Hello!

[andrew22]

Hello All,
I just thought I should say hi and introduce my self... My name is Andrew and I'm an Aussie!
I started the hobby about 8 months ago and i have become very hooked since...
Current setup is a 65L tank with:
a pair of Gold Rams
two catfish
3 guppies
8 platy's
1 fighter
5 harlequins
4 rummy nose's
5 neon blue tetras..
my best mate is now hooked on the fish hobby and i have sold him my old tank, he will be taking the tetras, guppies and platties, oh and the fighter
so I'll be left with the rams, cat fish and harlequins... My girlfriends parents own the local aquarium so access to equipment and fish is piece of cake..
Does anyone have any suggestion as to what i should replace my livebarers with?
This forum so far has been great! Learnt so much! Thanks for having me FFN!!
I will upload some pics of my tank soon

Andrew.

 

[tenohfive]

If thats male fighter then mixing him with the guppies is an accident waiting to happen. Male fighters see guppies extensive finnage and confuse them for other males, and a scrap often ensues.

As for what to put in there instead, have a look at some of the different flavours of ram or gourami in the species index. You can't go for anything too big but theres certainly some options there.

 

[andrew22]

yeh i learnt the hard way when i first started off with the fighter and guppies.. i only have the one male guppie in the tank at the moment.. and the fighter isnt very happy.. he hides in plants and logs all day long so there is no trouble there thank god!! I was thinking about dwarf gourami's but im not sure.. I just found out like 2 minutes ago that i just scored a 5 foot tank for free... so now i really dont know what to do!! haha!!

 

[andrew22]

http/farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/273134...d82da79e4_b.jpg

 

[OldMan47]

The 5 ft tank will give you lots of new options. Do you intend to keep that along with the 20 gallon? If so, you can start to segregate your fish into nice combinations that are compatible, unlike the betta / guppy mix. Your GF's parents should also be able to help you with questions about what fish are compatible that they have available. I would start by filling out the cories and get the number of the same type up to 6. The harleys and rummies would also do better in larger numbers. I have never kept rams so I don't know whether more is even possible with them. Being cichlids, my guess would be that they become territorial when breeding but a 5 ft tank should be big enough for 2 pairs would be my guess. Maybe one of the cichlid experts can step in on that idea.
If you use the 65 litre's filter to get the 5 ft tank's filter going, you can expect a very short cycle and be good to go fairly soon.
My own personal preferrences run to large shoals of small fish in medium to large tanks. I know that is not something that appeals, to most people so my ideas are probably wrong for you. That is why I would suggest talking over compatibility at your personal fish store. I'm sure most LFS owners know more than they tell fish keepers about compatibility.