Stocking For 30Gallon

[mrsblack10272]

Heyy sorry its another stocking question for the forum but its good to be sure right!?

So I have setup a 30gallon tank and hoping to stock it with the following list. The aquarium is softwater freshwater with I ph ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 all of the time. I definatly want a big tank full of small fish so please don't recommend any bigger fish to put in unless its absolutely necessary! I really like the look of the Peacock Goby but I am unsure on what they are really like and how many to have on one tank? Any opinions on there characteristics would be much appreciated!
So:

10 rummy nose tetra
8 Cardinal tetra
10 Zebra/Leopard danio
14 Celestial Pearl danio
6 Cherry barb
3 Honey gourami
3-5 Peacock Goby ???
6 Otocinclus
10 Panda cory
12 Kuhlis Loaches

Thank you opinions on any of the fish from anyone is more than welcome! My only real concerns are the compatibilty between the CPDs and other danios?

 

[onidrase]

Heyy sorry its another stocking question for the forum but its good to be sure right!?

So I have setup a 30gallon tank and hoping to stock it with the following list. The aquarium is softwater freshwater with I ph ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 all of the time. I definatly want a big tank full of small fish so please don't recommend any bigger fish to put in unless its absolutely necessary! I really like the look of the Peacock Goby but I am unsure on what they are really like and how many to have on one tank? Any opinions on there characteristics would be much appreciated!
So:

10 rummy nose tetra
8 Cardinal tetra
10 Zebra/Leopard danio
14 Celestial Pearl danio
6 Cherry barb
3 Honey gourami
3-5 Peacock Goby ???
6 Otocinclus
10 Panda cory
12 Kuhlis Loaches

Thank you opinions on any of the fish from anyone is more than welcome! My only real concerns are the compatibilty between the CPDs and other danios?

A 30 gallon tank nd you want 82-85 fish in it? you might want to reconsider your tank size if you're absolutely set on ths stocking list. And get like a 150 gallon tank. That might not even be enough with all that clutter.

Here's a more realistic stocking list for your tank

8-12 all level dwelling single species of schooling/shoaling fish
6 loaches OR cories
6 otos
1-2 gouramis

 

[mrsblack10272]

Sorry I think I forgot to add. The fish I have listed are ones I want to choose FROM. These are fish i really likeband if I had them they would be in thw numbers I have put. I wanted your opinions as to which to get, which are your favourites lol sorry

As I said my main worry with compatibility would be if I wanted to get CPDs and Zebra/Leopard Danios together (I am completely in love with both!) I can't decide between them if I coud only have one of them. That's what i needed help with

I may be new to fish keeping but I am more than aware that that many fish in a 30gallon tank is ridiculous

Just out of interest my LFS told me thy nano fish like CPDs and pygmy corys etc have a very low bioload for their size. Is it true that because of this if I had a group of 20 for example they would only count as 10 fish?
Thank you x

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Sorry I think I forgot to add. The fish I have listed are ones I want to choose FROM. These are fish i really likeband if I had them they would be in thw numbers I have put. I wanted your opinions as to which to get, which are your favourites lol sorry

As I said my main worry with compatibility would be if I wanted to get CPDs and Zebra/Leopard Danios together (I am completely in love with both!) I can't decide between them if I coud only have one of them. That's what i needed help with

I may be new to fish keeping but I am more than aware that that many fish in a 30gallon tank is ridiculous

Just out of interest my LFS told me thy nano fish like CPDs and pygmy corys etc have a very low bioload for their size. Is it true that because of this if I had a group of 20 for example they would only count as 10 fish?
Thank you x

You cannot think in terms of just bioload. You also have to tank into consideration the tank size. While they maybe only have the bioload of ten fish, they still need the tank space for 20.

