Redesigning the tank, want to add some tank mates

[Carolinesugar]

hi all, well, im gona give the tank a big clean out, this weekend,

im going to take everything out,
put in the new (second hand from an esablished tank) black sand
rearrange everything, and make a cave effect with the mini flower pots i have
ive got lots of new plants, that im going to arrange in there, to make more hidy holes for my 3 female bettas, and the kuli loaches, and corys.

im thinking about adding some lamp eye tetras, will these mix ok with the girlies without being nippy? ive looked at them for a while now in the shop, and finally saw the bloke who knows his stuff today, so asked about them, and he sed that they wud go fine, but i always like to get a second opinion.

the fish i currently have in the tank are,
3 female bettas,
1 clown pleco
6 black kuli loaches,
15 pygmy corys, and
5 swartzi corys (soon to be moved into my mums rio 400)


their all in a 24" tank, that holds between 22 Gallons, and 24 Gallons, depending how much i fill it.

any advice, suggestions, opinions, comments are more than welcome

Thanks in advance

 

[The-Wolf]

lamp eye tetra aka red eyed tetra Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae
they are much happier in groups of 5 or more, less than this they can be, and often are nippy. Not suited to be kept with any longfinned fish, like guppies and male bettas. average life span in aquariums is 5 years.

 

[newfishies]

i don't know about the tetras, but it sounds like your tank is pretty fully stocked at this point...

 

[Carolinesugar]

lamp eye tetra aka red eyed tetra Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae
they are much happier in groups of 5 or more, less than this they can be, and often are nippy. Not suited to be kept with any longfinned fish, like guppies and male bettas. average life span in aquariums is 5 years.

hiya, these arent the fish i meant. the ones lables lamp eye tetras in the shop, are white, with blue eyes. their egg bearers appearently, cus i thought they looked alot like baby mollies in their shape, but their deffo not red eye tetras, cus i know wot they look like.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm..
I have my 10 gallon tank maxed out at 6 betta girlies and one snail.
I would say you may have a few too many fishies in there, also.
I would not add anymore, but rather see if it would be possible to thin down the population in there a bit.

 

[wrs]

I know what fish you are talking about i believe, do they actually have the eggs hang from them?

 

[veen]

is this the fish you're referring to?

 

[veen]

can you take out the corys & some of the loaches? it would probably be a better stocking plan if you could.

 

[Carolinesugar]

Here is a picture and the article i found on the fish.

you just have to imagine that the eye of the fish, is infact a bright blue in colour.

Breeding NORMANS LAMP-EYE (Poropanchax normani)

A charming little fish; the cited max size is 4 cm, but they rarely grow over 3 cm, and can breed from a size of approx. 1.5 cm; basically they're smaller than guppies, and apart from their striking eyes they also look much like juvenile guppies. The males (which can be separated from the females on their longer fins and leaner bodies) are territorial and aggressive towards conspecifics, but no harm results from the constant quarreling and posturing. Despite their small size their speed and unflappable disposition mean they actually go quite well with medium sized fish (e.g. shell-dwelling cichlids or neon rainbows). It appears to be an annual fish; when they approach 8-10 months of age they start showing signs of aging such as becoming emaciated and getting crooked backs, and none of mine has lived for more than a year. Luckily, they're very easy to breed.

Back to breeding: I have witnessed breeding in my main aquarium. The fish pair up, with the male displaying with erect fins. The normally black-and-blue iris fades to white, and the normally beige bodies fade to silver. The female will 'nose around' among plants, followed by the male, and when she finds an acceptable clump of plants the fishes lay side by side and eggs and sperm are deposited. The fishes will repeat the procedure several times. The male will resume normal coloration almost instantly after breeding is finished, but the female will be somewhat stressed and retain the pale coloration for a few hours. If you see a female which isn't scared but which has unpigmented eyes, then you know your fish have just spawned. Breeding is repeated on almost a daily basis.

The larvae stood no chance to survive in the main tank, so I transferred a group of two males and two females to a 30 liter aquarium, densely planted, with black cardboard taped to three sides, and with just a simple sponge filter for filtration. I fed well, with mainly live food (daphnia). I saw some chasing but I never saw them breed, but after 10 days I returned the fish to the main tank, just in case. At 25C the eggs hatch after 12-14 days, and sure enough, on the 14th day after putting the fish in the aquarium, there were three fry swimming by the surface. The fry are quite small, about 4 mm, and stay close to the surface at all times. They need smallish food, e.g. ciliates or rotifers or finely ground flake, and grow fairly slowly. From the second day the eyes have the characteristic blue glow of the adult fishes, making the fry easy to spot, like tiny blue sparks. As these fishes apparently lay just a few eggs each day, but breed for extended periods, new fry were born each day during a 10 day period, eventually resulting in about 30 fish reaching maturity. I later left the adults with the fry, and the adults did not eat their offspring.

Trivia: due to accidental experimentation I now happen to know that Normans Lampeye survive nighttime temperatures as low as 10° Celsius.

Note: Adult males are slimmer, with longer, pigmented, fins. Adult females tend to have lemon-yellow fins.


http/img225.echo.cx/my.php?image=lampeyejpg6ax.png

 

[wrs]

thats a killie fish, not a tetra.

you shouldnt keep killie fish with anything but them selves.

just a tip for next time you dont get an actuall common, common name and the scientific name is given, put the scientific name in google.

 

[Carolinesugar]

Hi all, well, ive just redone the tank, the fish are loving all the new layout, they seem to have taken a liking to the new plants, which is great!!!

Ive decided not to get any "Lamp Eye" fish, since finding out that they are killifish.

I also found the paperwork that came with my tank, the tank actually holds 22 Gallons, its 24" long, 12" wide (front to back), 12" deep (top to bottom). i duno where i got 10 gallons from, but at least now i know that its got more than enough space!

The swartzi corys have now been moved to the Bow fronted Jewel tank that my mum has, and their loving the extra space!

All i need now, is 2 more girlies (female bettas) so that their is a better balance within the tank, and its finished!

I'll add the pix asap!

 

[BettaMomma]

Can't wait to see the new layout!

 

[Joby]

Sounds good Caroline, can't wait to see pics

I've now got 6 girlies in my 96 litre and they are much more relaxed now