Should Fish Live In Pairs

[jordyboy004]

HI, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF IT IS OK TO HAVE FISH ON THEIR OWN, OR IS IT BETTER TO BUY THEM IN PAIRS? LIKE TO HAVE A MATE?
IN MY TANK I HAVE;
1 BRISTLENOSE PLEC
1 EMPEROR PLEC
2 ZEBRA LOACHES
1 YOYO LOACH
1 SCHWARZ CORY DORY
1 PEPPERED CORY DORY
1 ALBIMO CORY DORY
2 BLACK WIDOWS
2 GLASS CATFISH
1 FLYING FOX
2 YELLOW GOURAMIS
1 FIREMOUTH CICHLID
3 CONGO TETRAS
5 BARBS
1 GOURAMI
1 UNKNOWN FISH
IS THIS OK OR WOULD IT BE BEST TO GET THE FISH I HAVE ONLY 1 OF ANOTHER ONE OF THE SAME BREED AND TYPE?
MANY THANKS

JORDYBOY004

 

[Fella]

How big is your tank?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

how big is your key board......?? lol! lose the Caps lock key??

I believe it depends on your tank size and the type of fish you have.... IE, some fish would like another(danios), some fish live better alone or only one of that type per tank (RTBS)

 

[Majjie]

It depends on the fish - and as Fella says - how big your tank is. Corydoras spp. are much happier in groups of five or more; so are tetras. Plecs I know nothing about. Gouramis are usually happiest in groups of three - two females to one male - because that way the aggression is reduced. How many fish you can add, to keep your existing ones happy, depends on the size of your tank.

 

[jordyboy004]

It depends on the fish - and as Fella says - how big your tank is. Corydoras spp. are much happier in groups of five or more; so are tetras. Plecs I know nothing about. Gouramis are usually happiest in groups of three - two females to one male - because that way the aggression is reduced. How many fish you can add, to keep your existing ones happy, depends on the size of your tank.

sorry about the caps lol. the tank is 3ft x 1ft x 1.5ft roughly that is. not sure on the exact. in new to this fish keeping stuff. my girlfriends dad had 2 tanks and has gave me the smaller one of the two. ive had it for about 6 months now and "think" im doing ok. iv only had a few die on me. i was just curious if fish prefere a mate, but if you say it depends on the fish then i will have to do some research before i buy my next lot of fish wont i. which wont be anytime soon. dont want to over crowd the tank. got enough as it is. thanks for the help.

jordyboy004

 

[paul_219]

Some fish should be in pairs to be happy. The cories and the gouramies should be in pairs.

 

[jordyboy004]

do they have to be the same type of cory or gourami. or will mixing the breeds be fine aswell?

 

[jordyboy004]

Some fish should be in pairs to be happy. The cories and the gouramies should be in pairs.

ok so can i mix and match on the breeds of fish, ie - 1 peppered cory and 1 albino cory will be fine as a pair or is it best to have 2 peppered or 2 albino?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

generally there's 4 groupings of fish you can have, each species wil have a preference for one of them

single specimin
pair (1mx1f)
trio (1mx2f)
group of 6+

there are a couple of exceptions but those are the usual ones.

the fish you have should be in the following numbers

1 BRISTLENOSE PLEC - 1
1 EMPEROR PLEC - 1
2 ZEBRA LOACHES - not sure
1 YOYO LOACH - not sure
1 SCHWARZ CORY DORY - 6
1 PEPPERED CORY DORY - 6
1 ALBIMO CORY DORY - 6
2 BLACK WIDOWS - 6
2 GLASS CATFISH - 6
1 FLYING FOX - not sure
2 YELLOW GOURAMIS - 3
1 FIREMOUTH CICHLID - 1/2
3 CONGO TETRAS - 6
5 BARBS - 6
1 GOURAMI - 3

sometimes you can mix cories if they're markings are similar, but if they look significantly different then they won't be as happy together as if you got a group of the same sort.

you need to have a serious look at your stocking and adjust the numbers of fish. tell us how big your tank is (in litres, uk or us gallons) and we can advise you on suitable groups of fish from yor current stocking.

 

[StuCarr]

Going by those measurments, 120 lts, 32usg, 25ukg

 

[Scott MacAdam]

yeah, I'm getting 33.66 USG. And the Caps was only a joke, no offence. just thought it was funny your whole post was done in capslock. It has almost become an inside joke with all the members in here!

 

[jordyboy004]

yeah, I'm getting 33.66 USG. And the Caps was only a joke, no offence. just thought it was funny your whole post was done in capslock. It has almost become an inside joke with all the members in here!

thanks for the guide miss wiggle. the tank i have is a 30 gallon tank (uk) just asked my gf dad. from now on i wont buy any more fish and ill use your info when i next have some deaths in my tank lol. rather than buying more fish of diff kinds ill add to the ones i got by what you reccomend. oh and yeah i took the caps lock as a joke lol. dont know why i wrote in caps anyways lol, just wanted to be heard lol . cheers guys... and girls

 

[NinjaSmurf]

You don't have to have three firemouths, unless you wanted to breed them, but having one is okay.

 

[my fat fish]

is it me but that seems very stocked to me some of them fish will outgrow that tank

 

[jordyboy004]

is it me but that seems very stocked to me some of them fish will outgrow that tank

yeah by the time the fish have fully grown it will be too much for the tank, but at the moment they are still small. when they get too big i can pass them on to my dad-in-law. he has a 100-150 gallon tank. so will be no problem in there...... ists massive