 

[onidrase]

Sorry I think I forgot to add. The fish I have listed are ones I want to choose FROM. These are fish i really likeband if I had them they would be in thw numbers I have put. I wanted your opinions as to which to get, which are your favourites lol sorry

As I said my main worry with compatibility would be if I wanted to get CPDs and Zebra/Leopard Danios together (I am completely in love with both!) I can't decide between them if I coud only have one of them. That's what i needed help with

I may be new to fish keeping but I am more than aware that that many fish in a 30gallon tank is ridiculous

Just out of interest my LFS told me thy nano fish like CPDs and pygmy corys etc have a very low bioload for their size. Is it true that because of this if I had a group of 20 for example they would only count as 10 fish?
Thank you x

oh, thank god I thought you seriously wanted every single one of those fish in that little tank

Here, then, this is my advice

pick one of these types

10-12 rummy nose tetra

10-12 Cardinal tetra

Zebra/Leopard danio- I don't know about the leopards (never seen them, and I dunno if they're a variation of zebras or anything of that sort), but people are starting to suggest zebra danios should be in 4 foot long tanks, as they're very active and extreme swimmers, and prefer to have a lot of space


Celestial Pearl danio- Don't know anything about these guys, I'm guessing they'd work fine, or they might have the same preference as above

10 Cherry barb- Barbs in general tend to be a tad nippy, but I guess it depends. I've never kept cherries before.

then pick one of these types

X Peacock Goby- I know just as much as you do about these guys very pretty fish, and I'm sure your tank has the space, but I'm not sure how many you can get. Gobies to my knowledge are also bottom dwellers, which is why they're in this section

10-12 Panda cory

6-8 Kuhli Loaches- they get pretty big and round, I think 12 is a bit much

Then add

1-2 Honey gourami- Gouramis can be territorial with one another, I'd advise getting a pair or a single, but I might be looking more at dwarves than honeys

6 Otocinclus- Some people claim they're pretty fragile, so make sure your tank is mature.

This is just my opinion. Is the tank 30 inches long or 36 inches?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Danios should be in a 3-4ft tank as they are avid swimmers and are very fast. They really need the room to zip and zoom about.

 

[Juggler75]

Celestial Pearl danio- Don't know anything about these guys, I'm guessing they'd work fine, or they might have the same preference as above

Used to be known as Galaxy Rasbora if you are trying to find out info on them.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

10 rummy nose tetra
8 Cardinal tetra
10 Zebra/Leopard danio
14 Celestial Pearl danio
6 Cherry barb
3 Honey gourami
3-5 Peacock Goby ???
6 Otocinclus
10 Panda cory
12 Kuhlis Loaches

I can only speak on some of these, but I will help as best I can.

First, cardinals are nice, placid shoaling fish. Similar to neon tetras, but they are a little bigger.

I would nix the zebra/leopard danios. As mentioned above these need a lot of swimming space... not enough for a 30 gallon.

Celestial pearl danio (aka galaxy rasboras) are much smaller than the zebra/leopard danios. In fact, I'm not sure how they are classified as danios, as they fit more with the other microrasboras species. These are also placid shoaling fish. Lovely in a larger shoal.

Cherry barbs are one of the very few barbs that would fit into this type of stocking. Males take on the red color when there are multiple males and they are vying for mating rights. The females are more orange than red. This number might be better bumped up a bit to help keep the males brighter. These should be kept in groups, but aren't really shoaling fish. THey are more individuals than group minded.

3 Honey gourami might be a bit much in that size tank. Honeys are placid, but I'm not sure that I'd put too many of them together. Gourami have a tendency to prefer their own space. If you want this many, you are going to want to have some heavily planted areas for them to claim as a bit of a territory. They are pretty placid, but they can get a little fussy toward other Gouramis. (A great choice though, especially for the placid group you have there, but 3 might be too many).

Otocinclus are not recommended for new set-ups. They do prefer to be in groups of at least 3, but with a new set-up they may not have enough food to eat. They prefer natural algae to wafers, etc.

Panda cories - lovely fish, but a bit more timid than some other cory varieties. They are also a bit more sensitive than some other corys. Do you have your heart set on them? Have you considered any others? Julii, trilineatus ("false julii), bronze, etc. are all much heartier and a bit less skittish. 10 might be a bit high for the larger ones I mentioned. If you have a chance to find habrosus corys, these would be great in a shoal of 10. These are a bit smaller than even the pandas, growing only to 1.5 inches.


