What R Are Some Good Looking Fish I Can Get

greg8593 · Jun 24, 2008

i just got giving a 4 gallon and a 45 gallon tank.... i have 12 guppy and 6 baby guppys and a swordtail in the 4 gallon what more fish can i have in it and i have nothing in the 45 what are some good looking fish i can have

Athena · Jun 24, 2008

greg8593 said:
i just got giving a 4 gallon and a 45 gallon tank.... i have 12 guppy and 6 baby guppys and a swordtail in the 4 gallon what more fish can i have in it and i have nothing in the 45 what are some good looking fish i can have

Hi - I'm thinking that your little 4 gallon tank sounds overstocked to me.

When those 6 baby guppies grow that means you'll have 18 adult guppies plus the swordtail in just a 4 gallon tank - if I were you I'd remove most or all of the guppies to the larger tank and maybe find something to put in with the swordtail (or put all of these in the large tank and then use your small tank for a beautiful Betta?) - but you won't be able to have too many fish in that little tank - 3 or 4 depending on their size.

A general rule of thumb is 1" of fish per gallon - but that is just a broad estimate as it depends on the type of fish (fat bodied, thin bodied etc) and how much waste they produce (some fish are notoriously messier than others).

It's not really about how many fish you can cram into a tank - it's about how much waste they produce and how high the chemical levels will go (e.g. ammonia) so, generally, less is more, if you see what I mean. Much nicer to have a slightly under-stocked tank that is well maintained, housing happy, healthy fish than crammed to the hilt tank that needs constant water changes, sick fish (and possible deaths).

Athena

ffarrell · Jun 24, 2008

Athena makes some good points - so there's no need for me to repeat them. Once you have your stocking sorted in the two tanks, and if you still have room, I'd suggest some rainbows. I'm a big fan of them, and it's hard to beat them for looks. Lovely shape, but if in good conditions their colours are fantastic. They need to be in a group, so if you had the room something like 2 male and 6 female dwarf rainbows (Melanotaenia Praecox) would be pretty stunning. They like a planted tank. Their colours intensify during the day - by evening my males are almost electric blue. Young rainbows are dull in colour, but don't let that put you off - also they never look as good in the lfs as they do once settled. If you decide to get some, when introducing them to their new home leave the lights off for a few minutes as it helps them settle.

Miss Wiggle · Jun 24, 2008

yes dwarf rainbows would be a good choice, dwarf cichlids would be nice too something like apistogramma agasizzi, borelli, cacatuoides..... :good:

greg8593 · Jun 25, 2008

how much rainbowa fish can i have in my 4 g tank with no other fish

?

ffarrell · Jun 25, 2008

Sorry Greg, I thought you were asking about stocking the 45 gallon. Can you give us the dimensions of the tank, mainly the length. Rainbows are fairly active and like a nice stretch to swim across. They also like to be, and look their best, in groups. I would suggest a minimum of 6 with a ratio of 3 to 1 females to males. Going on that I cannot imagine that your 4 g tank would be a good home. You could easily put one in, but it would be miserable and not show off its good looks, so both you and the fish would end up being disappointed in each other : ) Hope that helps.