Tank Stocking

[Shovelman]

I would stay away from angels for anytank under 30 gallons even if its a tall tank. A- Ive seen some impressivly big angelfish (and they are not altums) and such a fish, even having one, will probably leave your tank a bit dirtier and crowded than needed/wanted (not to mention the angel fish isnt too thrilled to be kept in such a small tank). B. You can acheive much better tank by chosing other fish than cramming an angel fish into that tank. Such possible stocking ideas could be-

1. 1 male german blue ram with 2 or so females, and a school of colorful tetras or rasbora (ember tetras, neons, whatever pushes your buttons really). and also could put in a small school of 5 or so Corydoras and try some amano shrimp for algae control.

2. Try some other dwarf cichlids such as cribs, cockatoo dwarf cichlids etc with similar tankmates as above.

(ps, German blue rams are extremely picky when it comes to water chemistry and NEEDS softer and more acidic water/ or whatever conditions the seller has it in. Because it has such sensative needs the Bolivian Ram is often chosen by beginners as it is very hardy and nice fish too keep!)

3. Bumble bee gobies are always a choice for smaller tanks. Even though some fish stores may keep their BBG in brackish water they can live well in FW by slowly acclimating them each week with less and less salt, although most tanks i see them in are always freshwater.

4. Guppies of course if your looking for something easy and not very picky (unlike german blue rams)

Those are just some ideas, but you can go to the fish store and find ones you personally like, but please research the species before buying.

 

[notg2009]

I have a 20gal high tank, what should I put in it?

I'm a noob like you (I suppose you are; says newbie down there )so instead of giving you a long list of fish names, may I suggest getting a couple of cory catfish, to clean the floor of the tank, 1-2 rainbow sharks (1 is recommended since they can get territorial) to keep the brown algae (diatoms) in check, and maybe some snails to eat algae as well.

I have a 10 USG Tank containing: 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 2 Platies, 2 Golden Mollies, 2 Corey Catfish, 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 Inca Snail, and they all get along pretty well. If you are getting community fish, MAKE SURE you get the minimum recommended number that are required for a school of fish. The reason I'm saying is that I had 3 bloodfin tetras (5-6 minimum for a school) and they were always hiding behind decorations since they were probably not feeling safe around other types!!!!

Again, this is based on what I have learned so far from pros.

Good luck, and have fun stocking ur tank.

I'm sorry but your talking about shoals and you only have 2 Corydoras And you have a Rainbow Shark in a 10 gallon tank? What about you up the Cory numbers to 6 and return the Rainbow Shark. What species are your Corys?

I have a total of 8 fish and 1 snail already so I don't want to overstock the tank. Please take a look at the pics I uploaded since I don't know what species the corys are. As for the rainbow shark, it is pretty tiny now, but hopefully I will get a larger tank by the time it gets larger.

http/www.flickr.com/photos/11760993@N08/

 

[Carlovel1]

Your Corys are Peppered Corys. As I said, they should be in groups of 6 or more. What tank size are you hoping to move the Rainbow Shark to?

 

[notg2009]

Your Corys are Peppered Corys. As I said, they should be in groups of 6 or more. What tank size are you hoping to move the Rainbow Shark to?

1) can you clarify more about having 6 corys; do you mean it is recommended for my tank size, or is it BETTER to have a school of 6 or more. They are doing fine now, so why do I need more if they are not shy, stressed, etc?
2) I know that the shark can grow to about 6 inches long (~15 cm), so what is the minimum tank size recommended for such fish. Is there a chart for fish/tank size ratios?

Thanks for your help.

 

[notg2009]

1. 1 male german blue ram with 2 or so females, and a school of colorful tetras or rasbora (ember tetras, neons, whatever pushes your buttons really). and also could put in a small school of 5 or so Corydoras and try some amano shrimp for algae control.

2. Try some other dwarf cichlids such as cribs, cockatoo dwarf cichlids etc with similar tankmates as above.

(ps, German blue rams are extremely picky when it comes to water chemistry and NEEDS softer and more acidic water/ or whatever conditions the seller has it in. Because it has such sensative needs the Bolivian Ram is often chosen by beginners as it is very hardy and nice fish too keep!)

This combination should look pretty good; colorful with attitude!!! I assume small cichlids are not aggressive towards other fish such as small tetras. am I right?

 

[Carlovel1]

Your Corys are Peppered Corys. As I said, they should be in groups of 6 or more. What tank size are you hoping to move the Rainbow Shark to?