If this was my tank, I'd do something like this:
7 C. habrosus (for some reason, I find odd numbers look better).
4 cherry barbs (especially if you can get ALL males!)
10 celestial pearl danios
1 honey gourami

That would put you at your target stocking according to the inch of fish per gallon rule. That said, you might be able to bump the stocking a little higher than that after 6-9 months with low feeding and large/frequent water changes. I don't recommend doing it right away, if at all.

 

[mrsblack10272]

Thanks for all your great help! I can't believe so few people know about Peacock Gobys.
It's a shame, I really like them but need that final nudge to get them by someone who has owned them! Hmmm...

So far I am thinking this stocking :
8 Rummy nose tetra
8 CPDs
6 Kuhlis Loaches
4 Otocinclus
3 Honey gourami

Is this ok or still too much? Thank you x

 

[mrsblack10272]

Oh and my tank measures 36x12x17inches

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I don't think it will be too much, in fact, it sound like it will look very nice.

The only thing i would worry about is the floor space for 10 bottome dwellers. You may want to do either otos OR kuhlis. But I am not an expert on otos or kuhlis so hopefully someone who is can better answer that one.

 

[snake007]

Sorry I think I forgot to add. The fish I have listed are ones I want to choose FROM. These are fish i really likeband if I had them they would be in thw numbers I have put. I wanted your opinions as to which to get, which are your favourites lol sorry

As I said my main worry with compatibility would be if I wanted to get CPDs and Zebra/Leopard Danios together (I am completely in love with both!) I can't decide between them if I coud only have one of them. That's what i needed help with

I may be new to fish keeping but I am more than aware that that many fish in a 30gallon tank is ridiculous

Just out of interest my LFS told me thy nano fish like CPDs and pygmy corys etc have a very low bioload for their size. Is it true that because of this if I had a group of 20 for example they would only count as 10 fish?
Thank you x

oh, thank god I thought you seriously wanted every single one of those fish in that little tank

Here, then, this is my advice

pick one of these types

10-12 rummy nose tetra

10-12 Cardinal tetra

Zebra/Leopard danio- I don't know about the leopards (never seen them, and I dunno if they're a variation of zebras or anything of that sort), but people are starting to suggest zebra danios should be in 4 foot long tanks, as they're very active and extreme swimmers, and prefer to have a lot of space


Celestial Pearl danio- Don't know anything about these guys, I'm guessing they'd work fine, or they might have the same preference as above

10 Cherry barb- Barbs in general tend to be a tad nippy, but I guess it depends. I've never kept cherries before.

then pick one of these types

X Peacock Goby- I know just as much as you do about these guys very pretty fish, and I'm sure your tank has the space, but I'm not sure how many you can get. Gobies to my knowledge are also bottom dwellers, which is why they're in this section

10-12 Panda cory

6-8 Kuhli Loaches- they get pretty big and round, I think 12 is a bit much

Then add

1-2 Honey gourami- Gouramis can be territorial with one another, I'd advise getting a pair or a single, but I might be looking more at dwarves than honeys

6 Otocinclus- Some people claim they're pretty fragile, so make sure your tank is mature.

This is just my opinion. Is the tank 30 inches long or 36 inches?

Male dwarf gouramis are aggressive together, honeys will be fine.

 

[mrsblack10272]

Thank you I was planning on having a trio of 1 male to 2 female Honey gourami Have done this before in smaller tanks and they have been fine. I would love to explore other gourami types at some point but for now i want to stick with Honeys - have a real soft spot for them

Just out of interest what do you guys think of Zebra danios? If I were to have some in my 3ft long?

 

[mrsblack10272]

Just had a thought, would peacock gobys eat CPDs?!

 

[Man of fish]

I'm planning on getting some danios for my soon to come 4 fter so I think danios could do good in there