Can I Put Galaxy Rasboras in My Tank?

[Kyle E.]

Hello All!

I have a 28 gallon tank with a Dwarf Gourami, 5 Cherry Barbs, 4 Guppies, 2 Amano Shrimp, 1 Nerite Snail, and a male Betta.

There aren't a ton of hiding spots right now but hopefully there will be when my Amazon Sword, Frogbit, and Dwarf Hairgrass grow more.

My questions are:

1. According to Aqadvisor I can put a school of 10 of these guys into my tank without overloading my system with bio load. Is this true?
2. Is there going to be a problem with the betta/gourami with these tiny fish? (Both fish are very non-aggressive. Just the fact that they are living in the same tank with each other and never have any problems says a lot about that.)
3. Even of the betta/gourami don't go after them will they constantly hide because they are afraid of those bigger fish?
4. Do the guppies and cherry barbs function as dither fish to make them more confident?
5. Since they are smaller I would crush my flake food up more for them, but would they have a problem competing for food?
6. I want to get some freeze dried brine shrimp soon. Would they eat it? If not what other foods would you recommend so I can get some good coloration out of them?

Thank You!

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep. Tetras, barbs, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm).

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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I don't normally recommend keeping more than one species of Labyrinth fish (Bettas & Gouramis) in a tank because they are all territorial and usually fight. This is made worse in small tanks and tanks with minimal cover. Watch the fish closely for any signs of aggression.

Guppies regularly get attacked by male Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish). Guppies also come from hard water, whereas the Betta and gouramis come from soft water.

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Don't waste your time with hair grass, it's a garden plant and does not belong in aquariums. If you want a small low growing plant, look for pygmy chain swords.

 

[Sgooosh]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep. Tetras, barbs, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm).

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

--------------------
I don't normally recommend keeping more than one species of Labyrinth fish (Bettas & Gouramis) in a tank because they are all territorial and usually fight. This is made worse in small tanks and tanks with minimal cover. Watch the fish closely for any signs of aggression.

Guppies regularly get attacked by male Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish). Guppies also come from hard water, whereas the Betta and gouramis come from soft water.

--------------------
Don't waste your time with hair grass, it's a garden plant and does not belong in aquariums. If you want a small low growing plant, look for pygmy chain swords.

haha dwarf hairgrass is now a floating plant in my aquarium bc i didnt do anything to it and let it be

 

[Kyle E.]

Like I said the fish have been getting along great, I realize it could be a risk, but I have seen 0 signs of aggression and they have been together for upwards of 2 months. I am going to disagree on the dwarf hairgrass but that is a discussion for another time. I am going to try and find out the water parameters and I will get back to you on that. Mostly what I am asking about is the fish compatibility though so a lot of the aforementioned questions could have been answered without knowing the water parameters.

 

[Kyle E.]

http://www.laytoncity.org/waterquality

This is the 2019 water quality report I can find. It doesn't seem to say anything about pH or hardness... It says my Nitrates are at 0.35ppm though lol. @essjay?

 

[Essjay]

They don't give either pH or hardness, probably because they are not considered to be contaminants - that's all the table gives, contaminants.

You can do a few things.
Phone them and ask though at this time of year the staff could all be on holiday
Take a sample of tap water to an LFS and ask them to test it. Make sure they give you numbers not vague words
Buy a tester. I put this last as it's a tester you should only need to use once.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I agree on the need for hardness and pH testing, as you have fish with some different needs, which might cause problems down the road. I know, that isn't what you asked. That's the way it goes around here. We're not trying to rain on your parade; aquarium keeping is a big-picture sort of hobby where everything relates to everything else, so when we see a potential problem we tend to jump on that, even if it isn't what the OP was asking. Sometimes, hardness guidelines aren't absolute; a lot of species are adaptable and can live in a wide variety of conditions. But they'll generally do better if you choose fish to suit your water.

To address your original question, though: I would worry about adding more fish to this tank, if it were mine. Dwarf gouramis and bettas are both fairly territorial species. Bettas are often aggressive toward long-finned guppies, too. It's good you haven't seen any aggression yet, but I expect you will at some point. These behaviors can sometimes take quite a while to show up. Once the fighting starts up, you probably aren't going to see those little rasboras very much.

If it were me, I'd try to find a new home for the male betta, make sure my water hardness is acceptable for the other critters I want to keep, and go from there.

