Stocking Advice!

[Toxic Dover]

Hey guys. I've spent quite a bit of time over the past couple of weeks lurking around on these forums reading posts and taking in some info. For a long time I've wanted to get a large aquarium and have some nice pet fish, and I found a nice 30 gallon tank (dimensions 30" long, 18" tall, and 12" deep) that is currently in day 3 of fishless cycling (following the guide in the beginner's section). To pass the next month or so of waiting for the tank to cycle, I'm tossing around ideas for its future inhabitants. Since I was a kid I've wanted some sharks, but upon reading through a couple of posts on here, that hope was quickly dashed when I saw the tank size requirement. I love angel fish, I've found some cool looking barbs, clown loaches, etc, but I have never had fish past neon tetras and a few guppies, so I'd really like some stocking help / ideas. Here's a list of fish I would like to have, but I don't want to cramp them or deprive them of the space they need, so if it can't be, it wont.

Possibilities floating around in my head so far (most of which were quickly logged into my iPhone after several trips to Petsmart / Petco)...

-Sharks of some sort (I know balas get too big, but what about some of the other species? Such as rainbow sharks?)
-Angel fish
-Clown loaches
-Tiger barbs
-Pictus catfish
-Synodontis longirostrus (I know there's got to be a name for these guys that is actually pronounceable, haha)

I also have a special place in my heart for neon tetras, which I would hope I could have a few in the tank with whatever else I choose - but if not, I'm also cycling a 10 gallon tank for my 5 year old to keep a few pet fish for her.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I definitely wanna do this tank right. Thanks guys!

 

[Fishy friend2]

I wouldn't get any of those fish as that tank is not suitible for any of them exept the barbs but you usually cannot keep any fish with them because they are really aggresive, oh and the neons are the perfect fish for your tank, you could easily have 15 and some other fish along with them

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Out of your current wishlist, Neon Tetras and Tiger Barbs (marginal) are the only ones suitable for a 30x12x18 tank long term...

-Sharks of some sort (I know balas get too big, but what about some of the other species? Such as rainbow sharks?) Rainbow/Ruby/Red Tail Black Sharks are territorial, need minimum 4-foot tank
-Angel fish Need 18" of actaul water depth to prevent stunting, but in addition six would be needed to spread aggression and that would be very cramped in a 30" (would happily feast on Neon tetras in the wild btw)
-Clown loaches Should reach close to 30cm long, extremely social ("VickiandKev" on here had 30-odd in a 8x4x4), needs a 6x2x2 long term
-Tiger barbs Infamous fin nippers, can help if a big group of 12+ (which would be a vast majority of a responsible stocking in a tank like yours, which might be a tad cramped for them), tankmates need to be chosen with care
-Pictus catfish Lovely active fish that will buzz around all night long, happily munching "live lunch" snacks like Neon tetras, do well as 5+ groups in 5-foot tanks
-Synodontis longirostrus Reaches nearly 60cm, a 10-foot tank would barely do it justice! http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/_species.php?species_id=547

A few similar shaped fish to what you like that would work in your tank are Panda Garra (1, maybe just about squeeze 3 but dicey); Bleeding Heart or Colombian Tetras (minimum of 6 per group); Synodontis nigriventris/contracta or a Microsynodontis species(ideally minimum 9 per group); Leopard Bushfish (singleton)... Not suggesting this as one stocking, just simply options!

 

[Toxic Dover]

Wow, thanks for the explanations of the fish, N0body, very helpful This just gives me a good reason to keep my goal set on a much bigger tank to accomadate some of the more exotic fish I want. I will also check out the other fish you mentioned - I'm definitely looking for advice on what to populate the tank with and how many!

Well, with that being said, anybody have interesting stocking suggestions for this tank then?

 

[Toxic Dover]

Doing a bit more looking around, and found a few more that look appealing, and aren't as big as my initial ones... Harlequin rasboras, zebra danios, kirbs, and various types of rams... Thoughts on these?

 

[dbanner]

Iv had kribs. They r really nice. I had 4 in my 180 litre and kept 2 when they paired up rams are also very nice to look at but iv never had them myself

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Doing a bit more looking around, and found a few more that look appealing, and aren't as big as my initial ones... Harlequin rasboras, zebra danios, kirbs, and various types of rams... Thoughts on these?

A nice group of 8-10 Harlequins would work well, as would a pair of Kribs (but they will breed and they can get nasty with tankmates while protecting fry). Bolivian Rams are far more hardy than sensitive German Rams (especially electric blues), with the former being a more typical tropical loving 25C (giving you a lot more option for suitable tankmates) with Germans need high end 27/28C.

Zebra/Leopard Danios are your only bad choice there, they are hyperactive little things that deserve a 4-foot tank. Not only that, they are "temperate" fish that come from parts of Asia that go through seasonal temperature changes, being under 20C most of the year and a few months nearer 24C that trigger breeding. They also crave a strong current (8-10x volume of tank per hour), which not all fish would be happy with.

 

[Toxic Dover]

Much thanks for the advice thus far! This morning I've been doing some browsing on Live Aquaria and have compiled yet another list of hopefuls.... These all seem, to me, to be on the small side and generally have around the same temperature and pH preferences...

Tiger pleco (I love plecos and would love to have one of some sort, and these guys are gorgeous)
Sterba's cory
Longfin red minor serpae tetra
Harlequin rasbora
Opaline gourami 
Neon tetras
Cardinal tetras 
Longfin Congo tetras
Nanus Cory cat (probably too big?)
Longfin white cloud
Figure 8 puffer (overly aggressive?)
American flagfish

I hope I'm not being too inquisitive here, hahaha. Thanks for the help!

 

[thereverendturtle]

Definitely skip the last 3. White clouds are temperate fish, puffers are aggressive and figure 8's are also brackish. American flag fish can be aggressive, but really should be in a species tank. They have special needs.

 

[Toxic Dover]

Definitely skip the last 3. White clouds are temperate fish, puffers are aggressive and figure 8's are also brackish. American flag fish can be aggressive, but really should be in a species tank. They have special needs.

Awesome, thanks! That gives me quite a good selection to go off of, then. Now just to figure out how many and which species to match up...