Which Fish Should I Choose?

[GoldenRoses]

Hi everyone, I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season.

After the unexplained death of my beautiful honey gourami, I'm not sure what to do next with my 20 gallon tall tank. The current stock includes:

5 harlequin rasboras
2 American flagfish
1 panda cory, 1 melanistus cory, and 1 bronchis splendens
1 otocinclus

I'm also planning to add a small school of celestial pearl danios once my LFS gets them in Stock.

The fish that I was considering, were a pair of bolivian rams, a pair of peacock gudgeons, or a single honey gourami.

The only fish that I don't have experience keeping is the peacock gudgeon, but I've done extensive research on them and have fallen in love. I know I can't keep all of these fish, but the decision between them is impossible.

One of the biggest factors that could decide which fish, is the fact that I have very hard water and a high pH. However, I've been able to keep most fish that are considered "soft water" with careful drip acclimation. My most recent additions were ember tetras (different tank) and they are thriving.

EDIT: The tank is also lowlight, with black substrate and black background, heavily planted with floating and rooted plants, and has solid structures with plenty of caves and crannies for the fish, so it would be an ideal home for any of the species.

So, I need help choosing! Bolivian rams (most likely females), peacock gudgeons (male and female), or another honey gourami? Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Byron]

My recommendation would be to increase some of the present species before adding different ones.  The rasbora will be happier with a few more, I would say 7-9 in total as a minimum.  And definitely the lonely corys need more, another 2-3 of each species at a minimum [I'm thinking of your tank volume here or I would certainly suggest more than this].
 
Once the present species are up to better sizes, there won't be space for new ones of course.  So I won't get into issues with those mentioned as it isn't really pertinent.
 
Byron.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I agree with Byron.  Its not what we generally want to hear, but its the right course of action.

 

[GoldenRoses]

I do appreciate the advice, however I'm really not looking to have a tank packed to the brim with cories and rasboras. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was not able to keep the "ideal" number of fish in the tank. I had took the tank in with two harlequin rasboras, the bronchis splendens, oto, and a couple livebearers that eventually died off. The two rasboras were about a year old when I took them in, and just recently one of them passed away at a ripe old age (over three and a half years old!). The remaining rasboras immediately went into hiding, lost all color, and developed fin rot. Two days after his companion died, I purchased the four remaining rasboras that my LFS had in Stock. As soon as the new fish were introduced to the tank, my old rasbora was back to his happy self. All five now happily shoal together, eat like pigs, and look bright and alert. Even the fin rot cleared up!

The cories are all rescues that I've taken in. Although their little band would not be something I'd recommend, they're happy as clams. They're inseparable, and fearless in the tank. They're constantly swimming up, down and all around the aquarium together. I don't think they care whether or not the other cories in the tank are their own species, just that they have companions after a life of solitude. Plus, with it only being a 20 tall, more cories would just be too many for such a small footprint.

I, by no means, am disregarding the care of my current fish. I am well aware of their needs and have worked to the best of my ability to meet them. These fish have been with me for quite some time now, and I'd really like to expand my horizons and try something new. I hope you can understand my situation.

 

[Munroco]

Given the relative hardness of your water, the Gudgeon would probably be a better choice then the rams

 

[Byron]

Your situation is similar to one that all of us almost inevitably face now and then, and that is that a group of shoaling fish will begin to decrease in numbers as the fish die simply from old age.  When this occurs, as it must if one keeps fish for several years and beyond as I have, we may not always want to get more of the species because we want to go with different species.  This very question was asked in the recent issue of PFK, and I agree with the response of the person, that it is sometimes best just to let the remaining fish end their days in a safe environment that they know, rather than re-homing elsewhere.  Usually this works, though sometimes one does have to keep watch for stressed behaviour.  I recall once that I had a lone characin left from the original group of eight, and it was fine for a couple of months before it quite suddenly turned nippy and went after any fish that came within a foot of it, nipping fins and tails.  This was without doubt a response from the fish to stress at being on its own.  I had no choice but to remove it, as the species is very rare and I might never come across them again.  But I have also had other species that over time are depleted to a last remaining fish, and often it will live for months in apparent good health.
 
Now, having said that, I still do not recommend adding any other fish species to this tank.  It is very likely, now that we know the background, that this would be more harmful to the remaining fish.  And as you are concerned over the state of your fish, I'm sure you wouldn't want to jeopardize them.
 
Byron.