New Tank, Are These Fish Compatible?

[rich05uk]

Hi, I'm setting up a new tank, it's currently going through a fishless cycle and should be ready for fish soon. I now just need confirmation that the choice of fish I want are ok with each other and if I have too many or not enough of each. My tank is 36" x 15" x 18" which I think works out at about 136L, I will have many plants in there with Eco Complete as my substrate, I have good filtration (Eheim Pro II 2028) 1050 l/h and my wanted fish list is as follows

5 x Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
5 x Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
3 x Dwarf Cory Cat (Corydorus habrosus)
3 x Dwarf Oto (Otocinclus macrospilus)
3 x Amano Shrimp (Caridina multidentata/Caridina japonica)
1 x Siamese Fighter (Betta splendens)

I have chosen the Dwarf Cory Cats as they are amongst the smallest I can find as Bottom dwellers that should hopefully feed from the waste/food fallen to the substrate. Again I have chosen the Dwarf Oto due to its small size and they are Middle – Top dwellers that should hopefully feed on algae on plants and tank glass. Finally I have chosen the Amano Shrimp as they are again small but they have an all round position in the tank and will generally feed on both algae and waste fallen to the substrate. Does all this sound about right? Does anyone have any better suggestions as I want something to keep the substrate fairly clean (already have a gravel vac so please dont suggest this ) and also keep any algae under control but at the same time not too big and are appealing to look at?

Do you think the choice of fish I have are good community fish, i.e. all peaceful? I understand and am aware that the Siamese Fighter can be aggressive although this tends to be towards other similar males, although occasionally some can be aggressive to other fish too depending on the 'personality' of the fighter. Therefore I intend to get the fighter from a LFS where it has been kept in a community tank and put it into my tank last.

Oh and my tap water parameters are:

Nitrite (NO2) 10ppm
Potential Hydrogen (PH) 7.4
Carbonate Hardness (KH) 100ppm
General Hardness (gH) 180ppm
Phosphate (PO4) 1ppm

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Your tap has 10 ppm nitrite? That doesn't sound right. Are you sure it isn't nitrate?

I don't have any experience with keeping bettas in community tanks so I am not so sure how it will fare in your tank. Other than that, your tank looks good!

Ryan

 

[Nicolas]

Hi, rich05 uk,

Your fish are all compatible and you can house them in your tank without having to worry about being overstocked. Betta's are not agressive at all with other fish. Remember that the Betta needs to get to the surface to breathe. Betta's usually don't like strong currents in the aquarium. Your filter will be doing seven cycles an hour. That's good and I'm sure your Betta will be happy. About your water I can tell that you have very hard water with Nitrites in it. You want to remove the nitrites from your tap with a water conditioner such as Amquel+. Your Cory's, Oto's, Neons, and Rummynose Tetras will be happier with softer water. Check into getting a water softener pillow or peat that can be added to your filter. Amano Shrimp are a very nice choice for a scavenger invertebrate. They will help a lot in your aquarium. I can't remember if you asked or not; but a Mag-Float (Check into it) makes cleaning up algae a breeze. You don't even have to get your hands wet. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a post or start a thread. Have fun!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i'm sorry but that's utter nonsense that betta's are not aggressive....... where do you think the name fighting fish came from

It's really not recommended to keep male fighters in a community tank, there will be the odd one which is fine but the vast majority of them will not tolerate being in a community tank. They are also not strong swimmers because of their long flowing fins and with a normal filter from a cmmunity tank they'll be blasted around the tank and really struggle to swim in the water. If that's not enough reason then any fish which is a bit nippy will be constantly at their fins. Even if you do get a peaceful one they'll struggle in a community tank because it's not the right environment for them.

In nature they basically live in small puddles, they don't do well with large spaces and lots of flow.

Without the betta the rest of the set up is fine though

 

[shelaghfishface]

i had a siamese fighting fish in a community tank till a week ago when he passed away, he was fine in there,was with fancy guppies too- tho this is def not reccommended as the sff would see the guppies as rivals, with the long fins,but i never had a problem
i think you have gone overboard on the filtration, i know everyone says that too much is better than too little, but i think you have too too much, you have shrimp, and, nothing thats you are consideriding is overly messy
almost 8 times turn over an hour, is alot for this size of tank and the fish you are wanting, and if you have a betta in there he would be pinned to the side of the tank, unable to move for the flow
think you should rethink the filter
shelagh xx

 

[Corleone]

Bettas have a lot of personality to them - a friend of mine keeps one with guppies and it behaves, but the one I used to have was a bastard - tore shrimp apart, grabbed a dwarf frog by the feet and pulled it around the tank, and had such a good try at killing a snail that I removed that too, for fear that he'd stress himself to death battering its shell all the time.