 

[seangee]

Short answer is no. Aside from the fact that they may end up as food they will in all likelihood starve. These fish are very timid and really do best in large groups - by which I mean 20 or more. They are best in a species only tank. They are easily outcompeted for food and are slow feeders, even my cherry shrimps are able to chase them off food. With guppies and barbs in the tank they stand no chance.

Oh and they really do need a ton of hiding spots - sounds crazy but you will never see them unless they know there are lots of hiding places.

 

[the_lock_man]

Can I also just ad that Aqadvisor is extremely unreliable with its advice. Never, but never, rely on it.

 

[Kyle E.]

Can I also just ad that Aqadvisor is extremely unreliable with its advice. Never, but never, rely on it.

Hmm I asked this forum about it once and got some positive responses but maybe not.

To address your original question, though: I would worry about adding more fish to this tank, if it were mine. Dwarf gouramis and bettas are both fairly territorial species. Bettas are often aggressive toward long-finned guppies, too. It's good you haven't seen any aggression yet, but I expect you will at some point. These behaviors can sometimes take quite a while to show up. Once the fighting starts up, you probably aren't going to see those little rasboras very much.

My 3 female guppies are what you would consider "feeder" quality. They are a dull grey. The male I think was called "Tequila Sunrise/set" guppy. It is bright yellow and orange but does not have the long tail or super crazy colors of a fancy guppy. As to the betta/gourami combo that is a possibility. The betta will once in a while flare at the gourami but the gourami just ignores it and continues on with its day and then the betta swims off. I would imagine if the gourami ever felt like challenging back then there would be quite the battle but I have never seen it happen so far. The tank is big enough that they usually avoid each other just fine. I don't know the likelihood of it being a problem down the road but I am going to keep him in there as long as it is not a problem, as well as I don't really have anywhere else to put him.

I agree on the need for hardness and pH testing, as you have fish with some different needs, which might cause problems down the road. I know, that isn't what you asked. That's the way it goes around here. We're not trying to rain on your parade; aquarium keeping is a big-picture sort of hobby where everything relates to everything else, so when we see a potential problem we tend to jump on that, even if it isn't what the OP was asking. Sometimes, hardness guidelines aren't absolute; a lot of species are adaptable and can live in a wide variety of conditions. But they'll generally do better if you choose fish to suit your water.

I realize that and sorry if my post came of as a little snide. If I had learned that fish cared about pH and hardness before setting up my tank I would have matched them but what's done is done and none of the fish in there seem to particularly care. Maybe they will have slightly shorter lives, but they are all happy and thriving at the moment so I am not too worried. I do however want to try and match any other fish I put in here with my water parameters so I am working on that. Also isn't it true that the water parameters they require vary based on what they were acclimated to and born in at whatever farm?

You can do a few things.
Phone them and ask though at this time of year the staff could all be on holiday
Take a sample of tap water to an LFS and ask them to test it. Make sure they give you numbers not vague words
Buy a tester. I put this last as it's a tester you should only need to use once.

I will probably try the call them method first. I would not be putting the GR in any time soon anyway this was just a long term plan so the Holidays are not a problem. It sounds like they are a no anyway . I do want to know this though so I will do it anyway.

 

[hansgruber7]

I would advise against it. Your CPDs will hide and starve in that set-up. Wonderful fish but much better in a species-only tank in my experience.

 

[kwi]

I would advise against it. Your CPDs will hide and starve in that set-up. Wonderful fish but much better in a species-only tank in my experience.

I would agree, my sons set up was going to be between Chilis and CPDs, CPDs were always going to be in a species tank as they are very skittish.
(Ended up with Chilis and Honey Gourami.)

 

[Kyle E.]

Hmm ok. Are there any other cool schooling fish I could put in? My tank looks kinda empty at the moment but maybe that's just how it's going to be. I would like something colorful and different.

 

[the_lock_man]

Hmm I asked this forum about it once and got some positive responses but maybe not.

The thing with any forum is that you've also got to take a view on the experience of the respondent, and consequentially the reliability of their advice.

Some while ago, Aqadvisor was listed in the swear filter of the forum, so that we weren't inadvertently signposting people to it, that's how bad its reputation was. I guess when it was migrated to a different host or platform, the swear filter wasn't migrated too.