Would These Fish Work Well Together?

[fshinggrl]

Ok, I'm looking into stocking my 13 gallon tank. I am looking at fairly small fish so I can have a bigger number of them. I understand that most fish do better with schooling so I am mainly looking at 2-3 different varieties. I am trying to even the tank out by getting top/middle or bottom feeder fish. Please let me know any experiences you've had. Please let me know if one will not get along with another kind. I am looking for a peaceful tank! Like I said, this is a list.. not getting all of them, just wanting to put some out there.

1. white cloud mtn minnow
2. Rasbora (pygmy)
3. Cardinal Tetra (middle)
4. Glowlight Tetra (bottom)
5. (oryzias Melastigma) (top)

What do you think? Soft water tank.

 

[drobbyb]

I see no reason why they wouldn't get along, but you have to think about numbers here. Take cardinals for example. They get to around 2 inches and need to be in a group of 6 or better. That puts you at fully stocked with one type of fish. That isn't a bad thing though! Some of the best tanks out there have only 1 type of fish in them. I wish I could remember where I saw it but the tank was huge stocked with only cardinal tetras and it was amazing! They had the substrate fashioned in such a way that it formed a mound with a nicee peice of driftwood embedded into the mound. As for the fish there must have been 100 or more cardinals and they were in a large shoal that moved together in unison. Breathtaking.

So don't get hung up on wanting different fish. Sometimes the simpl things are the most elegant.

Hope that helps!

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, the rasboras, cards and probably the glowlights should thrive in the soft water (not sure of the others, just don't know their hardness prefs.) If you switched your sights to to neons instead of cards you'd get a splash of silver at the expense of only slightly less red/orange stripe. And I -think- the max adult size of neons tops out a bit smaller than cards.. am I right robby? Don't be fooled by young neons, who might look less colorful than cards. As they mature they can look just as striking.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[drobbyb]

Yes neons are smaller than cardinals at about 1 and a half inches. That difference in size reduces your bio-load and may let you get a few more fish in.


Cardinal

Neon

 

[fshinggrl]

Thank you so much for the food for though! I appreciate you taking the time to answer. I guess what it comes down to is what does the store sell! Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

Please don't let the LFS dictate what you get. You should have the fish that you enjoy, not just whatever they happen to have. I really like fish that are never seen in fish stores so I get them from other breeders and by ordering them on line. My LFS has become a place where I buy some hardware and new tanks. My fish food comes in the post and so do some of my fish. The rest of my fish are found at fish club auctions or from private arrangements with fellow club members. My contacts there also mean that my surplus fish can easily find a good home to live in. Most of us breed some kind of fish and pass them around among ourselves.

 

[fshinggrl]

Please don't let the LFS dictate what you get.

I totally understand what you are saying. It just so happens though that what I want is indeed at the LFS. I got 3 White Cloud Mtn Minnows today and will add to that school in a week providing that everything looks good.
Thank you for the info...