Unusual stocking suggestions for a small but tall tank

[anewbie]

guessing your search history goes a little on the wild side...

Google Search

Not at all i use incog windows with no history. Just do a search on teddies with is what you posted you received. Your search above is a bit different than teddies it is neoheterandria elegans which you did not mention in the above post; i.e, bait and switch.

 

[Magnum Man]

sorry, you were forced to look at night gowns

 

[gimme30]

Would be amusing if you had a 2 inch humming bird tetra since they only grow to about 0.8 inches - perhaps 2cm ?
[one caveat common names do change over time and are applied to multiple species so there is that to consider]

It was a looooong time ago so I could be thinking of something else.
That's one of the things that bugs me about fish stores....They always use common names. I begged the owner of my favorite LFS (now long gone) to list binomials and his response was that people were less inclined to purchase if they couldn't pronounce the name.
To this day I still think he was just being lazy.

@Magnum Man I briefly considered flag fish, always liked them and for the longest time had a bit of an itch to try a little linebreeding and see what I could come up with. They were always an easy fish to breed requiring really nothing on my part, other than keeping the water cool. My breeding days are over though and it'd be a real trick to keep the water in this tank at the temps they like.

Question for those of you that have kept M. kubotai; Have you kept them in hard water? Any issues? I know like tetras, rasboras 'prefer' soft water, but frankly I tend to take that as more of a loose recommendation than an absolute rule of thumb.

 

[anewbie]

First kubotai rasbora are quite active so while a small fish they really want a lot of room to swim - i forget the dimension of your horizontal space but i find 24 inches absolute min and 30 or 36 better. Also i forget the exact hardness of your water but i have found kubotai really doing better in soft water - it mostly impact longevity but at the harder end it will be much more impactful. Of course i havent' done any real experiments and the comparison is between tap water which is not that hard and blackwater but in the blackwater environment they really seem to thrive. I know a lot of the more common species like neon and ember seem to be more amendable to harder water (not necessary hard water) simply because that is what makes them common but i would consider something like shell fishes if there is room for them or look through central america list of fishes to see if they have anything small. There might be some interesting endlers though I think i mentioned that and it didn't really grab your interest. It just seems to be a fight to push softwater fish into a hardwater environment.

 

[gimme30]

I hope you don't take offense at this but to me Endlers are just expensive mini guppies. Like guppies, (or platys) they have a one-sided personality: Greedy. I get the whole "live to eat" thing but sheesh, take a break fercryinoutloud!

It just seems to be a fight to push softwater fish into a hardwater environment.

It does, but imho it's made into a bigger deal than it needs to be, unless we're talking about the extremes at either end of the limits. Hard water has been blamed for everything from fin rot to lethargy, lack of appetite, lack of coloring, organ failure, shortened life spans....blah blah blah ad nauseum. I'm sure I'll catch grief for this but I don't believe "hard" water is the issue, but rather what's in it that makes it hard? Technically my water is considered hard: 10-12dGH in the summer, sometimes as high as 14 in the winter, TDS hovers around 350 or above. But if I believe the city's water report there's nothing in it in high enough concentrations that should affect fish. Most of our water in the US is hard and while we fish nerds might obsess over it I'd guess the average person never gives it a second thought and in most cases can successfully keep healthy, active fishies.

With plants? Maybe it makes more of a difference, as I have a hell of a time with those. But like fish, most are "supposed" to be kept in softer water. So what's a hard water guy to do? (I know, RO. Pfffft!) If I limited myself to only hard water fish I wouldn't need to ask for suggestions here, I'd just throw a dart at the list of 20 or so (yes, exaggeration. but not by much) and go from there.

FWIW, the 8-year-old neons in my 20L are absolutely stunning, and I'm not particularly a huge fan. I rescued them from one of the big box stores not expecting them to make it but man have they thrived! The CPDs look great too but I'd be happier with them if they'd knock off the breeding. Freaking eggs everywhere and I simply can't ignore them.

Not that I'm advocating trying to give our aquatic friends anything less than the absolute best quality of life. Like I mentioned I'm willing to soften the water if necessary, but being a low maintenance kinda guy I'd prefer to avoid it.

It's too bad there's not a freshwater puffer other than peas. They'd be perfect for this tank!

 

[Magnum Man]

there are tons of fresh water puffers...

both african and south american

https://dansfish.com/product.detail/2869/Other-Live-Fish-Puffers-Congo-Spotted-Puffer-(Tetraodon-schoutedeni)

 

[anewbie]

I hope you don't take offense at this but to me Endlers are just expensive mini guppies. Like guppies, (or platys) they have a one-sided personality: Greedy. I get the whole "live to eat" thing but sheesh, take a break fercryinoutloud!

Why would i be offensive - i gave up my last live bearers and i doubt i will ever own them again. cdp can be nice in large bunches. As for hardness - my tap is tds 140 and i consider that pretty hard so it is all relative. At 350 i think you would be pushing the limit for some species - definitely don't try tucano

 

[gimme30]

there are tons of fresh water puffers...

Holy cow! $249!! Does it come with a top hat and do magic tricks?
Anyway I should have said freshwater puffers that stay small. Aren't the majority much larger?

Interesting that he has this on his website:

"Water Parameters: We keep all our fish at a temperature of 79 F.

Our pH measures around 8.3 with a KH and GH a bit over 300ppm. That being said, we want to caution folks with different water parameters from thinking that they need to change their water for our fish. We have many customers in the Pacific Northwest, Upstate New York, and other areas that have very soft water. Our fish do just fine in their water without any parameter matching. What is most important is that the water our fish are put in upon arrival have steady parameters, not that your water parameters match ours."

 

[Magnum Man]

puffers have gone up significantly lately... I didn't notice the current price... I had an amazon puffer before, and did not pay $50.00 at the time... they love and need to eat pest snails...

lots more options here, and a few lower prices... I have bought from both of these sellers before with good results....

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