Stocking.... Again.

[NinjaSmurf]

So. Tank is a 30 gallon, 2ft long and tall, and a 1ft deep.

Current stock:

Male BN
Female feeder guppy
2 Ghost shrimp

Sand bottom, driftwood, fake plants.


Fish I've had and don't want again for this tank:
Pictus catfish
mollies
platies
convict
danios
bettas
adfs

Fish I'm not interested in:
Clear tetras of any sort
neons or cardinals
gouramis
swordtails

Fish I've kept before and thought about having again (not all together of course)
Angels
fancy goldfish (black moor and oranda)
guppies
corys


I've always liked cichlids, but had a bad experience with the con and am now sort of gun shy. I would love to get white cheeked gobies but so far this isn't an option. I do like oddballs, but know most of them get too big for this tank.

I want fish with personality. I don't want things that are going to hide all the time (alhough if it hides occasionally I'm ok with that). I want the tank to be simple, no 'special' feeding in the sense that it MUST have such and such a food, like 'live' or 'snails', specialized temps or setups. I'm willing to feed frozen food and stuff like that, I just don't want to deal with a fish that will eat only one thing period and I don't want something I'm going to need live cultures to keep.

I'm also willing to do bigger water changes (been going lighter with such low stocking). I prefer having a few bigger fish than a bunch of tiny fish, and am not really that big on schooling fish other than corys and rummynose, though I would be willing to try.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Wills]

Dont be put off cichlids by convicts, they can be some of the most evil fish at times. Your tank has a nice foot print at 2 foot square and you could do a decent dwarf cichlid tank quite easily in there with things like apistos, nannacaras, krobia, laetacaras and bolivian rams. I would forget goldies in a tank of this size and the tanks not tall enough for angels. A big group of cories will work though no problem.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

How is the tank not tall enough for angels, I thought the min was 18 in, mines 24. I thought about bolivian rams, but I may have to special order. I'll have to check out the acara, kinda cute.

 

[Wills]

Oh I see! sorry I thought it was a 2 foot square base I understand now sorry.

If you went for angels I would just go for one in there as its just about the minimum size I would suggest for angels. Its tough to say though because usually I would be dead against it in a normal 2x1 but the extra height swings it for me...

If you went for an angel you could maybe consider a pair or trio of the cichlids I mentioned as their territories work in different parts of the water column if you see what I mean... but if you went down the dwarf route depending on which ones you went with either one or two pairs. Apistos I would say alone in a trio but a pair of nannacaras and laetacaras could work I reckon. If you did that I would get maybe hatchets for the top then you have bits at all levels and you might have a bit of room left in the middle

Wills

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Apistos are sorta out of my price range at the moment, although I like the look of them. If I did get an angel I was going to get just one as a centerpeice, especially as they seem to like the middle-ish section.

Do arcaras stay more at the bottom? And if I got a pair would they breed, and if so are they going to beat up everything? I'd also have to check out how readily I can get rid of fry.

I do kinda miss corys, I really enjoyed them before. Not sure what type I would get if I decide to get some though, pygmys or some other type. Would these be ok with acaras?

Not sure on the hatchets, I've heard they can jump and there isn't much room to move when cleaning the tank out, I'm not sure they wouldn't jump out...

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The more I find out about the acaras the more I'm not so sure they'll fit into what I want. They seem like they might be shy and more sensitive than what I'm looking for, but I'm still waiting for replies in the south american forum...


I've had to purchase a powerhead thing as the circulation in my tank wasn't as hot as it should be, so it's a bit more active in the tank, although not a whole lot. This may change things... not sure.

I'm really struggling to figure out what I want, I was at the fish store today, but I still don't know. I'm half thinking about just stocking some guppies till I figure out exactly what I want to do... I just hate staring at a mostly empty tank.