Regarding Bottom Dwelling Fish

[upsy daisy]

I have a small tank (54 l) and I really would like some bottom dwellers as well as regular fish. As far as I have read many loaches grow quite long and turn aggressive, but are there any who stay small and cute and stay friendly and placid?

 

[Twinklecaz]

Pygmy Corys all the way! Little, no big bioload, active, interesting and sweet! A winner all round for a little tank *so I've been told anyway*. I'm gonna be getting some

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'd imagine something that size would be perfect for either some Endlers or Galaxy Rasbora (discovered four years afo, now pretty much exist in the wild, it needs our enthusiasts help to survive by captive breeding) up top with Pygmy Corys down below would be a love mini combo!

 

[stuuk1]

I have a polkadot loach and he is pretty cool, doesnt bother any of my fish and also lives in a very combined space with a red tail shark for about 10 hours of the day! Very strange.

 

[upsy daisy]

What sort of other small, easy to look after fish do pygmy corydoras mix well with, do you know? I had a look on the you tube, very cute!

Wait, is Galaxy Rasbora same as Pearl Danio?
So, would it be fine to mix some pygmy corydoras with some pearl and zebra danios? I really would like variety of fish, but understand that some of them like to be in groups. Can any of you advise how many danios and how many corys for 54 l?
I would love to introduce some neon tetras later on, will they be fine with these kinds of fish?

A while ago someone said that aquadivisor had a virus, do any of you know of a similar site that helps you to figure out the fish for your aquarium?

 

[waterdrop]

There are three types of pygmy cories that we frequently disucss: C habrosus, C hastatus and C pygmaeus. The habrosus sound like the most fun. oldman47 has posted nice pictures of his if you do some searches here on TFF. Minimum groups of 5 but more fun the more you can fit (like 10 for instance.)

Not sure how closely the galaxy would behave like other danios (which all behave very much alike) but they sure look like other danios in terms of body shape and I've read that they are certainly fast, maybe even faster than average zebras and pearls etc. Its questionable whether these would be the right type of fish for your 54L. You are at about 14 US gallons and if it were a 10G I would say danios would definately not work. Danios are super-fast minnow-like fish that like to scoot at high speed right under the surface and dart maybe 10 feet at a scoot in nature. When we put them in our little tanks they are like little race cars revving in the garage all the time. But I may be exaggerating that too much. They are small fish and 6 of them would probably play happily together in a 14G.

You don't need a computer program to rough out your stocking. That tank will be fully stocked at about 14 or 15 inches of fish body (fins don't count) and you just make rough adjustments mentally for smaller or larger types of fish. Really tiny fish you might get away with a few extra, larger fish and you must take a few more inches off your total as their big bodies will take more than their fair share of your 15 inches. As a beginner you want to have the best shot at a great experience for the first year and a half so you should stick with this rough one inch guideline. If you are truly interested in overstocking and want to buy the fancier equipment it requires and do the heavier maintenance then you can study up during the second year and consider it. If you want your tank to be easier and safer then understock a little. A crowded, busy tank of many species is not necessarily the beautiful underwater scene you may have had in mind and with a small tank you have to have the courage to accept that. Always count your inches based on the potential adult full size the species can grow to and use more than one species-info source to guesstimate that.

In a 14G/54L you might want to think about two shoals, each a different species (cories, something else?) and then maybe 1 to 3 centerpiece fish that are a little larger like honey gouramis or something. Or forget the centerpiece fish altogether and try working on some live plants a bit for your shoals to look beautiful coming in and out of!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

http/www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/Fish/Freshwater/Rasboras/GalaxyRasbora

 

[Twinklecaz]

Galaxy Rasboras were only discovered 4 years ago?

 

[upsy daisy]

N0body Of The Goat, thanks, this website has tank mates compatability chart, really useful!
Have been to the fish shop today but didn't se any cories there at all..

Oh, well..

Waterdrop, no I really don't wan't to overload my tank nor to restrict fish which require a lot of room by nature, I am painfully aware of how small our tank is.. Initially I wanted some tiny tetras, but turns out they need a slightly more mature tank and water conditions just so.. Do I understand this correctly, is it true for all tetras, or just specific kinds?

There are so many beautiful fish out there, I'll figure out something!

 

[Channti]

I have a 15 gallon community at home, which is looking kind of pathetic stock wise right now (I've been away at school, and my family is not allowed to add fish to my tanks without my permission). I keep a school of 7 panda corys in my 15 gallon. I got them when they were fairly young (a guy in my area was breeding and supplying a local pet store). They're exceptionally active and some of the most interesting fish in my tank. I highly recommend them. I keep a trio of peppered corys as well in a 10 gallon tank who I find to be very very timid (although I think that is more to do with the tanks location than the fish themselves as the tank is in a semi-high-traffic area).

The stocking in my 15 gallon is:
1 Dwarf Gourami (who recently died of dwarf gourami disease... *sigh*)
1 Dalmation Molly
5 neon tetras
7 panda corydoras

The future plan is to expand my tetra school, or form a small school of black-skirt tetras, and find a new centerpiece fish to accompany my molly.

Keep in mind your tank dimensions as well when choosing how many bottom-dwellers you want. My 15 gallon is a "long" tank, not a "tall" so I have more surface area on the bottom for my corys to shuffle around in than a 15 gallon "tall". If my tank was a "tall", I'd probably decrease my cory school to 4 or 5 corys, just because I like them to have plenty of room to move around in.

 

[Twinklecaz]

My tanks taller than it is deep.

Do Pandas grow much bigger that Pygmys?

 

[bravehart]

My tanks taller than it is deep.

Do Pandas grow much bigger that Pygmys?

Pandas grow to 6/7 cm ...we have 5 of them and the whole family really like them.

 

[Twinklecaz]

OH yeah, they are bigger then lol.

 

[Channti]

My tanks taller than it is deep.

Do Pandas grow much bigger that Pygmys?

Pandas grow to 6/7 cm ...we have 5 of them and the whole family really like them.

I disagree with this.
They grow to about 4cm to 5cm (1.5-2").
(Three websites that reinforce my point).
http/www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=pandacory
http/www.aquaticcommunity.com/corydoras/pandacory.php
http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=267

I chose Pandas and Peppered Corys over Pygmy corys because in Canada, Pygmy corys are impossible to find. I asked around at pet stores all over the place in a 2 hour radius of my house, and no one was stocking them or able or willing to order them in for me.

My Peppered corys are about 2 years old or so, and have stopped growing, with one at 1.5", and two at 2".

 

[waterdrop]

Which tetras were you thinking of UD? Cardinals/Neons do indeed do better with a 6 month mature tank but quite a few other tetras don't need that special treatment. Glowlights are quite small and I've not heard of them needing a waiting period.

~~waterdrop~~