1) can you clarify more about having 6 corys; do you mean it is recommended for my tank size, or is it BETTER to have a school of 6 or more. They are doing fine now, so why do I need more if they are not shy, stressed, etc?
2) I know that the shark can grow to about 6 inches long (~15 cm), so what is the minimum tank size recommended for such fish. Is there a chart for fish/tank size ratios?

Thanks for your help.

1. It is better to have 6 corys, they are natural shoaling fish and they WILL benefit from having more Corys of the same species (Peppered Corys) with them. Should be ok in your tank.
2.The shark will become territorial and is very active so the minimum for Rainbow/Red tailed black sharks is 200 litres.

 

[notg2009]

Your Corys are Peppered Corys. As I said, they should be in groups of 6 or more. What tank size are you hoping to move the Rainbow Shark to?

1) can you clarify more about having 6 corys; do you mean it is recommended for my tank size, or is it BETTER to have a school of 6 or more. They are doing fine now, so why do I need more if they are not shy, stressed, etc?
2) I know that the shark can grow to about 6 inches long (~15 cm), so what is the minimum tank size recommended for such fish. Is there a chart for fish/tank size ratios?

Thanks for your help.

1. It is better to have 6 corys, they are natural shoaling fish and they WILL benefit from having more Corys of the same species (Peppered Corys) with them. Should be ok in your tank.
2.The shark will become territorial and is very active so the minimum for Rainbow/Red tailed black sharks is 200 litres.

1) good to know, I will see if I could get a larger tank.
2) The shark is pretty much handling my algae problem, so I will keep if for a while and then return if I couldn't get a larger tank.

Thanks for the info.

 

[term_22000]

1. 1 male german blue ram with 2 or so females, and a school of colorful tetras or rasbora (ember tetras, neons, whatever pushes your buttons really). and also could put in a small school of 5 or so Corydoras and try some amano shrimp for algae control.

2. Try some other dwarf cichlids such as cribs, cockatoo dwarf cichlids etc with similar tankmates as above.

(ps, German blue rams are extremely picky when it comes to water chemistry and NEEDS softer and more acidic water/ or whatever conditions the seller has it in. Because it has such sensative needs the Bolivian Ram is often chosen by beginners as it is very hardy and nice fish too keep!)

This combination should look pretty good; colorful with attitude!!! I assume small cichlids are not aggressive towards other fish such as small tetras. am I right?

I have two small cichlids right now. They attack anything that gets to close to them. The only thing I have been able to keep in there with them is Barbs, I'm getting rid of the barbs so I might put the angels in my 46 gal and leave the cichlids in the 20 gal tank. I wasn't sure I could get rid of the barbs but I found them a good home.

 

[Carlovel1]

Rainbow sharks and angels will get too big for this tank. Would be nicer to stock correctly from the start. A school of six corys for the bottom level, a school of 10-12 smaller tetras would look stunning and a center piece fish like any of the dwarf gourami would "fit" the tank nicely. You could add snails and shrimp for interest and plant it up. While you could stick a shark and angel in there you will have issues with aggression, likely, and eventually they get so big they look silly and imbalance in such a small tank. On top of that you risk stunting them and adversely affecting their health and behavior.

I'd go with this TBH. This is what I'd do:

*6 Honey Gouramis
*10 Rummynose Tetra/Hengeli Rasbora/Herlequin Rasbora/Glowlight Danio
*8 Panda Corys

Carl

 

[term_22000]

ok so here is what I decided I was going to do. I decided that I will put the Angels in my 46gal bowfront tank and I will just leave the fish that are in the tank I have right now in there instead of upgrading them. They are fine in there, the longest fish is like 4 inches and he is done growing.

ok so here is what I decided I was going to do. I decided that I will put the Angels in my 46gal bowfront tank and I will just leave the fish that are in the tank I have right now in there instead of upgrading them. They are fine in there, the longest fish is like 4 inches and he is done growing.

 

[Shovelman]

notg2009, generally speaking, Dwarf Cichlid species are counted on being not very agressive and have been known to be fine with numerous combinations of fish are mixed with them. However the only time they are usually aggressive, is when-

A. They are fighting over territory.
B. Two males are put into too small of a tank which basically and most common case is territorial issues.
C. There is a pair breedeing or just one gaurding a clutch of eggs/ and or a mass of fry.

So they are usually classified as semi aggressive for mostly the above reason.

Even when some of the above listed things are going on or whatso ever they are still usually peaceful to anything else! So overall, Yes they are safe with most fish if not all that are within the same tank requirements. (but remember that every species of Dwarf Cichlid differ as any two are not Exactly alike, as well as some issues have to do with the general character of the fish/attitude)