tetras or gouramis for my kuhlis?

hunnysnax

hunnysnax

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Nov 26, 2005
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sydney australia
hey everyone!!!

i have a 10 gallon with three kuhli loaches at the moment... i would like to add some tetras (something pretty like serpae) or some dwarf gouramis.

what tetras would you recommend and what do you think would be most appealing to the eye... a small school of tetras or a pair of dwarf gourami?
or how about a pair of rams?

so
a) a small school of tetras
b) pair of dwarf gourami
c) pair of rams

what do you think???

hayley

PS. i would really like something active that will give a bit of life to the tank... not just 'hover' in the leaves (my tank is medium-heavily planted)
 
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i would avoid the rams... they can be tough to accomodate, even though they're small.

yah, get some tetras. 5 serpaes would be good. that would be it though. really no more or less. ten gallons is a little small for them, but i think you'd be ok as long as you keep an eye on things. serpaes are aggressive little buggers, for tetras. i love em... there is a definate pecking order among individual fish, not something you see alot with the smaller tetras, IME.

personally, though, id take the money and get a 20 long (30" not 24") and save the ten for later. it would open up your options sooo much. your loaches would love you too... then add your school a little at a time, ending at like 8 tiger barbs or serpaes. nice big footprint for the gallonage, and you'd be able to use all your equipment with no real slackoff. wouldn't really be a new tank, just new glass....

and $0.98's your change



:cool:
 
*sigh* i wish i had money... i'm poor... this is breaking the budget as it is lol!!! besides i just want this as a little tank for my bedroom.

with the tetras are there any others that are cool looking like serpaes but only get small... like i said i want bright and lively... at the same time i don't want my fish to kill eachother!!! how mean are those little guys? i just read they get nippy :S

so the rams are touchy... but would the gouramis work?

hayley
 
Gouramis would work, but they tend to stay at the surface and just hover around the leaves. Unless you get two males then the'll try to kill each other in a ten. Personally, I have 2 rams, one gold and one blue and have had no problems with them being sensitive while on the other hand, I cannot keep tetras alive. If you get rams just make sure they are either breed in europe or america and they'll be fine, don't get asian breed they are the fragile ones everyone talks about. Also, females are hardier, but if you want 2 make sure they are opposite sex or they will fight. The rams swim around more in my opinion and stay in the lower to middle part of the tank were you can see them. Dwarf gouramis are very beautifull though if you choose to go that route.
 
serpae tetras

Serpae tetras were among my first fish, I still have a lot of them, now 9 in a large planted tank with cardinals.

I started with 6 serpae tetras in a 10 gallon, with a cory cat. Then moved them to a 20H and added a lot of cardinals and a more cories and kuhlies.

IME, 6 serpae is a minimum number. They are bullies, but really only among themselves. They spedn their time sparring, at least the males do, the females tended to wait in the bushes for the victor, sometimes running out to remind the guys they were *still* waiting. A lot like watching teens at play, a few guys showing off, the rest of the guys watching them, the gorls onthe sidelines.

They will 'stare down' other fish, which was really intimidating to the gentle cory cats. They will chase smaller fish, but never could catch the cardinals. It seemed to be more of establishing a pecking order than actually trying to nip any hter fish.

Kuhlies never noticed the serpaes when they stared at them, they just romp on their way and never let the serpaes bully them out of bottom feeder wafers.
 
lol those serpaes have attitude!!

i went to the lfs and bought rams on a whim *blushes* (they had serpae but they were a bit pricey to buy as a school $8 each! and they had no gouramis... and... and... i couldn't resist the little rams)

i do that all the time though ... i try and research and then blow it all on a whim... hopefully they'll be ok because today was bloody hot!!! i was in the car for an hour in traffic!!! with no air conditioning!!! (hot = 40 degrees celcius + some because i was in the car... so whats that... 104 F??? not sure... but hot... hotter than human body temperature lol dunno degrees in F)

they look ok at the moment. they are only little and i don't know what sex they are... hopefully one male and one female!

thanks everyone for all the suggestions! i appreciate it :)

hayley
 
gouramis would NOT work. dwarf gouramis can be a bit agressive towards each other. you would need one male and two females, and that would overstock your tank. you could do ONE male dwarf gourami.

and i've heard everywhere the serpae tetras get nippy too. i considered them for my tank as well, but went with glowlights instead.
 
for your rams, the female will have a red belly, blue speckles in her black spot, and a short first couple of dorsal rays. Male will have no red on belly, or very light compared to female, and will have blue spots around, but not in the black spot, and one of the front rays on the dorsal fin will be noticeabley longer. They are great fish, and I hope you enjoy them.
 
I have to disagree, Not all dwarf gourami are aggressove, I have had mine with all of my fish and they dont chase or bite or show any form of aggression twards any of the fish at all.
 
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