Stocking???

evnsmm05 said:

39g aquarium
I currently have 3 Zebra Danios


4-6 Zebra Danios
3-4 Cherry Shrimp
4-6 Cherry Barbs
2-3 Dwarf Gourami
3-5 Platty
1 centerpiece fish ?

Thank you!!!

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i personally would have a larger group of one schooling fish, and have one gourami as a centrepiece. since you already have danios, add to that group, and add one gourami. 5 cories for the bottom would round out the tank nicely. i personally would skip the shrimp, or do a smaller shrimp only tank in addition to this 39 gal.

skip the platies, skip the barbs IMO. a tank that size will look much too busy with too many species in it.

don't forget to add stock slowly and to quarantine new fish! separate tank for a month, to rule out disease, before adding to your main tank. i'd get 3 more danios first, qt them, then add to main tank. then get your gourami, qt it, then add to main tank. then get 3 cories, qt, then add to main. then 2 more cories, qt, add. doing it in small increments like this will allow the beneficial bacteria to build up gradually to handle the additional bioload from the added fish. you can add more danios down the road if you feel the tank/filtration/maintenance schedule can handle a few more.

I wouldn't risk the shrimp going with the gouramis. There is a good chance the gouramis would get to them.


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1) I always recommend 1 schooling species per 20-30gals of water.
2) The Gouramis or Platies will eat the shrimp.
3) What's wrong with the Gouramis as the center fish??

only 1 gourami or you might end up with dead gouramis.

allaboutfish said:

only 1 gourami or you might end up with dead gouramis.

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One male and several females is fine.


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you can rarely find female dwarf gouramis.

If you really do decide to get red cherry shrimp, I really reccommend that you start out with 10-20, as this will provide a better gene pool for when they breed. You can find them for about $1 each plus shipping on the buy/sell forums here, which is a much better deal than most LFS and big box stores have.

allaboutfish said:

you can rarely find female dwarf gouramis.

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Really? My three closest fish stores all stock them. Must live in a good area.


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