Possible Tank Mates...

[MattM1124]

While my quarantine tank is still fishless cycling, I went to the pet store today to make note of a few fish I liked and wanted to add to my community tank. I have a 19 gallon tank with 6 danio's, 4 glo lite tetra's, and 1 male swordtail. already.

Here's the list of the possible fish I would like to add....

Honey Sunset Gourami's
Peppered Cory catfish
Albino Cory Catfish
Glofish
Silver Hatchetfish
Ottocinclus

I know I can't get them all but which ones out of this list would go the best with my current fish? And also, how many of each would be good and male/female should I get? Don't wanna get 1 of something and then find out that they do better in shoals.

I really like otocinclus' but I know they are kinda sensitive so was thinking of getting a few albino cories or peppered cories. Would it be dumb to have a cory species and otto in the same tank?

thanks in advance!

 

[Jazzzz]

I couldn't keep honey gouramis alive but that was me

 

[CKutz]

cories and ottos are very different. cories are bottom dwellers and tend to eat things off the bottom, not like any old thing that falls on the bottom, but actual food. shrimp pellets, or sinking waefers are good i believe. they will probably come up to eat things like flake also..

an otto however survives off algea. which does not really grow on the bottom. they will mostly be on your plants/decorations/ and glass. they aren't very active whereas cory's are...i would discourage you from the otto just because they like to be in groups and because it can be pretty difficult to get them enough food. i had 1 before i knew any better and it would never eat the vegetables or algea wafers i put in the tank for it. it eventually died

if you get like 4 peppered cory and 4 albino you might be ok with the cory's cause i'm not sure how well the school with their different species..for example i don't know if 2 albino and 5 or 6 peppered would be ok or if the two would be left out. but i'm not sure if 4 of each is an ok alternative because they like to be in groups of 6 i believe.

all the fish you have listed are schoolers except the gourami...the gourami should be the only gourami in the tank.
i think your list should be
1 honey gourami
4 albino cory
4 peppered cory
6 glofish

i'm not really sure about the hatchetfish in a 19 gallon. what are the exact dimensions? the hatchet like to be in groups of 6 and they tend to jump from what i read and can either be very active or very docile. however they are mostly upper level dwelling fish as is the gourami, so that might not be a good mix.
if you look into the other types of gouarmi there might be one that you could have two of, i think this would look nicer in a tank your size.
i dont' think you'd be overstocked with this set up. but i am no expert. just thought i'd comment since no one else did, i know that can be a pain.

 

[Super Dude]

honey SUNSET gourami?

i had just a sunset gourami, two. they dropped faster than the stock markets. lol.

i'm guessing these guys of yours are a crossbreed?

my bro rented a book called tropical fish encyclopedia, or something. looking in the labyrinth (air breathing capable), i found that almost all of these fishes are ranked about 1-2 on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being most difficult. these sunsets came in at 8!! , and it said that they dont live past 2 years in expert care

sunset is the bad "s" word lol

 

[MattM1124]

cories and ottos are very different. cories are bottom dwellers and tend to eat things off the bottom, not like any old thing that falls on the bottom, but actual food. shrimp pellets, or sinking waefers are good i believe. they will probably come up to eat things like flake also..

an otto however survives off algea. which does not really grow on the bottom. they will mostly be on your plants/decorations/ and glass. they aren't very active whereas cory's are...i would discourage you from the otto just because they like to be in groups and because it can be pretty difficult to get them enough food. i had 1 before i knew any better and it would never eat the vegetables or algea wafers i put in the tank for it. it eventually died

if you get like 4 peppered cory and 4 albino you might be ok with the cory's cause i'm not sure how well the school with their different species..for example i don't know if 2 albino and 5 or 6 peppered would be ok or if the two would be left out. but i'm not sure if 4 of each is an ok alternative because they like to be in groups of 6 i believe.

