright idea to make the colors permanent and sell to all of us color freaks.
Get a new home for the male betta - they cannot be with other fish. At least a 5 gallon tank.
It can take a lot of research to decide what to stock - you need to compare temperature and ph requirement, tank size, make sure they are all peaceful. It can take a long time so you'll likely have to do your own research.
Look at the Dojo loaches -my personal favorites hysterically entertaining fish and very peaceful - since they can even live with goldfish their temperature needs are very broad but I don't know about PH.
Get some Cory cat fish for the bottom of your tank - at least 3-5 they like to be in groups. I have 3 that sleep stacked on top of each other - very strange looking!
Then there are the Plecos - also bottom feeders and excellent algae eaters.
Look at dwarf Gourami (or if you get a full-sized one make sure it's rated "peaceful" and not "semi-aggressive". There are some beautiful colors - the powder blue are beautiful as are the standard "dwarf gourami" which is powder blue with some red veining. I had two red white and blue Gourami that suddenly turned pitch black, now one of them is getting it's normal coloring back but only on one side of their body! Super easy to care for.

 

[Kelly Preussner]

Just wanted to clarify, I have all female fish including the betta and my guppy is a male. I used to have 6-8 male guppies but they have all died over time with the exception of my 1. The 2 fry I have are actually from the pet store. I have not had any fish have babies & no one even looks pregnant (have had the fish for months). So I don’t see any fish babies in my future here. I was thinking more male guppies but not sure. I will check into the other options mentioned. I have danios very early on & even though supposed to be peaceful they ate my guppies tails all the time. Therefore I was going to stay away from tetras. I thought they might nip at my bettas tail. My female betta in my tank is a very odd fish. She lays in her log 85% of the time & very rarely swims. No, she is not sick, I thought so at first but she has done this for the past 3 months I have had her. When she does swim around she is very peaceful & looks great. She eats with the other fish & everyone gets along great.

 

[Naughts]

What are your tank parameters - GH, KH, pH and temperature?
Live bearers are hard water fish so if your water is hard it won't suit most tropical fish, including the betta. This might be why she seems lethargic so it's important to check.