Hi. My husband and I have been keeping fish for about ten years, and recently combined our tanks due to a move and a death and space and so forth. Right now we have a 55 gallon bowfront aquarium with an improbable assortment; a convict, a pleco and a rainbow shark, all full-grown and several years old, six black skirt tetras and six red minor tetras who are all fairly young. They get along all right, with rocks and plants carefully arranged for privacy and comfort. No one lets the convict boss them around much.
The red minor tetras are new, and we'd figured to add in a couple of the more peaceful specimens of gouramis; we've kept them before in a wide-ranging community with little trouble. But when we brought these latest tetras home on Saturday, they accidentally came with a neon tetra. One. Unable to bring him back just then, we put him in the 2.5 gallon tank we've been cycling in order to get a betta for our son. But I don't know what to do with him. I'm afraid that even if we got him lots of friends, moving him back to our other tank, they wouldn't necessarily stand against the convict. I hate to buy him only one or two friends for this tiny tank. That seems unfair. And my son has already named him Squishy, so I feel kind of unhappy about just returning him to the store. In the meantime, he's swimming around in there all alone, and I don't want him to become forlorn. The little tank does have filtration, and I know the general chemistry and temperature are all right. But I have to take some action asap.
Anyway, I came here not only because I hope to discuss this odd situation (where is the best place for that?) but also because I enjoy watching people talk about their fish. We're hoping to finally buy a much larger tank in a few months, so I look forward to seeing what more interesting options we'll have when we have the space.
The red minor tetras are new, and we'd figured to add in a couple of the more peaceful specimens of gouramis; we've kept them before in a wide-ranging community with little trouble. But when we brought these latest tetras home on Saturday, they accidentally came with a neon tetra. One. Unable to bring him back just then, we put him in the 2.5 gallon tank we've been cycling in order to get a betta for our son. But I don't know what to do with him. I'm afraid that even if we got him lots of friends, moving him back to our other tank, they wouldn't necessarily stand against the convict. I hate to buy him only one or two friends for this tiny tank. That seems unfair. And my son has already named him Squishy, so I feel kind of unhappy about just returning him to the store. In the meantime, he's swimming around in there all alone, and I don't want him to become forlorn. The little tank does have filtration, and I know the general chemistry and temperature are all right. But I have to take some action asap.
Anyway, I came here not only because I hope to discuss this odd situation (where is the best place for that?) but also because I enjoy watching people talk about their fish. We're hoping to finally buy a much larger tank in a few months, so I look forward to seeing what more interesting options we'll have when we have the space.
