A place 4 my questions & ponderings as I build a 34 Gallons (127L) tank

[AilyNC]

I think they could add a splash a colour & I know my kid would love them. But they kinda give me the creeps a little bit though when I first got Plecos I was the same & now they're my favourite as I said - I'm not in a rush with stocking the tank. I want to do this right & avoid the nightmare start I had with my 58 L (16 G). The advice is really appreciated. I find I read so much that I can't remember which fish is what.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Sorry AdoraBelle, going to contradict you slightly, my CPD‘s coped absolutely fine with endlers and Lambchop rasboras.

I think it’s mostly down to how the tank is set up, as long as the tank is pretty densely planted and not too much open space, they will cope just fine and with similar peaceful shoaling species, I cannot see why this won’t work with most species of fish, not just CPDs.

If the tank has few plants and few hiding spots, this makes even the most peaceful shoaling fish more skittish as they get more nervous in wide open spaces with no place to escape or hide to.
Hope that makes sense.

If you use slow sinking micro pellet foods, such as hikari micro food, they will feed as there is plenty of time for them to swim around while the food slowly sinks and choose what they want to eat, no problem.

I kept all three species in the exact same sized tank as AilyNC for 4-5 years without too much issues.

Of course, planning ahead and researching etc is the best method and doing what you think works best for you and your tank

Don't be sorry to correct me, I'm happy to be corrected! Especially by someone who has kept them Even more so if it means I can keep CPD's with other fish in the future sorry for mis-info @AilyNC , you know how confusing it can get when you're researching a bunch of fish at once.

I might have mentally mixed up their requirements with some other nano fish, I either had a thread or hijacked a thread where I was asking seangee and NC about which fish I should get to live in my 15 gallon with otos, and I was considering CPDs, ember tetra, chili rasbora, kubatai rasbora and a few others and looking them all up at the same time, so it was probably one of the others that species only was suggested. I remember CPD's as shy and shoaling and mid water feeders, is that right? So larger or aggressive fish aren't great for them, or anything that might eat them? Would they be okay with odessa or tiger barbs?

 

[AilyNC]

Don't be apologising. You're a fountain of positive encouragement and advice! I feel like I need spreadsheets at this point! You just read so much and it gets muddled. I don't like fish that harass others so really prefer a chill community tank, active but not aggro. I've the 58L tank too so this might be an option for shrimp or species only.

@AdoraBelle Dearheart do you've black sand in your Cory tank? I just spotted on another thread. I'm really in two minds in sand. I love the look of dark sand but Argos sand is €5.50 for 15kg. My husband says it's the equivalent of getting nice take away so not to stress on price point. But all I think is €30 extra here is €30 less on plants and fish
(Edit typo)

 

[Ch4rlie]

I was considering CPDs, ember tetra, chili rasbora, kubatai rasbora and a few others and looking them all up at the same time, so it was probably one of the others that species only was suggested. I remember CPD's as shy and shoaling and mid water feeders, is that right? So larger or aggressive fish aren't great for them, or anything that might eat them? Would they be okay with odessa or tiger barbs?

Correct that they are mid water feeders and can be a little skittish but in larger groups of at least 12, they’ll be fine.

Your list of kubotia, ember tetras, chilli rasboras are all great with CPDs as they are all similar sized if not smaller than CPDs plus the fact they all are peaceful fish makes them really quite compatible in the right tank set up.

As for larger or more aggressive fish, I would avoid those with these fish mentioned, most barb species tend to be a little nippy and aggressive at times so it’s possible that they may be fine with these but I’ve never kept them myself so I cannot speak from experience here so am unsure 100%.

But my general feeling is, since Odessas are pretty much double the size of CPDs and the aforementioned fish species and plus the fact that they need to be in groups of at least 8, I think they may make the smaller fish a bit more skittish/nervous but that’s just a general feeling.

Am hoping someone who keeps or has kept these Odessas may chime in with their 2 penny’s worth.

Tiger barbs are one of the most nippy of all barb species and definitely would not keep these with BN, plecos or cories, I’ve heard some not so nice tales about them pecking at the poor cories, BN and plecos.

I actually like these tiger barbs and personally would keep them in a species only tank, perhaps a biotope sort of set up, be very interesting imho.

 

[vanalisa]

Don't be sorry to correct me, I'm happy to be corrected! Especially by someone who has kept them Even more so if it means I can keep CPD's with other fish in the future sorry for mis-info @AilyNC , you know how confusing it can get when you're researching a bunch of fish at once.

I might have mentally mixed up their requirements with some other nano fish, I either had a thread or hijacked a thread where I was asking seangee and NC about which fish I should get to live in my 15 gallon with otos, and I was considering CPDs, ember tetra, chili rasbora, kubatai rasbora and a few others and looking them all up at the same time, so it was probably one of the others that species only was suggested. I remember CPD's as shy and shoaling and mid water feeders, is that right? So larger or aggressive fish aren't great for them, or anything that might eat them? Would they be okay with odessa or tiger barbs?

@seangee
Has a gob of CPDs, and I think kubatai

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Don't be apologising. You're a fountain of positive encouragement and advice! I feel like I need spreadsheets at this point! You just read so much and it gets muddled. I don't like fish that harass others so really prefer a chill community tank, active but not aggro. I've the 58L tank too so this might be an option for shrimp or species only.