 

[Esfa]

6 x Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
6 x Dwarf Cory Cat (Corydorus habrosus)
3 x Dwarf Oto (Otocinclus macrospilus)
3 x Amano Shrimp (Caridina multidentata/Caridina japonica)

I think that will be a better stocking, as corys love to be in groups. and you already know about the SFF...

you can get a gourami instead of the SFF. sparkling gouramis are very nice.

 

[rich05uk]

Thanks all for the information, sorry for the small typo, I meant to say I have 10ppm Nitrate, not Nitrite .

I got a larger filter than I need as I plan to upgrade my tank in the future (I was given this as my first tank from a friend), plus it was on offer and was only £4 more than the size below it. My filter's flow rate is fully adjustable anyway, I can turn it from a whirlpool right down to a small trickle if necessary so it shouldn't be a problem, I have even put a double length spray bar (60cm) on it aswell to allow for a high flow rate whilst keeping the current to a minimum. It's positioned just below the surface level to agitate the water enough to get oxygen into it. I assume this will be ok?

As for the SFF, today I have been visiting a number of fish stores in my area and have found most of them to have at least 1 in a community tank, 1 store had 6 community tanks, each with a SFF in them. I asked if they had experienced problems with them and they said no and confirmed that they should not be kept wih similar male fish for obvious reasosns. So I think I will stick to getting a SFF but only one that is already in a community tank, hope that's going to be ok?

I've considered what Esfa said, do you think the following would be ok

6 x Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
6 x Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
6 x Dwarf Cory Cat (Corydorus habrosus)
3 x Dwarf Oto (Otocinclus macrospilus)
3 x Amano Shrimp (Caridina multidentata/Caridina japonica)
1 x Siamese Fighter (Betta splendens)

I'm worried that I'm above my limit for the tank, although I'm told I should be ok as they are not messy fish, obviously I don't want to over stock. Do I have too many, can I get more in the tank or is this about right?

Cheers, Rich.

 

[pricey]

Thanks all for the information, sorry for the small typo, I meant to say I have 10ppm Nitrate, not Nitrite .

I got a larger filter than I need as I plan to upgrade my tank in the future (I was given this as my first tank from a friend), plus it was on offer and was only £4 more than the size below it. My filter's flow rate is fully adjustable anyway, I can turn it from a whirlpool right down to a small trickle if necessary so it shouldn't be a problem, I have even put a double length spray bar (60cm) on it aswell to allow for a high flow rate whilst keeping the current to a minimum. It's positioned just below the surface level to agitate the water enough to get oxygen into it. I assume this will be ok?

As for the SFF, today I have been visiting a number of fish stores in my area and have found most of them to have at least 1 in a community tank, 1 store had 6 community tanks, each with a SFF in them. I asked if they had experienced problems with them and they said no and confirmed that they should not be kept wih similar male fish for obvious reasosns. So I think I will stick to getting a SFF but only one that is already in a community tank, hope that's going to be ok?

I've considered what Esfa said, do you think the following would be ok

6 x Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
6 x Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
6 x Dwarf Cory Cat (Corydorus habrosus)
3 x Dwarf Oto (Otocinclus macrospilus)
3 x Amano Shrimp (Caridina multidentata/Caridina japonica)
1 x Siamese Fighter (Betta splendens)

I'm worried that I'm above my limit for the tank, although I'm told I should be ok as they are not messy fish, obviously I don't want to over stock. Do I have too many, can I get more in the tank or is this about right?

Cheers, Rich.

Dude i made the same mistake with the shrimp. Boost your shrimp up to a group of five to get the best out of them. If you have too little a group they will hide away. They are like a bunch of chavs. You never bloody see em if they havent got their mates with em

 

[Miss Wiggle]

bettas kept in community tanks in fish stores are by no means proven to be community tank safe. they'll have been in there for a couple of days max, any dead stock is not going to be a significant loss to the lfs as it's most likley just a couple of neons.

I understand there's a lot of conflicting info around about this and it can be very difficult to know who to believe, so I won't labour the point, you have to make you're own mind up. However I will say this, ensure that you have a plan B if you try it, i.e. another tank or suitable container to remove the betta to if he turns nasty and starts fighting with the other fish, you need to then be prepared to either re-home the betta or to go out and kit out a tank for him by himself.

 

[Nicolas]

Your revised stocking list looks great to me. I would add a couple more shrimp so that they are comfortable. Make sure you keep up with regular tank maintenance as you will have quite a few fish. Best of Wishes!