Stocking Suggestions

J

Jason01

AC Members
Dec 9, 2004
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Clermont, IA
First off, I would like to say that this is a great site, and I refer to it all the time, especially when I was starting my 29 gal. planted tank recently.

I am trying to decide what else I should add to my 29 planted.

List of current fishes:
4 silver mollies
6 platies(asst.)
3 otos
1 cory
6 malaysian rainbow shrimp(at least I put 6 in, don't see them too often)
gazillion snails(going to start removing and feeding them to my dojo loachs & unidentified catfish, in my 55)

I would either like a school of very small fish, or a few of something bigger. This tank is a display tank at my house, so I really don't want ugly/funky looking fish. I am also planning on adding 10 or so red cherry shrimp in the spring(have to mail order, as no LFS around here has even heard of them), so, the fish not eating the shrimp is a big thing. Any ideas?
 
a few more cories and otos and i would think you are well stocked.
 
I would add maybe 1 or 2 ottos and then 4 cories. That will be nice and stocked. Make sure to have some extra algae food for the ottos as they will quickly run out of food in the tank.
 
If you want to go for a school of fish and that money is no object, Cardinal Neons are awesome. Otherwise, almost any school of neons. Also, silver tip tetras as gorgeous and not expensive. Worth to check them out.

Cheers and good luck !

SB
PS : Check with others if Tetras/Neons are compatible with your present stock for I do not know.
 
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I was thinking about 5-6 cardinal tetras, and a few more cories. If the tank seems too crowded(which right now, seems bare, but it may just be the plants), I can move the platies to my 55. My supposed pictus catfish are afraid of their own shadow, and don't bother the black long fin tetras that I have in there, so I would guess that the platies would be fine. Any other ideas?

Would 6 cardinals make a decent school? The ones at my LFS don't really school, the just swim all over the tank. It looks like total cahos. I really want a true school of fish.....Not cahos.....
 
Cardinals are a bit chaotic and will go around a bit. So if you want a REAL school, go for neons. 6 to 10 will be fine as they will not grow beyond about an inch long. Tetras will school with no problems as well and remain small. With the size of tank you have, I would not worry too much about adding 6 to 10 in there. Just make sure you have proper filtration and most of all, good air supply in there.

Happy fishy time !

SB :)
 
Hi jason, The cardinals and neons are fairly similar and will even school together at times. But both types tend to only school sometimes (ie when they feel a threat) otherwise they just swim around doing their own thing. My neons certainly just swim around doing their own thing, maybe grouping into twos and threes now and then. So it sort of depends on what's in the tank to worry them. The neons grow to about 40mm while the cardinals are a little bigger like 50mm... I guess mine aren't too worried about anything...
 
my neons hardly school at all
they tend to get together as i go to the tank
and after feeding time
and at waterchange time they are quite tight other than that they seem pretty laid back

what about harlequin rasboras i think they generally seem to stay in their school
 
I've got 20 Harlequins and mine tend to seperate now that they are comfortable in the tank. They school great when I change water and get close to the tank - sounds similar to the neons you mentioned.

They are a very nice fish though.
 
If I put in some cardinal tetras, first off, would they survive my PH swings? The tank has DIY C02, and the PH has varied from 7.4-7.8(I don't know if this is major, but in terms of C02 in my water it is) when the C02 bottle starts slowing down. It helps having a KH of 13 deg., but would the PH swings kil/harm them?

Another question. If I put in like 6 cardinals, a betta would make them school, because of the precived threat, right? Would a betta be fine with mollies and platies, and not eat my shrimp? Besides that, a betta would be very colorful against my jungle of green, which my girlfriend says needs to be "colorful", hence the idea for the cardinals.
 
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