16US Gallon Tank - What fish are most suitable ?

[Rich T]

From my previous choices it seems im terrible at selecting the right fish for my tanks


If you had the tank I own (Fluval Uno 600) what would be the most appropriate types of fish to put in the tank ?


The tank dimensions are 60cm x 35cm x 30cm
Capcity: 13.86 UK / 16.64 US Gallon Tank / 60 Litre

Filtration would be a Fluval Plus 2 on full speed with a venturi effect device for airating the water.


The tank currently has only a few small plants but I have a load on order so it will be a reasonably well planted tank with a gravel substrate

I plan to keep the 3 Cory Catfish I currently have but the Gourami will be moved to a bigger tank as ive been told they will easily outgrow the tank.

Would Dwarf gourami be better ?


Ideally I dont want any aggressive fish, I hate seeing fish swim for their lives

 

[platyfreek]

i think a dwarf gourami would be ok but not 2 gouramis together. i've kept a dwarf gourami in a 10 gal so a 16 gal should be fine but im not sure how compatible they are with the cories.

 

[@ombomb]

What about a couple of dwarf puffers?

That's what I have for a similar sized tank that I'm inheriting soon.

 

[sylvia]

But you couldn't keep the puffers with cories (just to avoid confusion) - or with pretty much any other fish for that matter. They are still very cute though.

As long as you move out whatever the other gourami you have now is, a dwarf gourami (male) would be fine. However, might I sugegst a trio of honey gouramies instead? Colsia chuna/sota. They get to 1.5". Males develop a dark blue-black udnerside color and, though they are usualy a dull brownish-beige at your LFS (juvenile coloration), they grow into lovely, endeering characters. Besides the fact that you could keep more, they are hardier than dwarfs. Both colsia lalia (dwarf) and colisa chuna/sota (honey) preffer the upper water layers. Floating plants would be of benefit. Tall rooted plants are almost deffinately a must. they realy do need this to make them feel comfortable. These are both perfectly compatible with cories.
Oh, BTW, cories like sand. Just an extra consideration.

I then assume you'd like a peaceful mid-dwelling schooling fish to fill the tank out. A few harlequin rasboras would look lovely and are by far the best schooling fish. The number you get depends ont eh type of cory (as some grow bigger than others) and whether you go for just one dwarf (male thugh, females need company to thrive - 2"), just one honey (again, should be male - 1.5") or a trio of honeys (1 male, 2 females). The ideal would be a gorup of 6 but, as the rasboras get to 2", you may have to reduce that to a group of 4.
Other schooling fish to consider are spotted rasboras (only to about 1" so ideal to keep in a good sized group in a smaller tank) or very small tetras like neons or flamehead tetras (often sold as rummies - rummies get to 2", flameheads to 1.5"). Keep in mind that these fish need to be in a group, diealy of 6 minnimum, and that some (like neons) are better for a mature tank so add them last.

If you skip any of these fish, small livebearers like platies, guppies or endler's would also work (don't mix endler's with guppies though as they'll hybridize). There's also croaking and sparkling gouramies and spiketailed paradisefish if you'd like some more mid-dwelling gourami-type species to include. All these would be best kept as trios - 1 male, 2 females.

Besides the above, instead of the peaceful community you seem to have planned, and besides the dwarf puffer suggestion, you may want to look into shell-dwelling cichlids such as n. multifasciatus.

You could also breed a few killies in a 15 gallon (but research first as there's a plethora of species to choose from)

 

[Rich T]

Thanks for the suggestions,

RE: the cories prefering sand, the gravel I have is very small and smooth and the dont have any problems getting at the pellets I feed them Sand would be better of course but im not brave enough to do the switch

Puffers are funny little fish but I dont think they are for me, I prefer schooling fish.

As far as the dwarf/honey gouramis go you recommend only having one male in the tank or 1 male and 2 female in the tank ?

I think I may just go with a small schooling fish like tetras instead though

Oh and there Bronze Corys as per my signature below

 

[Snailguy101]

Well If I were you I would get gouramis you can get about 4 of them.

 

[GSD]

no you cant get 4 gouramis!!!!!they get terrotorial and wil attack eatchother.

your getting 3 cories but id get at least 4 because they like to be in groups

guppies,platies,mollies,endlers and swordtails are all great comuntity fish good for the beginner

i wouldnt go for puffers,they can only be kept on their own.

is there any fish you have seen that you like?because it mostly comes down to personal choice

 

[Rich T]

lol this whole post came about because of a mistake with gouramis

I went to the lfs with the intent to buy one type of fish that I had researched but they had none of them so I watched the fish in the display tanks to see how they get on with each other, looking for peaceful fish, noted down the adult sizes (which turned out to be wrong) and slowly whittled my choice down to the opaline gouramis. I must have spent an hour just watching fish in the store

The blurb went something like " Peaceful schooling fish, grows to 10cm and prefers a heavily planted aquarium" Which is mostly cobblers as they grow to 15cm and dont tend to school from what ive been told due to being terretorial as stated above.

I have just moved two of the gouramis I bought to seperate tanks leaving just the one in my tank (The most dominant one)

So now the only fish in the tank are 3 corys and one opaline gourami.

The reason I only have 3 Cories is because they were the last three in the tank when I bought them and they've not restocked on Bronze corys yet (3 months so far) I would rather not get a different cory variant


Given what fish are currently in the tank (1 gourami 3 cory) whats the best tankmates for them ?

 

[GSD]

the tank isnt that big so it does limit your choices.id get more cories and mabe a shoal of small peaceful fish such as the black phantom tetra.although im not sure that theyd get on with the gourami!

 

[sylvia]

A 16 gallon should be fine for a single male dwarf gourami (colisa lalia) OR a trio of honey gouramies (colsia chuna/sota - check the scientific name as they get mis-labelled), HOWEVER, don't mix the two and don't move them in until the opaline has moved out.

 

[sylvia]

And black phantoms would work fine with a gourami - I'm assuming you don't mean the opaline (which you say you'll be moving out) though.

 

[Rich T]

I have moved two but was considering keeping the last Opaline gourami

 

[fishwatcher]

Harlequin rasboras and cherry barbs would also work with the gouramis. I think either of those (4+ of the h.r., or a trio of the c barbs) would work just fine.
Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

 

[Rich T]

Ive got a list of possibilities written down for the next time I got to the LFS.

Shortlist is as follows:
Name....................Adult Size
Spotted Rasboras 2.5cm
Neon Tetra 4cm
Flame Tetra 4cm
White Clods 5cm
Harlequin Rasbora 4cm
Cherry Barbs 5cm
Black Phantom Tetra 4.5cm


Ive chosen some as there very small slender bodied fish (Neon, Spotted Rasbora, White Clouds) and the Gourami would not consider them competition I hope

Black Phantoms look very nice but I would be concerned that the gourami would bully them

Cherry Barbs look a little dull when there not spawning

Harlequin Rasboras im reserving judgement on until ive seen some up close but certainly look like a good choice

 

[Rich T]

Just to let you know I opted for flame tetras
I bought 6 small flame tetras and the girl who served me also inadvertantly caught a Head and tail light tetra without noticing

I was really taken with the Phantom Tetras but there were a few malformed fishes in the tank so I thought best not to have them


So the tank is now full with 1 Opaline gourami, 6 Flame Tetra, 1 Head and Tail Tetra and 3 Bronze Corys.
And yes I do appreciate that the Gourami will eventually outgrow the tank