all the fish you have listed are schoolers except the gourami...the gourami should be the only gourami in the tank.
i think your list should be
1 honey gourami
4 albino cory
4 peppered cory
6 glofish

i'm not really sure about the hatchetfish in a 19 gallon. what are the exact dimensions? the hatchet like to be in groups of 6 and they tend to jump from what i read and can either be very active or very docile. however they are mostly upper level dwelling fish as is the gourami, so that might not be a good mix.
if you look into the other types of gouarmi there might be one that you could have two of, i think this would look nicer in a tank your size.
i dont' think you'd be overstocked with this set up. but i am no expert. just thought i'd comment since no one else did, i know that can be a pain.

Thanks for the response! Ya, I had a few otto's in the past and 2 died fairly fast but the last one lived pretty long. He actually did he some algae wafers though. My tank dimensions are 30x12x12 (LxWxH). I prob will end up going with either the Peppered Cories or Albino Cories then. So then do you think one Gourami would conflict with my danio's who are top dwellers?

honey SUNSET gourami?

i had just a sunset gourami, two. they dropped faster than the stock markets. lol.

i'm guessing these guys of yours are a crossbreed?

my bro rented a book called tropical fish encyclopedia, or something. looking in the labyrinth (air breathing capable), i found that almost all of these fishes are ranked about 1-2 on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being most difficult. these sunsets came in at 8!! , and it said that they dont live past 2 years in expert care

sunset is the bad "s" word lol

Not too sure but I guess it's a cross then. So what you're saying is that then encyclopedia ranked how easy the fish were to keep and have live? lol...I guess I won't be getting any Gourami's then. You said you liked Albino Cories right? What about Peppered cories?

 

[oliesminis]

I would steer clear of the honey gouramis, or gouramis in general actually, ive had 4 gouramis in the past, 3 refused to eat all food including live, and 1 was tempermental and bullied other fish untill i took him back

 

[CKutz]

honey sunset gourami are a color variety of a dwarf gourami. i guess it's just breeding for a desired trait, or maybe cross breeding, i don't know how it works. but they are similar to the powder blue gourami in that sense.

i have a dwarf gourami right now, that i can hand feed. he eats flakes eagerly and freeze dried bloodworms.
if you look in the gourami section there is a pinned article about the poor health of dwarf gouramis. so it is a known issue, it's due to inbreeding and w/e else, that has just given some issues. I had one before that was perfectly fine, another one that had something strange clearly wrong with it (and i took him back), and now this one, which seems perfectly fine...maybe just a little moody or something, he'll dart at my rasbora on occasion but never catches them, so i think your danios would have no problem getting away from him. the gourami are typically peaceful but seem to get a little territorial is all. i think they would be fine with danios though.

the trick to getting a good gourami is to inspect your lfs stock for damaged fins, any types of fungus, laying on the bottom, try and tell them which one you want and pick on that seems relatively active. with my 2nd one i just let them pick one i didn't pay attention, and look how it turned out.

6 glofish and 6 cory's then? you could definately get more fish..i'm not really sure what to suggest though if you don't like gourami. you could get a few guppies, a platy or molly. i just think i'd stay away from the hatchet fish since they get a little big and like to be in schools. if you can find marble hatchet fish though they would probably be alright.

 

[tenohfive]

Erm, quick point about the quarantine tank:

Better alternative is not to fishless cycle your QT. For the time it will take you may as well pop the filter for it into your community tank - the bacteria will build up in the filter, you then pop the filter into the QT when you've got fish you want to quarantine. Then when its done, you move the filter back into your main tank so the bacteria don't die off.

 

[GSD]

I would also steer clear of the gourami, very prone to bacterial infections and not the best fish for a new tank.

If it was mine i would up the number of glolites as they like to be in gropus of 6+ as they are shoaling fish and look fantastic in larger groups, and then add a group if cories. Ottos are harder to keep and i find cories more entertaining, they ieally should be in groups of 5+ but in such as small tank it may be better to stock with pygmy cories. It is also hard to feed ottos and they often starve in tanks due to lack of algae.

