Tankmates for a well established Cory tank (Pleco there too)

[AilyNC]

I know questions about tankmates is often about water & preference.

The bottom of the tank is active but I've nothing using the mid-top space. I've thought about lil Gourami but changed mind.

Is there any fish you recommend to add some activity mid-top but keep my super peaceful vibe going on. I mean superrrrrrrr peaceful.

Current stock:
Corys x 10 (4 peppered, 6 bronze)
Albino bristlenose pleco
L129 Columbian False Zebra

The tank is 90cm x 30cm x 46cm

(That's about 34" x 12" x 18")

Water:
GH 7 (125.3ppm)
PH 7.6

The tank is 3yrs well settled. During a dreadful health issue plants & fishes died while someone else was helping with the tank. Cherry barbs & WCMM gone but Corys & bristlenose & L129 stayed thriving.

Needs new plants, but that's for another thread

 

[AquaBarb]

A nice group of cardinals would look good or another tetra such as lemon or diamond my cardinals tend to prefer mid level but will venture up and down.

Honey gourami are peaceful but i think the tetra's would give you colour and the activity your looking for.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

Your tank is beautiful! I would recommend some kind of tetra such as neon or ember or you can go a little bigger. You can also do a rasbora as they are pretty small. Another good option would be a kind of hatchetfish. I have never owned any before but they are very peaceful fish and stay in the upper water column.

 

[AilyNC]

Rasbora be a nice. I'm happy to go with brown/bronze colours to blend in. Will check fish shop supply. I've always wanted to try hachets but never found them in stock.

I've Cardinal tetras in my smaller tank that's really a tank for my kid.

 

[AilyNC]

A nice group of cardinals would look good or another tetra such as lemon or diamond my cardinals tend to prefer mid level but will venture up and down.

Honey gourami are peaceful but i think the tetra's would give you colour and the activity your looking for.

Lemon & diamond look lovely. Will jeep an eye out for them in stock

Your tank is beautiful! I would recommend some kind of tetra such as neon or ember or you can go a little bigger. You can also do a rasbora as they are pretty small. Another good option would be a kind of hatchetfish. I have never owned any before but they are very peaceful fish and stay in the upper water column.

I find the tank awfully bare since my plant stock depleted. But thank you. Will scape in a few wks once I've planned it out.

 

[Geoffrey]

I've kept kerri tetras (aka Purple Emperor Tetra, not to be confused with Emperor Tetra) and had success with them. They are very peaceful and color up nicely in purple (the males more so).

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Nice to have you back, Aily. A big school of harlequin rasboras would look really nice. I concur with the lemon tetra suggestion, too. Black neons are nice, as are cardinals. For a tank that size I'd get one or two types, but big schools.

 

[AilyNC]

I've kept kerri tetras (aka Purple Emperor Tetra, not to be confused with Emperor Tetra) and had success with them. They are very peaceful and color up nicely in purple (the males more so).

Oh they are nice. I must see will fish shop be able to order fish in specifically.

Nice to have you back, Aily. A big school of harlequin rasboras would look really nice. I concur with the lemon tetra suggestion, too. Black neons are nice, as are cardinals. For a tank that size I'd get one or two types, but big schools.

Thanks

Yeah I know the fish shop has rasboras for definite. I'll have a look at their stock but two types of schooling fish works well for me.

 

[seangee]

If you have surface plants you could look at pencilfish for the top. I have nannostomus marginatus in my tank. If you have really good eyesight you can see their patterns change completely when it goes dark. I know @Byron is a fan of hockeystick pencilfish but I have never seen any for sale on our island.

 

[Byron]

If you have surface plants you could look at pencilfish for the top. I have nannostomus marginatus in my tank. If you have really good eyesight you can see their patterns change completely when it goes dark. I know @Byron is a fan of hockeystick pencilfish but I have never seen any for sale on our island.

On the pattern of the fish changing at night (darkness), this has been studied. In common with all pencilfish, except for N. espei, N. eques has a diurnal colour pattern. During darkness, the horizontal lines break up into a series of dashes. This has been observed in blind fish, showing that it is an automatic response to the light/darkness, and not controlled by the fish. The circadian rhythm is part of this.

 

[Naughts]

hockeystick pencilfish but I have never seen any for sale on our island.

I got one accidentally in a bag of corydoras pygmaeus from Maidenhead Aquatics. I never got back to get it a shoal because of lockdown so the poor thing only lived a year or so.

 

[AilyNC]

If you have surface plants you could look at pencilfish for the top. I have nannostomus marginatus in my tank. If you have really good eyesight you can see their patterns change completely when it goes dark. I know @Byron is a fan of hockeystick pencilfish but I have never seen any for sale on our island.

Ooh interesting fish. The one you have looks like a skinny cherry barb mated with a white cloud

I really must ask about fish shop ordering in specific fish for me. There's at one place that does.