Next Fish For My Tank - More Suggestions Please!

[Lizzie71]

Now that I am getting close to being cycled, I am wondering what other fish I should add to my tank. I have the 34 litre Aqua One, so not much space to play with. So far I have 3 female platys in there. Here is a pic (sadly the fish were hiding)

The plants are real except for the silly ornament at the front which my 7 year old insisted on buying.

I had originally planned to get a group of 6 neon tetras but I'm not convinced it's enough space for them. So I'm now thinking about 2 guppies or mollies now and then either ottos or pygmy corys when the tank is a little more mature (probably 4 of either of them).

A couple of questions:

1. if I get male guppies or mollies could they cross breed with the female platys? I am keen to avoid breeding due to small size of tank, and I don't really want the hassle of babies

2. if I get two more livebearers will there still be room for the corys/ottos later? I am happy to do weekly water changes etc to keep on top of the water quality.

3. I have also considered sparkling gouramis. Could I have just one gourami, or would it be lonely? How would it get on with the other fish? Would a dwarf gourami be better?

Any advice gratefully received!

 

[n3ont3tra]

You don't have very mush space left in that tank...
mollies are better suited to brackish conditions so I would skip those.
Not sure about the cross breeding...
I would just get a group of dwarf cories for the bottom and be happy. Platies are pretty bright and it'll make the mid-top levels appear full, and cories will eat the uneaten food and be active on the bottom.

 

[demonmagus]

pygmy cories are actually mid swimmers, at least one species is I'm sure, no chance of cross breeding *not really anyway

 

[Lizzie71]

Does anyone know where I could get some pygmy corys? I can't find any to buy online and my lfs doesn't stock them.

What about ottos? And gouramis? Any opinions?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Ottos aren't really that good in captivity IME. I bought six, and all but 2 died within a week in my 10g, and then I moved them into my 29g and they just withered away, even though I had plenty of algae. I also tried buying another 6 and the same thing happened.

Sparkling gouramis I have no experience with.

 

[fry_lover]

If you dont want babies, then dont get any more livebearers, you may already end up with babies due to the platies, if you post some pics of the platies, we can sex them for you

I reckon you only have about another 5" of fish to play with

So i would either go with x3 Corydoras (which is more than 5" when they grow) or x4 or x5 small Tetra's

As much i love Cory's (i have over x20 of them and lots of different kinds) with that tank and the layout you got, my preference would be to get some nice colourful small tetra's to go with your platies.

What colour are the platies? If they are not red, how about a tetra that is red(ish) like some flame tetra's or rosy tetra's?

I really like Glowlight Tetra's but i am not sure you would see the best out of them with the colouring of your gravel (just my taste really)

Or a few White Cloud Mountain Minnows?

In way of your actual questions

1.Not sure about cross breeding, and like i say, dont bother with extra livebearers if you dont want fry. And dont bother with mollies full stop, they will take up a bit too much room in that tank anyway

2. I dont know about Otto's, but if you add more livebearers, you really running out space for Corydoras, although i reckon you could have another platy or two and a few Cory, but then then breeding becomes an issue unless they all the same sex. In that tank, you want to be doing atleast 25% weekly water change weekly, i would anyway. Regardless of how many more fish you get.

3. I have a hard time believing any gouramis would be particularly lonely if kept on its own. I would avoid Dwarf Gouramis, not got a good repuation at the moment, quite prone to disease and death basically, from what i been picking up on various forums. I bought x2 a few months ago, one died for no apparent reason and one is fine.



By the way, hows that filter? i have one that looks just like that in my fry tank and its not very powerful at all and hardly holds any media (spounge) be sure to keep an eye on your readings (as i am sure you will) to make sure that filter can handle the "bio load"

As for Pgymy Cory, i seen some in my local Maidenhead Aquatics (Enfield)

 

[chibi]

Mollies do okay without salt, but unless you get balloon mollies, they can get pretty big. 3", or sailfins can reach 6"! (I've seen them and I had no idea they got that big until I saw them O_O)

I think you could probably fit a male guppy in there if you wanted to, considering you want corys. I've had very little luck with keeping ottos in small tanks for some reason... I'd recommend pygmy corys instead. Very little bioload and they're so cute!

 

[Lizzie71]

OK, so I think I'm going for the three existing platys (definitely all female by the way) plus one honey or dwarf gourami and 3-4 pygmy corys.

Sounds like a plan

 

[SJ2K]

Good mix of fish, good luck

 

[Lizzie71]

Hit a snag. This is meant to be my son's tank and he isn't keen on the gourami for some reason. He wants a molly but I've told him it isn't suitable.

So can anyone suggest anything else suitable?

I want one or two fish that grow to maximum 2-3 inches. Top to middle dwellers preferred as I still plan on getting the pygmy corys. As colourful as possible to capture my son's imagination, and preferably no more livebearers.

As an alternative, could I have a couple of cherry barbs or zebra danios or do they prefer larger groups? Or could I go back to the plan of 6 neon tetras or harlequin rasboras (probably wouldn't be able to get the corys then though)?

All suggestions gratefully received!

 

[chr15_8]

i would get 6 neon tetra personally.

my cousin who is 9 like fish also. he has a silly 2 gallon tank (was told it could have 2 goldfish in) he loved the goldfish and didnt want to take them back (hes autistic and dont understandsp they went into my pond and we cant catch them while the tank was getting cleaned) but he's getting a new tank for his bday next week and like the neons in my tank. so im also getting him some neons to go in there as well as 4 khuli loaches (the one in my pic) and a few otto form the same tank.


so for me it would be 6 neons due to the bright colours.
barbs i dont think are suitable because they are fin nippers i believe (im sure will be cleared up if they are/not)

chris
ps sorry i didnt realize i was going on a little

 

[england]

adf.......african drawf frog....are great.....corys are great

 

[Lizzie71]

Can't get corys due to the gravel substrate sadly Apparently the pygmy ones are OK as they are mid-level swimmers.

Maybe I'll let him get the tetras after all.

 

[Spooky76]

you could put a pair of phantoms in it. Or penguins in that I think. Phantoms are lovely fish.

 

[Lizzie71]

Wouldn't I need more than a pair of either of those? I think those would need groups of 6 or more?