View Full Version : Stocking suggestions for 30G
yashinfan
08-02-2003, 1:58 PM
Hello, I recently purchased a 30 gallon tank that was fully equipped- including a fluval external canister filter 203. Currently I have 2 plants in the tank (but I currently cannot remember their names for the life of me!) and 10 zebra danios.
I want to purchase 3-5 pineapple swordtails and possibly breed them (not in the 30 gallon but in either my 10 or 4.5 gallon tanks). I was wondering what other fish I could get for this aquarium, and I would appreciate your suggestions.
So freshwater, pH ~7.5, temp 77-78F, smaller than 6 inches that can live with danios and swordtails please!
:D thanks!
MrGoodbytes
08-02-2003, 2:47 PM
A pair of gouramis could be nice and maybe a small school of loaches. If you don't like loaches then get some Corydoras catfish.
Tetras are always nice since they're usually energetic. You could look into non-aggressive barbs, like ruby barbs.
It's up to you.
Graeme
i would imagine the swordtails might appreciate a little salt......
edit: http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0539&view_records=1
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/brackish.shtml
ChilDawg
08-02-2003, 6:22 PM
Out of the BW fish or fish listed as such, swordtails are some of the best for FW tanks...most breeders don't use BW or SW to breed them as they do guppies, so hard and alkaline would probably be okay for the fancier versions...while I agree with ewok when it comes to replicating natural waters as much as possible, I realize that some fish do great in different water compositions and swords are right up there.
......and that explains why they are prone to ich and aren't very hardy as a general rule?
not flaming, just pointing out a couple of fairly well known facts as far as i know.......
ChilDawg
08-02-2003, 9:03 PM
See, I didn't know that...I learn something new every day here...
My family has had them in the past in our hard, alkaline water and they did well, even bred, so I didn't know that they were prone to all that. I'm falling into the trap of using singular cases, though, and I guess in general they're worse off without salt?
If so, I would disregard them as a choice.
~Matthew
ChilDawg
08-02-2003, 9:06 PM
BTW, our water was NOT suitable for Mollies nor was it suitable for Guppies, so I would DEFINITELY disregard those as choices for a hard, alkaline tank...
sarcasm does not suit you well. :)
i was merely suggesting that perhaps the lack of salt in their habitat could be behind the very common problems with these fish.
you could also breed a monkey on the moon i imagine, but is that it's normal habitat? would it lead to stress?
i'm not a tree hugger either, just stating an obvious conclusion. i don't remember mentioning anything about hard or alkaline either, just that the lack of salt would probably not be great.
from my vague readings, salt relates to osmotic pressure. by varying the salt you vary the osmotic pressure. so if i put you in an environment that had thicker or thinner air it wouldn't cause you problems breathing and cause stress?
edit: this is counter-productive, so i'm not going to continue this further.
ChilDawg
08-03-2003, 11:43 AM
Honestly, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, ewok...unfortunately, it seems as though my train of thought (derailed as it is) and stream of consciousness typing led to a sarcastic tone.
I will remove my recommendation of Swordtails, then, as you have honestly made good points.
ChilDawg
08-03-2003, 11:56 AM
I'm having trouble deciding now...this source: http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=Swordtail&ei=UTF-8&url=CsAn21FBo_8J:www.soest.hawaii.edu/SEAGRANT/swordtailmanual.pdf says that they do well in hard, alkaline waters with negligible salinity. I wonder if osmotic pressure is mitigated by alkalinity...I also wonder which species are involved in the mix to make pineapple swords, as the salinities of the waters in which the different species of swords live vary greatly. Maybe there isn't an easy resolution to this discussion, so I will leave the choice to yashinfan.
I would love to thank ewok for an intellectually stimulating discussion and an opportunity to learn within said discussion.
yashinfan
08-07-2003, 6:48 PM
EEeep! I didn't want this to become quite the heated discussion that it is turning out to be but this is my question regarding salinity. I know swordtails do better with it and that danios do better without it, but is there some happy medium?? I've seen many swordtails living in freshwater, but have seen them in slightly brackish water as well. I know that salt helps to fight off diseases, especially with livebearers, but I do not want to put the other fish at risk.
So please tell me how people keep danios with swordtails?