@AdoraBelle Dearheart do you've black sand in your Cory tank? I just spotted on another thread. I'm really in two minds in sand. I love the look of dark sand but Argos sand is €5.50 for 15kg. My husband says it's the equivalent of getting nice take away so bit to stress on price point. But all I think is €30 extra here is €30 less on plants and fish

Aaawww, thank you so much, that means a lot!

I'm the same way, I want chill, peaceful fish, the idea of nippy, super territorial fish or balancing aggression by overstocking in something like a cichlid tank terrifies me, lol. Small peaceful fish or bright beautiful schooling fish and bottom dwellers appeal to me the most. I avoid barbs for that reason. @mbsqw1d got some odessa barbs recently and while they're stunning fish and really beautiful in his planted tank, they also decimated his shrimp colony so that ruled them out for me, I love having shrimp.

I know you're kidding about the spreadsheet, but it's actually not a bad idea! I suggested it to someone who was trying to narrow down fish options, and having columns for pH, GH, temp etc would really make it easier to see which ones can fall into the same range! I haven't used Excel for years so I haven't, but it could be really useful when you have a long list of fish you're thinking of.

The sand I have with the cories is this one, which seangee uses and recommended, I'm happy with it! https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/sand/1924-unipac-limpopo-black-sand-25kg-5027174581291.html
They're out of stock right now but you can get the same stuff elsewhere, just a little more expensive. It says that it's black, but it's really more of a dark grey with some lighter flecks in it, which is good, since a true black substrate would be too dark for some fish. A 20kg bag was enough to do my 15 and the 12 gallon, with a good amount leftover;

Personally I think it's worth spending a bit more on substrate, since it's the bedrock of your tank, and changing it later if you end up hating it is a hassle. I spent more on sand and hardscape than I'd like, and it meant I could only get a few plants at first (make sure you get shrimp safe plants if you're thinking of shrimp, btw!) but I know I can always add more plants down the line far more easily than I can replace substrate.

Having said that, lighter coloured sand can look brilliant too, so I don't think the argos play sand is a bad choice either! I was going to buy some for my oto tank, just to have a different coloured substrate (and for cheap!) but have been reading about some of the species I like preferring darker substrate and having better colour on dark substrate, like ember tetra... so still pondering!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Correct that they are mid water feeders and can be a little skittish but in larger groups of at least 12, they’ll be fine.

Your list of kubotia, ember tetras, chilli rasboras are all great with CPDs as they are all similar sized if not smaller than CPDs plus the fact they all are peaceful fish makes them really quite compatible in the right tank set up.

thank you kindly! I'm still so undecided on what softer water fish to go with my oto tank. I was thinking of leaving it oto only, but that leaves the tank looking pretty empty and still during the daytime. Since it's a 15 gallon, I thought a school of nano fish would be perfect, but it's very hard to choose between them! Also can't decide between one large school, or two slightly smaller but still decently sized schools, to live with five otos. Like I'd love kubatai and chili rasbora for the contrast and activity, but don't know how they'd interact or compete with each other, so perhaps just a school of 15 kubatai or 15 ember tetra would be better. I'm gonna need to make a thread when I'm ready to buy fish to get help!

 

[AilyNC]

Your tank is beautiful. I do like the dark substrate & it's actually more appealing to know it's got shades of lightness there too. I found blackout film for windows that I was thinking to use as a background. It's stick on but I can take off if I change my mind.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TV4SNXC/?tag=

Good tip on the Barbs. Early on I'd a rainbow shark who harassed the whole tank. Wasn't his fault as the poor guy should never have been sold to me. But it just wasn't nice to see the fish stressed. Small fish in big groups would look great too.

 

[vanalisa]

thank you kindly! I'm still so undecided on what softer water fish to go with my oto tank. I was thinking of leaving it oto only, but that leaves the tank looking pretty empty and still during the daytime. Since it's a 15 gallon, I thought a school of nano fish would be perfect, but it's very hard to choose between them! Also can't decide between one large school, or two slightly smaller but still decently sized schools, to live with five otos. Like I'd love kubatai and chili rasbora for the contrast and activity, but don't know how they'd interact or compete with each other, so perhaps just a school of 15 kubatai or 15 ember tetra would be better. I'm gonna need to make a thread when I'm ready to buy fish to get help!

I vote for species only. But that's just my little dream. Someday ...♡

I really like the idea of community tanko but I'm exhausted thinking about the choices! My tank with minnows CPDs and rainbows happened by default, unfortunately. I'm thinking of having a go at breeding my rainbows

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I vote for species only. But that's just my little dream. Someday ...♡

I really like the idea of community tanko but I'm exhausted thinking about the choices! My tank with minnows CPDs and rainbows happened by default, unfortunately. I'm thinking of having a go at breeding my rainbows

Ooohh, breeding rainbows would be fun! BTW I loved your write up for the TOTM contest, made me smile a lot!

 

[vanalisa]

Ooohh, breeding rainbows would be fun! BTW I loved your write up for the TOTM contest, made me smile a lot!

Thanks, I had not planned to do that it just kind of happened. I got hijacked by my imagination.

 

[vanalisa]

If I don't breed the rainbows and get a few fry I'm worried about them. 3 males to 4 females. I lost 2 of my girls.

 

[AilyNC]

condolences

 

[vanalisa]

Was really hoping for the whole nine fish.
(3m 6f)
Now it's 3/4
Heaven help my poor hormone-charged babies!

 

[AilyNC]

Any pics?