 

[CKutz]

i do what tenohfive suggested with the quarantine tank. i just keep it's filter pad in my main tanks filter along with the main tanks filter pad. then when i need to put a fish in the quarantine tank, i just take it out and put it in the quarantine tanks filter. once the fish is ready for the big tank again i put the filter back in the main tank filter. also change the water in your QT before you put fish in it, if you are just letting it set, it can get kinda nasty in there.

i'm sorry i didn't realize you already had fish in your community tank.

i would add the school of cories, and then get a few more glo light tetra. adding the glofish might not work then because they like to be in schools..and getting like 2 or 3 and hoping they school with your danios (i believe glofish are just a genetically altered danio) wouldn't look as nice as being able to get like 6 or 8 glofish, that would look cool, but unfortunately you don't have the room for it. so i would get 5 cory, or 8 pygmy cory, and like 3 glo light tetra.

 

[MattM1124]

Erm, quick point about the quarantine tank:

Better alternative is not to fishless cycle your QT. For the time it will take you may as well pop the filter for it into your community tank - the bacteria will build up in the filter, you then pop the filter into the QT when you've got fish you want to quarantine. Then when its done, you move the filter back into your main tank so the bacteria don't die off.

That's a good point lol..didn't quite think of that but what I did do was add some of the bio media from my main tank into the filter cartridge of the new filter and it seems like my q-tank is ready to go. So I guess after I leave the fish in the q-tank for awhile (How long should I leave them in there, a month?) I'll then move the little filter I have running the q-tank over to the main tank as well. That works right? I would then have a tetra whisper 40 and whisper 10 running the main tank.

 

[MattM1124]

i do what tenohfive suggested with the quarantine tank. i just keep it's filter pad in my main tanks filter along with the main tanks filter pad. then when i need to put a fish in the quarantine tank, i just take it out and put it in the quarantine tanks filter. once the fish is ready for the big tank again i put the filter back in the main tank filter. also change the water in your QT before you put fish in it, if you are just letting it set, it can get kinda nasty in there.

i'm sorry i didn't realize you already had fish in your community tank.

i would add the school of cories, and then get a few more glo light tetra. adding the glofish might not work then because they like to be in schools..and getting like 2 or 3 and hoping they school with your danios (i believe glofish are just a genetically altered danio) wouldn't look as nice as being able to get like 6 or 8 glofish, that would look cool, but unfortunately you don't have the room for it. so i would get 5 cory, or 8 pygmy cory, and like 3 glo light tetra.

Unfortunately in my main tank, I have a tetra whisper 40 filter which uses those cartridges. I did however put some bio media into the filter and took some out and added it into the little 10 gallon filter that came with the tank I'm using as the q-tank. I can't really tank any pads out because of the type of filter it is. I was however going to have both filters running the main tank after I use the q-tank. That's ok to do right? never bad having 2 filters? I was also thinking of maybe getting another bigger filter and have 2 running my main tank and when I need to use the q-tank just taking a filter off. I guess I could always just get a canister filter though.

I prob will end up going with a school of cories and a few more glow lights. I did have 6 glow lights but 2 died recently. Any cories you like better between the peppered ones and the albino ones? Don't think I've ever seen the pygmy ones.

