What should i get

[Paradise_Gourami]

I'm going to get rid of my convict and jewel in my 18 gal (leaving only my otto and striped refeal) what should i put in it?

 

[samthefishman]

Purple Spotted Gudgeons!!!!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

How big does the striped get, and what kind of fish is it exactly?

Gudgeons...

 

[Paradise_Gourami]

Its just a catfish that gets about 8 inches

 

[Dwarfs]

Peacock gudgeons may work a bit better in that tank, I think a purple spotted would be a bit cramped. Besides, a big PSG would eat an oto (and probably injure itself in the process), and a peacock gudgeon would disappear one day, while the Rafael looked fatter
I think some good fish would be pearl gouramis, rainbow cichlids, or african buttefly fish. I can't think of anything else. I'm a bit sleepy

 

[NinjaSmurf]

With that catfish, I think the otto is a gonner anyways...

 

[Paradise_Gourami]

i might move the otto to my big tank soon where nobody will mess with him

 

[modernhamlet]

You're keeping an 8" catfish in a 18 gallon tank? Seriously?

 

[evilbunny]

You're keeping an 8" catfish in a 18 gallon tank? Seriously?

sorry question

but i would have thought that was ok ? 1" for each gallon of water ??

i hate thinking about stocking levels so confusing

 

[modernhamlet]

The inch-gallon rule works pretty well for smaller fish, but once you get above 5 inches, you really have to take into account whether the fish can be comfortably housed. For example, you could never keep a 12" oscar in a 20g tank. There's just not enough room for such a large fish to move around.

For larger fish the tank should be at least:
4 times as long as the fish's length
1.5 times as wide as the fish's length
1.5 times as tall as the fish's length

In this case... 32"x12"x12" or preferrably more, which puts you in the 30g range.

Additionally, an 8 inch catfish is going to pollute far, far more than say... 8 neons. Keeping the tank clean will get harder and harder over time.

That's my reasonably educated $0.02 on the matter at least.

 

[thapsus]

Modernhamlet is right. You should try to find a new home to that rafael. And here is some stocking suggestions:

5 otos
8 neontetras

or

5 otos
8 white cloud mountain minnow

or

5 otos
6 black or/and red phantom tetras

or,or,or

So these were proposals to cooler water that your oto desires. If you want to get rid of oto and get fishes to warmer water (like betta), then my suggestions will change ofcourse. Thought, otos can take temperatures up to 25C so you have plenty of choices anyway.

What kind of fishes have you concidered yourself at this point?

Remember to offer proper shoals to your shooling fish.

thapsus

 

[Paradise_Gourami]

well if the catfish gets to big my dads getting a 50 gal and he'll gladly take it off my hands. Also i dont want to get tetras and was thinking about getting some small malawian ciclids but what do you think i should get in the tank?