New 23 Gallon Stocking Ideas

[SwimminglyFishy]

Well, I just went to my LFS for some gravel and plants, I swear, but then I saw this 23 g aquarium kit that was on clearance and I had to have it. It came with 23 gallon flat-back hexagon tank, matching stand, peguin 150 bio-wheel filter, stealth visi-therm 100 watt heater, sample size water conditioner and fish food, and background all for $150! Anyways, I was just wondering what fish I could keep in a tank this size? I would probably not keep any live plants as the hood's light is very small(looks like only an 18" bulb). It is about 21" tall by 24" wide by 12.5" (all at the largest parts). I already have two ten gallons with tetras and livebearers so I would like some larger fish that couldn't fit in a ten gallon, but would still be happily contained in this tank. I wouldn't want to torture any fish by cramming them into a tank that's too small.

I really do appreciate all your responses, as I have asked for fish suggestions before, and it certainly makes it hard to decide which of the fish I want. :)

[UncaBret]

If it were my new tank, which its not (but you knew that), I might go with a 3 spot gourami (blue, honey, opal), a school of white clouds and a few otos or corys.

Or maybe 6-8 small rainbows (furcata or threadfin) and the otos/corys.

But, thats just me.

[SwimminglyFishy]

Or maybe 6-8 small rainbows (furcata or threadfin) and the otos/corys.

But, thats just me.

Could I have 6 dwarf neon rainbowfish (melanotaenia praecox) instead... or would those get too big? I've seen these at the LFS, but have never seen threadfins or furcata.

[FreddytheFish]

Since you seem to like rainbows, you could go with with a school of Bosemani's and cories/ otos.

[SwimminglyFishy]

I was just looking on livaeaquaria.com at the rainbowfish, and all of them require a pH of 7.2 or less. My water's pH out of the tap is 7.4, would I have to soften the water to get rainbowfish? I do like rainbowfish and I think boesemani are beautiful, however I would rather not have to treat the water to lower the pH. Perhaps I should consider a different fish...

Edit: I looked at the profile of the boesemani on fishprofiles.com and there it says pH of 7.0-8.0. Which one is it? Has anyone ever had success keeping boesemani at a pH of around 7.4? Also, I have seen that they should be kept in water 81-86 degrees and 72-77 degrees. What temperature range is best?

[UncaBret]

I would think that with good filtration and live plants you could do 6 praecox and a few otos or corys.
The thread fins or furcatas you would probably have to order. Roan recommends

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?justdisp&Rarefishatlax

and she knows a lot more about rainbows than I do.

[LunchBox]

given how tall the tank is I would think a pair of angels would be nice :)

[SwimminglyFishy]

Ok, my current plan is to get 6 praecox rainbows and then get 3 yoyo or kuhli loaches. Would this be ok? I know you recommended cory cats but I am going to put those in another tank and I have always wanted to get a loach(preferably clown loaches but I need a much larger tank). I know rainbows are schooling fish so I will aim for 6 of them. Is three loaches enough, or do they need to be kept in groups of six as well? This will fully stock my tank, without overstocking it, right?

[Emg]

Sound ok to me....I think that the yoyo loach can get a bit aggressive with each other, not sure about that though. I don't think you would have any problems with the kuhliis.