 

[CKutz]

...do you have anything in the quarantine tank? because if you don't you don't need to cycle it. all you need to do is stick the scratchy pad thing in your main tanks filter. i think i read that a substantial amount of bacteria will transfer onto the other pad within twenty four hours. then when you need to use the quarantine tank, simple pull the one pad out of your filter and put it in the quarantine tank. if it has bacteria already on it (even if it alone is not enough to support the fish in the quaratine tank) it will quickly reproduce to the appropriate level since it has already established itself...establishing itself is the whole difficult part.
removing this filter from your main tank should not cause a significant change in your water chemistry, the bacteria colony on your main filter pad should be able to reproduce quickly enough.

yea i can't find pygmy cories in my area either...i'm not really sure what to tell you, i think they are very similar in their requirements. consider the look of your tank, what you think would look nicer in the tank..or if you like the "unusual" look of the albinos, versus the look of the peppered.

i would say with the quarantine, just keep the fish in their for around 2 weeks. i came across one of your old posts..in my opinion it would be fine to give it a dose of melafix for a few days. i think it is an antibiotic or something, it's not as powerful as other medications out there, it really only helps fish with fin rot or ripped fins grow their fins back, maybe also with fungus. but i would get it and just put a little in for a week or so. you'll want to get something like quICK cure, for ick, and get something for bacterial/fungal infections. i think you should be covered then. adding a little aquarium salt irritates fish a little but it triggers them to produce more of a slime coat, which can help protect them and strengthen them, so aquarium salt is good too (anyone correct me if i'm wrong), but not marine salt.

you don't really need two filters for you 19 gallon tank, the one you have is plenty i believe. but adding the one from the 10 gallon won't hurt, and it will keep the pad cycled.

 

[MattM1124]

...do you have anything in the quarantine tank? because if you don't you don't need to cycle it. all you need to do is stick the scratchy pad thing in your main tanks filter. i think i read that a substantial amount of bacteria will transfer onto the other pad within twenty four hours. then when you need to use the quarantine tank, simple pull the one pad out of your filter and put it in the quarantine tank. if it has bacteria already on it (even if it alone is not enough to support the fish in the quaratine tank) it will quickly reproduce to the appropriate level since it has already established itself...establishing itself is the whole difficult part.
removing this filter from your main tank should not cause a significant change in your water chemistry, the bacteria colony on your main filter pad should be able to reproduce quickly enough.

yea i can't find pygmy cories in my area either...i'm not really sure what to tell you, i think they are very similar in their requirements. consider the look of your tank, what you think would look nicer in the tank..or if you like the "unusual" look of the albinos, versus the look of the peppered.

i would say with the quarantine, just keep the fish in their for around 2 weeks. i came across one of your old posts..in my opinion it would be fine to give it a dose of melafix for a few days. i think it is an antibiotic or something, it's not as powerful as other medications out there, it really only helps fish with fin rot or ripped fins grow their fins back, maybe also with fungus. but i would get it and just put a little in for a week or so. you'll want to get something like quICK cure, for ick, and get something for bacterial/fungal infections. i think you should be covered then. adding a little aquarium salt irritates fish a little but it triggers them to produce more of a slime coat, which can help protect them and strengthen them, so aquarium salt is good too (anyone correct me if i'm wrong), but not marine salt.

you don't really need two filters for you 19 gallon tank, the one you have is plenty i believe. but adding the one from the 10 gallon won't hurt, and it will keep the pad cycled.

Thanks a lot for all the help so far! Don't have anything in the q-tank yet so I'll give the pad thing a try if I need to. The filter one 10 gallon tank though is so small, I don't even know if the pad from my main tank will fit lol. It might though.

I'll probably end up going with the perppered cories since I don't think I like the look of the albiono's very much. Question about if I get a few more glow light tetra's though.....If I get like 2 or 3 more but first put them in the q-tank, will they be ok even if they do better in a shoal? I guess only being in the q-tank for a few weeks wouldn't matter much.

I would like to dose them with melafix just to be safe but wouldn't want to add unnecessary meds you know? I would also want to run both filters because I've been getting a little bit of algae so maybe the extra water flow would help that.

 

[MattM1124]

I was just doing some further readin about Albino Cories and Peppered Cories and read that it's best to keep them in a tank with substrate or small gravel so their barbels don't get damaged. In my tank I have a larger blue type of gravel. Would this be ok or any other bottom peaceful dwellers?