what else can i add to my tank?

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fishy45cory

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Feb 13, 2004
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I have a 60 gallon tank with 2 cory cats, a coolie loach, a red tailed shark, 2 bala sharks, 2 parrot cichlids (very peacful), a kissing gourami, and a crayfish, what else would be good to put in there?
 

silentskream

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May 16, 2004
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are cory cats heavy on the bioload?

i've got a 20gallon regular that will be empty within a couple weeks.. except it will have a betta. i'm just curious as to how many would be a comfortably number of corys, and how many other small tetras would that permit me to have?


also, what about "upside down" catfish? andone have experience with those?
 

snakeskinner

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Dec 27, 2003
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cories stay rather small and eat fallen food and relish bottom feeder pellets. most people say 5 or 6 cories but I have 4 that don't even stick together in a 55 and 3 that are never together in a 36. My pairs seem to stay together better than anything. in the 20, you could probably have 4 cories (2 pairs of species for me) you could put a prettygood school of small tetras in there, maybe 8-10 I'd think. the betta you never know about. He may not like the cories since bettas are known to lay on the bottom and the cories might pester him. As for your 60, I've never kept them but I would think the crayfish would nab the cories for dinner. Same goes for the loach and possibly the gourami if it isn't too large yet. I may be wrong but I don't think you should plan to keep those bala sharks long term in the 60. they get quite large but I'm not exactly sure if you're too small or not and how fast they grow. any other tankmates are going to be reliant on compatibility with the parrots, gourami and red tail shark. I'd maybe look for some other similar cichlids to the parrots. I think anything too aggressive would take out your gourami and anything too docile would be bullied by the gourami and shark. I believe parrots are fairly friendly but really don't know. Well, that oughta be enough worthless info. kyle
 

silentskream

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thanks for the info!!


yeah i'm kinda skeptical about my betta as well. he's usually very laid back, but he doesnt like anybody messing with his cave, so with corys that might be a problem.
 

tomm10

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Oct 15, 2003
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Add more khuli loaches. They enjoy the company and will likely be more visible and playful in groups. They stay pretty thin so you can add a few. I have 6 in a 29g.

Add a couple more cories too. IME cories don't really school too much. With a group in the tank they'll spread out and have no problem being on their own. With only two they're likely to stay together most of the time. The more the merrier.

I agree with snakeskinner that you might want to rethink the balas and keep a real close eye on the crayfish. I've never had one but I've also never heard of a peaceful one.

silentskream, I have an 8g with four panda cories and a male betta. They are fine with absolutely no incidents. I would expect you could put at least four cories in a 20 with a betta.

That being said all bettas are a little different and a fiesty one might pick on the cories a bit. To be on the safe said, I put my cories in the tank a few days before the betta so when he was introduced he was going into someone else's territory rather than the four cories being added to "his" tank. I would suggest a similar approach.

If he's already in the 20, take him out and put him in another container. Rearrange the decorations in the 20 and add the cories. Then add the betta back. As far as he knows he's in a different pond and the cories were there before him. That should help cut down on territorial based disputes.

Tom
 

silentskream

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May 16, 2004
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i like that plan.. i'll do a huge water change while i'm at it to clear out any hormones being used for territory.
 
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