New Tank, Need Fish Advice Plz

[v10]

I've currently got my tank in a cycling process with 5 zebra danios, about 1 week into it. My Ammonia is at 1ppm, 0 nitrites/nitrates so far. I just put in an order for a ounce of bio-spira so I'm hoping that will quicken the process and ease any strain on the danios in the tank.

My mind is currently on the future of what I'm going to stock. I really like Lake Malawi cichlids, but from my research, they sound intimidating for a newbie owner. So I have now started looking at some dwarf gourami's and/or rainbow fish. From what I read, they are on the "easy" level and have almost as nice of colors as the cichlids and they have a smaller max size, which I do like. I'd rather have more smaller fish, than 3-4 bigger ones.

So the fish I'm thinking of ordering once the tank is finished cycling is:

1 Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia)
1 Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
2 Honey Dwarf Gourami
2 Boesemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani)
2 Praecox Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox)
6-8 Neon Tetras
1 or 2 Dario Botia Loach
5 Zebra Danios (if they survive the cycle)

Do these sound compatible? Another consideration is that my wife asked that I not stock any fish that requires "live food". So I need fish that will eat flakes/pellets/frozen items. I am planning on upgrading my lighting to a brighter light, and adding more live plants to the tank.

My PH is currently 7.0

Also, what do you folks think about ordering fish online? Any good/bad experiences with it? Or would I be better off having my LFS order the species I want.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.

 

[v10]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.

46 gallons, Is my signature working? It has all the tank details.

 

[silver tipped]

Hi,

Sorry I don't know very much about compatability but I was told by my lfs that neons are quite sensitive and shouldn't be added at the beginning of a tanks life. He said that I should wait for maybe 6 months so that the tank is really mature.

I do keep praecox rainbow and they are with my platies and silver tipped tetras, everyone gets on really well. They are lovely fish, especially when seen in daylight.

I look forward to others replying about compatability because I too would like to keep to keep rainbows and gouramis together. They are by favourite fish.

Sorry couldn't help more

 

[v10]

rebecca, I have read that the neons are quite sensitive to new surroundings, so I think I'll take your LFS's advice aswell and add them last later down the road.

I guess due to lack of response on compatibilty that I will assume they are compatible from the research I've done so far and hope I put in my due diligence. I guess I'll change my question now to, Will this setup be overcrowded when they all reach adult size? From the liveaquaria website, it says most of the gourami's and rainbows will be 2-4" max. As for numbers, I'm factoring only by the 1" per gallon rule (some say 1" per 2 gallons). What do you folks think?