YOU stock my tank! :-)

**karna68** · 10-11-2006, 7:32 AM

Okay here's a job for all of you since I'm just too overwhelmed! My 30G is almost cycled so I want to start planning my stock. The white clouds are all going to the 10G so I'll have a "blank canvas" to work with. I'll tell you what I like and what I don't like and you take it from there! I want a mixture of big and small fish. I know I want some Harlequin Rasboras so I need something that will get along with them. I like gouramis, I don't like corys or loaches, and I'm not wild about the thought of guppies or platies, don't want a lot of fry!

So if you're up to the challenge help me please! Thanks!

**Squawkbert** · 10-11-2006, 8:01 AM

I'm loving my Pristella Tetras. Very well behaved, show schooling behavior in a 6-pack, highly visible w/ dark banded dorsal & caudal fins.

Penguin Tetras are cute, they get a little larger than the Pristellas.

Otos along w/ the snails make a nice cleaning crew if you don't want live plants that snails might/will eat. I have a pineapple sword that also likes to graze on algae.

**Lobo.** · 10-11-2006, 8:31 AM

cories and neons, lots of neons

this will bring lots of activity to the tank, especially witht the other school of Harlequin Rasboras

or, a bushynose pleco, 4-6 cories, 5 Harlequin Rasboras, and something else...

i cant think of any big fish atm... although one angel would fit, they can be good as loners.

**sarcare** · 10-11-2006, 8:40 AM

Gouramis and rasboras are from the same area of the world--you could get a nice school of rasboras say 10, and then a pair of pearl gouramis. You could round the tank out with loaches for an asian theme or some kind of shrimp. Danios are also from this region, but I think one schooling fish is enough for a tank.

Aquarium adventure has some really nice rasboras--I have a big school of espie rasboras from there and they are so pretty and active. Their display tank has some amazing pearl gouramis--they are stunning.

**karna68** · 10-11-2006, 8:48 AM

So say I do 10 rasboras and 2 gouramis, would that be my max? I really don't like loaches, I think they're creepy looking

**sarcare** · 10-11-2006, 9:24 AM

You could get some other bottom dweller--stocking is a matter of what space the fish use, and that stocking leaves space at the bottom. My rasboras stay at the top and middle, the gourami goes everywhere, but mostly top and middle, and doesn't feed off the bottom. So I'd consider something that will spend time on the bottom--I've seen a lot of different kinds of loaches--some aren't as worm like. But there are other fish that stay at the bottom. You might be able to get a few more fish, but I think simpler is better.

**Red Tailed Wonder** · 10-11-2006, 9:39 AM

Actually Sarcare my gouramies eat peas of the bottom of my tank.

Just a thought

**Red Tailed Wonder** · 10-11-2006, 9:39 AM

BTW thats cuz i trained them lol!

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**momar** · 10-11-2006, 9:41 AM

You can go plenty more than 10 harlequins and 2 gouramis. bear in mind that a dwarf gourami is roughly equivalent in bioload to 3 full-grown harlequins. work on the basis that not all fish are equal - a giant danio is roughly twice the length of a zebra danio, and has pretty well the same proportions and habits. So it equates to 8 zebra danios. What I'm really saying is, if you want to stick to small species, you can keep plenty more than 10 harlequins and 2 gouramis. But that depends what look you want the tank to have...

**sarcare** · 10-11-2006, 9:42 AM

I'd suggested a larger gourami--the pearl gourami is not a dwarf variety, so it gets to be larger, maybe 5 inches. So there is space for more fish, but not that many. It is hard to find female dwarfs in columbus, though I've found them occasionally they tend to be in poor health.

They do eat off the bottom sometimes, but they are not "bottom-dwellers" as such--so a tank with gouramis can usually have fish that stay at the bottom of the tank.