Can I add more fish?

U

upikabu

Registered Member
Feb 17, 2005
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Hi,

New here - such an informative place! :)
I'm in the process of stocking my 42-gal tank (already done fishless cycling, which worked quite well). Here's what I've added in the past 2 weeks:
6 Harlequin Rasboras
6 Black Neon Tetras
5 Dwarf Neon Rainbows (praecox)
5 Head-n-Tail light Tetras

So far the Ammonia & Nitrite have remained at 0ppm everytime I checked.
I'd like to add some more fish, but at the same time I don't want to overstock my tank. Do you think I can get away with a few more? I'm thinking of adding:
-5 glowlight tetras
-2 cherry barbs
-maybe a pair of dwarf gouramis (although I heard they're not that hardy, and I'm not sure if they can coexist with all the fast-swimming tetras?)
-maybe some bottom feeders, just so the bottom of the tank doesn't look too empty :) - any recommendations? (maybe corys? what kind? how many?)

Any other recommendations? I like small, peaceful and hardy fishes.
Thanks so much in advance for any advice!!
 
Welcome to AC!:) Hope you stick around. There's so much to learn and help with around here.

You do have more room:)

I would steer away from the dwarf gouramis because of the rainbowfish. Sometimes they can get a little...um "playful" with each other. Plus, you are right, fast swimming fish can sometimes stress them out a little.

As for bottom feeders, cories are, in my opinion, the best:) There are so many kinds, most all of which are suitable. I'm partial to the panda cories, but really anything you like will be fine (except for pygmy cories, which do better in small tanks and just be aware that "Emerald cories" get larger than most). 5-6 cories would be a nice addition to the lower levels - and they're very active.

You could add the 5 glowlights - I love mine....or the cherry barbs - I love those too:)

If you were committed to doing your regular water changes, you could probably put in all of the things you listed without doing any harm. But at that point, I'd say you'd be mostly full. Try to keep the nitrates under 40ppm...and as close to zero as possible is better, provided that you don't have live plants which need some nitrate.

Just be sure to add any new fish slowly so as to avoid a big spike in the ammonia.
 
I vote for 6 or so corys for the bottom, they're soo darn cute!! and another thing you could consider is just making your existing schools bigger, it seems to help them stick together a little better and it looks really neat!
 
Thanks much for the advice. I'll be shopping for corys soon then! :) Is it ok to mix a few different types of corys (e.g. 2 of each type) or is it better to stick with just one type for the lot?

I did hope that the ones I have would school better than they are, especially the black neons. Currently only the head-n-tail light tetras and the rainbows do occasional schooling (sometimes all bunched together!). The black neons and the harlequins just go about their own merry ways, which make for a "messy" looking tank (kinda reminds me of a rush hour traffic jam :D). Any idea if adding one or two more black neons would make them stick together more? I also find a couple of the black neons often bully the smaller harlequins (chase them around). Poor little guys!

Thanks again!
 
Cory cats are a great addition to any tank :) Panda cories are known to be rather sensitive, however, so be careful with your choice. They do prefer to be in a group of 5 or more. Good luck!
 
upikabu said:
I did hope that the ones I have would school better than they are, especially the black neons. Currently only the head-n-tail light tetras and the rainbows do occasional schooling (sometimes all bunched together!). The black neons and the harlequins just go about their own merry ways, which make for a "messy" looking tank (kinda reminds me of a rush hour traffic jam :D). Any idea if adding one or two more black neons would make them stick together more? I also find a couple of the black neons often bully the smaller harlequins (chase them around). Poor little guys!

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
I have glowlites, black neons, and lemon tetras in the same tank and they mostly swim all over and don't school much. When they do form groups, sometimes it's the same type together, but usually it's a mixed group.
 
usually adding to a school will help them to school better and cut down on aggression towards other fish becuase they have more of their own to pick on. But they all have their own personalities, so you can never be certain. As for the corys I would stick to one kind, they might school with others, but they'll be much happier in their own group. I had an albino with a couple of juli like corys (not sure exactly what type they are) and the they ignored each other. I added some emerald corys, who look like albino corys with a little bit of a shimmer to them, and they all school together. However I will be getting some more albinos because eventually the emeralds will be much bigger than the albino.
 
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