40 Gallon redone

[FishyWarrior]

My tank has been through a lot over the year it's been up, but now it's been completely revamped from the ground up. Right now only my 5 panda cories are in it as well as snails and a couple amano shrimp. I was originally going to have a large school of neon tetras in it but after having the whole lot of them die recently i might end up with something different.

I have 11 black skirt tetras in quarantine right now, but i'm not exactly sure what to put with them and the cories now. Any suggestions?

Here's a pic of my tank now:

I'm still waiting for the val in the back to grow in but i'm pretty happy with it so far!

 

[fishorama]

Your tank looks awesome, FW! Do you picture a pair of apistos or a single fish rounding out your tank? A few more corys would be my vote without any thought...but what do you want for your pretty, but recovering, tank? I like smaller cichlids.

Just a word of warning, happy vals, = an overrun tank pretty soon...unless you're much better at weeding than I am...I'm pretty lame at it most times.

I'm sorry you've had problems but it's a good time to reset!

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yes! Beautiful work there. Looks great!

 

[FishyWarrior]

Thanks guys! Would another shoal of small fish plus one single "centerpiece" fish be possible or render the tank overstocked? I"ll still be fine with one or the other, based on my research my choices might be slightly more limited because of the black skirts? Some people say they're aggressive and others not so i'm not really sure. I'm seeing them face off against each other now as well as some ripped fins but i don't know how they'd act towards other fish.

I don't like basing my choices solely on appearance, but my family wants something colorful and eyecatching in there. Some red fish would definitely look great in here but i'm not sure which ones.

My lfs has started stocking apistos but they all seem so expensive! Especially this bright orange/red one, i forgot which kind it was but they were $60 each!

More cories is a definite though, just my lfs has been out of stock on pandas every time i come in. I will eventually get 3 more for a total of 8.

 

[myswtsins]

Tank looks great!

You can easily add another school and a centerpiece fish. I am not experienced with centerpieces but a red shoaling fish I love is ember tetras. They are small, peaceful, rust/bronze/shiny colored, tight schoolers with tiny bio-loads. Only concern would be the size of you centerpiece fish eventually.

That's a lot for 1 fish! Apistos cost more than your average tetra but you can find them way more affordable than that.

More cories is always the right thing to do lol.

 

[FishyWarrior]

Ohh, ember tetras are definitely a good option! Will those smaller guys be alright with the black skirts?

Yeah i haven't seen the price of the other apistos but those guys were so pricey, i think they were fire reds? They were a striking solid reddish orange and super pretty. Agassizii in general are really beautiful though, I'll be considering them for sure.

 

[jm1212]

black skirts are tough fish that can borderline on nippy. I had them for years and kept them with an angel that kept them in line, but definitely don't put them with anything delicate or passive. the corydoras will be ok because they don't really occupy the same space as the black skirts.

have you considered something that hangs around the top? zebra danios come to mind. i know its kind of a beginner fish, but well-kept zebras in a school of 6 can be very entertaining to watch, and they color up really well. they can also take on some harassment from the black skirts.

as for the centerpiece, it's kind of tricky. you need to balance the needs of the corydoras with the tolerances of the black skirts. if you didn't have the corydoras, I would say get a pair of firemouths or convicts...but they will definitely beat up on the coryodras especially when breeding. a pearl gourami or moonlight gourami won't appreciate the nippiness of the black skirts. actually, you might do well with a blue or three spot gourami. they can hold their own against smaller fish and the 40 is enough space so that a big one won't feel cramped.

 

[FishyWarrior]

Yeah i realize now that i've put myself in a weird spot with the black skirts. I originally wanted everything to be peaceful, every article i read on black skirts suggest they're super peaceful and perfect for communities but now i'm seeing first hand that that isn't really the case? But now i have them and i love them so i need to figure out what the best choice is with them in mind.

Other sources say that if you keep them in larger numbers then the aggression will only be within their group and not other species as well as make them a bit calmer in general. Does anyone here have experience with them?

I'm definitely not opposed to danios and the like, especially glowlight danios those guys are gorgeous! I'll add them to the list of possibilities for sure.
If a centerpiece fish won't really work out though i'll be fine with just another school.

 

[jm1212]

Yeah i realize now that i've put myself in a weird spot with the black skirts. I originally wanted everything to be peaceful, every article i read on black skirts suggest they're super peaceful and perfect for communities but now i'm seeing first hand that that isn't really the case? But now i have them and i love them so i need to figure out what the best choice is with them in mind.

Other sources say that if you keep them in larger numbers then the aggression will only be within their group and not other species as well as make them a bit calmer in general. Does anyone here have experience with them?

I'm definitely not opposed to danios and the like, especially glowlight danios those guys are gorgeous! I'll add them to the list of possibilities for sure.
If a centerpiece fish won't really work out though i'll be fine with just another school.

I've had a school as large as 10 before, and that helped. I also learned about 15 years ago when I started seriously keeping fish that there are some things that you just have to experience on your own. there are quite a few fish that many pet stores, books, and online articles claim are perfect, peaceful community fish that I could write articles about explaining why they are not.

ironically, one of them was the blue gourami I recommended you put in there. it's not necessarily an aggressive fish, but when they feel overcrowded they'll definitely become bullies. that said, they will stand up to your black skirts without killing them.

 

[FishyWarrior]

I have 11 of them now (supposed to be 12 but one jumped out while acclimating...) I wonder if the reason they're so mean to each other is the fact that they're all different sizes. The person at the fish store just kinda threw in whatever size. There's one in particular, the biggest one with the most perfect fins who keeps going after everyone else in there. I feel like his size is boosting his ego and i'm worried he's going to kill the smallest ones some day.

I've had really bad luck with fish that are supposedly peaceful turning out to be jerks. Like a pearl gourami i had who went rogue and killed several other fish. Also had a bosemani do the same. So i know all about not trusting all these sources all the time lol.