Rainbow Fish And Possible Upgrade?

[Fintastic!]

My gourami saga is OVER!!! Lets move on...
I have added 2 McCullough rainbow fish to my 10 gal hex which also has 3 platys, 1 molly and 2 corys. All seems peaceful enough. Is this a good mix? I'm dying to upgrade to a Juwel 180 but I'm wondering if I can do this with my lack of experience. I'm only at the 'ol fishkeeping about 6 weeks. Any thoughts?

 

[Westwood]

Its easier to maintain a bigger tank, so definitely upgrade!
I'm not sure on the compatibility of your fish, but i would check to see if the rainbow fish are OK in a 10 gal as they are big swimmers.
Im sure someone on here will have better knowledge!

 

[KittyKat]

Hun, did you research rainbowfish before you went out and got those two? They are schooling fish, same as the Corys, and the 10 gallon is too small for them. Please upgrade as soon as possible and get the Cory (and now the rainbow) numbers up to at least 6 each, and preferably 10+. You'll be wanting to get a mixed sex group of the rainbowfish, so that the males are at their best.

What is it exactly that worries you about the upgrade?

 

[Hermithall]

Just go for it with the upgrade, I'm a huge fan of Juwel tanks - I think it's way easier to look after a larger tank too! I love rainbowfish, really peaceful and active.

 

[Fintastic!]

Crikey, I keep making fish mistakes! Kittykat, my daughter picked the rainbows and when I did some research it said they were peaceful and liked company so I got them planning to upgrade. As for the corys, they're also on my list for my upgrade. I concerned as I'm not sure if I know enough about things to go off spending hard-earned on tanks and poor unsuspecting fish. If I got a 180 could I add many more fish?

 

[fluttermoth]

Bigger tanks are far easier to maintain than smaller ones, as toxins take longer to reach dangerous levels.

You could add quite a lot more fish to a 180l (nice size, btw!); but a lot of that room would be taken up by increasing your shoals to their proper numbers.

When people say a fish 'likes company' they mean of it's own kind; other fish you may have don't count; fish need others of their own species.

 

[KittyKat]

Kittykat, my daughter picked the rainbows and when I did some research it said they were peaceful and liked company so I got them planning to upgrade. As for the corys, they're also on my list for my upgrade.

So you picked up on the important bit.. but I think "need" is more appropriate than "like" and "now" better than "later" for the company.

I concerned as I'm not sure if I know enough about things to go off spending hard-earned on tanks and poor unsuspecting fish. If I got a 180 could I add many more fish?

Buy second hand then, it is usual for third hand equipment to have similar resell value to second hand, so you wouldn't be "risking" anything unless you somehow manage to break it.

The number of fish you can have in total depends on the exact set-up.. but you can at least go for the following:
* 3 platys + babies in the long term
* 1 molly
* 10 Corys of one species
* 10 rainbows of one species

In theory, the tank could take more still, but it's best if you decide on whether you actually want more fish once you have more experience.

You should also consider planting the tank.

 

[Fintastic!]

Sounds good Kittykat, I intend to plant it. Also more rainbows and corys. Hmmmm, I can see it now....