"Showcase" fish in an otherwise cat-centric tank

C

Cksnffr

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Aug 5, 2013
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I'm currently cycling a 30-gallon tank for a catfish-oriented setup. The current fish plan goes like this:

Cory cats: Emerald or panda
One medium-sized cat: Raphael or upside-down (or SA bumblebee; need to research more)
Small school of x-ray tetra
One (or two if needed) larger nice fish

I'm new at all this, so I want the unknown fish to be peaceful and fairly hardy. I'm looking hard at blue/gold/pearl/"giant" gourami. They seem very friendly, not hard to keep, and happy not to be in a school of other gourami.

Other options I've considered include peaceful barbs. What else should I consider, and am I on the right track?
 
Hmmm... 30 Gallon Tall Tank or 30 Gallon Wide Tank? That will pretty much decide what fish best suits your needs. Fish that can go with either would be, say, Neon Dwarf Gouramis or a Pearl Gouramis. The Raphael Catfish will get to be 7 inches long and the rule of fish is that if it fits in their mouth then it's dinner, I'd look into a different species. Make sure that the species of upsidedown catfish is one of the smaller ones, the larger species can get to be a foot or longer. The Tetra may become a snack for the Raphael so don't put them together. Heads up about cories, they like larger groups so I'd do 6 or so.
 
The tank is 30x12x18. Not sure if that makes it a Tall. I can't imagine that 12 is Wide.

If the concern with the raphael is that he'd eat the tetras (not that he'd eat the corys), then I'd much sooner forgo the tetras. On the other hand, if mister raphael would eat corys, that's a no-no.

I will look more into viable medium-sized cats, including perhaps a porthole.

Bottom line is the kids adore catfish, so I know I want to do some corys and then one larger one. The tetras and the single nice fish are mainly there to balance out the tank.

Thanks!
 
P.S. Good to know that the corys want to be in a group of 6 or more. That might change the math of my fish stocking such that the small schooling fish (tetras or other) are out, and it's just corys, one medium cat, and one nice centerpiece fishy.

P.P.S. I've barely opened the box on the tank, and I already want a 180-gallon long....
 
You've got a standard 30 gallon it seems.

Which gourami species are you looking at? Those common names refer to a few different species.

blue/gold = T. trichopterus (also can be opaline, 3 spot, Cosby, etc.)
pearl = T. leeri (the better option for a community tank this size)
giant = O. goramy (way too large for a 30g)

With the pearls you might be able to get away with a 1m/2f group. Honey gouramis are another option as are dwarfs...the former can be in groups, but not the latter. They're a bit smaller but still nice centerpieces.

But as FF said, you most definitely want to keep the corys in a group. 6 is usually the preferred minimum which will work well with your footprint. I don't think you'll need to ditch the tetras though. You've got the room IMO.

If you go with barbs, I would recommend cherry barbs. An excellent fish IME. A group of a couple males with some females works well (males are more red in color).
 
Well, with such small number they won't really school unless frightened so it doesn't matter but I personally go with one school and one species because it looks better. I'm not sure about the Raphael eating the cories, it really depends on if they fit in its mouth and it can catch them.
 
I think it's best to choose all of one kind, or at least ones that will be similar sized as adults.

Any of the predatory cats might try to take a cory. The problem is that cories have locking gill spines--if something tries to eat them, the spines flip out and catch in the throat of the predatory. It's usually fatal for both. Porthole should be safe with all but fry, but a single fish is likely going to spend most of it's time hiding. If you have a group, they'll hang out midwater and be more visible.

In terms of tank dimensions, 'wide' refers to the left-right dimension as you're looking at it, not the front-back dimension.
 
Fishfriend1 said:
Well, with such small number they won't really school unless frightened so it doesn't matter but I personally go with one school and one species because it looks better. I'm not sure about the Raphael eating the cories, it really depends on if they fit in its mouth and it can catch them.
Click to expand...

Probably emerald is a better option, because pandas are on the smaller side.
 
OrionGirl said:
I think it's best to choose all of one kind, or at least ones that will be similar sized as adults.

Any of the predatory cats might try to take a cory. The problem is that cories have locking gill spines--if something tries to eat them, the spines flip out and catch in the throat of the predatory. It's usually fatal for both. Porthole should be safe with all but fry, but a single fish is likely going to spend most of it's time hiding. If you have a group, they'll hang out midwater and be more visible.

In terms of tank dimensions, 'wide' refers to the left-right dimension as you're looking at it, not the front-back dimension.
Click to expand...
I've always done length is the x, depth is the y, width is the z.
 
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