Help With Adding More Fish....

[Mr Bee]

Righto, after setting up my tank as tropical (after years as coldwater) about 6 or 7 months ago, I originally started with 7 Neon Tetras. I then added 3 guppies, but they all died quite mysteriously, never knew why, so just kept the neons.


Now, it seems one of my neons has died from what looks to have been a tumour (see my post about it here) I am thinking of adding some more to give it more of a population.


I'm thinking of keeping it a purely tetra community, but am unsure what the maximum number would be I could have, and how many more I could add.

The tank is a 60 litre (with ~52L actual water), well established and filtered and well aeriated.


Can you mix different types of tetra, and will they school together - for example, would 6 neons and 3 black tetra just school as a group of 9, as they are all tetra's?
or what sort of numbers would be able to mix happily in this size tank?

If different subspecies won't mix, and I keep neon tetras only, how many more could I add to the 6 I have already??

 

[Mr Bee]

Ooh, I have another couple of questions.....

Called into the lfs today and I've seen they have some Dwarf Frogs which are quite cool and cute (sign says they grow to 4-5cm), and also some little crabs (proper crabs, not hermit style - but it doesn't say how big they grow) that look quite good.

Would I be able to add anything like this along with tetra's or are they not compatible, or need lots of extra care and attention to keep?

Also, can frogs or crabs escape the tank, or will they not come out of the water?

 

[Mr Bee]

BUMP!!

Come on, surely somebody knows how many tetra's you can have in a tank!

And if different types of tetra will school as one group, or do they need to be in groups of their own kind?


Anyone?


Please!

 

[lanceorion]

OK don't take my word for it since I am very new to fish keeping but I also have a 60li tank and would think about 25 maybe 30 tetras max would be enough. You have to introduce them gradually for sure and check to see if they are placing any strain on the filter and you may have to increase water change frequency.

As for crabs and frogs I have no clue sorry!

 

[rossyt99]

OK don't take my word for it since I am very new to fish keeping but I also have a 60li tank and would think about 25 maybe 30 tetras max would be enough. You have to introduce them gradually for sure and check to see if they are placing any strain on the filter and you may have to increase water change frequency.

As for crabs and frogs I have no clue sorry!

Hi, I would reckon 20 tetras would be enough in a tank that size> I recommend getting some 'Rummy-Nose Tetras' (they have red head and blk&white tails). They grow bigger than Neons and are very lively/ colourful!

Out of experience/ advice from another experienced fishkeeper, I advise you Not to mix Neons with the similarly coloured 'Cardinal Tetras' as a few people I know have had the whole of one of their species wiped out by the other. >Cardinals killed off the Neons one-by one. on several occassions!

'Silver-Tip' and 'Glowlight' Tetras are also fairly hardy and colourful, but I wouldn't add too many.

P.s; slightly acidic water is good for Tetras. (6.5-7.0)

 

[rossyt99]

Oh, I nearly forgot- I find the different Tetras will generally school in seperate gangs, although will mix at times.

As for the Crabs- they will snap up Neons overnight and grow large (usually-especially if blue type/ Crayfish) Have recently heard of two friends Crabs killing almost all of there fish> including a 5inch Plec and some Silver Sharks!

Aquatic Frogs; have not kept them myself, but I think they need rocks above water level and may try to escape> wouldn't be good to have low-water level in a general Tetra tank.

+ 'Red Honey Gouramis' may look good and do not grow very big> they would be fine with Neons and add good colour.


Just a thought.

 

[Mr Bee]

Thanks guys, so I could add another 6 glowlight tetras and they would get along fine with neons, and would only be 12 in total.

Is any other tetra except cardinals ok with neons? is it just that glowlights and silver tips are the most suited tetra companions?

 

[rossyt99]

Thanks guys, so I could add another 6 glowlight tetras and they would get along fine with neons, and would only be 12 in total.

Is any other tetra except cardinals ok with neons? is it just that glowlights and silver tips are the most suited tetra companions?

Hello MR Bee,
Glowlight Tetras should be fine with Neons. (A mate had some together for years) Have kept Silver-tips and Rummy-Noses with Neons > no problems.

P.s; It's not a definate rule about the Cardinal/Neon 'warfare'; but it's happened in a few instances I've known of. (Best to avoid potential trouble)

Planning on adding any other fish? (i.e; Catfish/ Livebearers..)

 

[Mr Bee]

Rossy, I originally planned to have neons and guppies (as its a relatively small tank, I was keeping to smaller fish). But after adding 3 guppies, they all died very mysteriously with no obvious reason why.

Don't know if the neons somehow caused it, but then I decided to just have tetra's. After the guppies died, I didn't want to add any more fish in case they were taking longer to be affected by same thing so was waiting to see. Then I had a problem with some sort of mites living in the gravell. This was due to me overfeeding - after having a goldfish who would eat a whole tub of food if you let him, I was adjusting to just how little food you actually need for tetra's!

Anyway, its been a while now, and the mites are no longer a problem with feeding under control, so its time to add more fish. I'm now planning on having a tetra only tank, and think I'm gonna add 6 glowlights over the weekend, if the LFS have some in.

 

[rossyt99]

Rossy, I originally planned to have neons and guppies (as its a relatively small tank, I was keeping to smaller fish). But after adding 3 guppies, they all died very mysteriously with no obvious reason why.

Don't know if the neons somehow caused it, but then I decided to just have tetra's. After the guppies died, I didn't want to add any more fish in case they were taking longer to be affected by same thing so was waiting to see. Then I had a problem with some sort of mites living in the gravell. This was due to me overfeeding - after having a goldfish who would eat a whole tub of food if you let him, I was adjusting to just how little food you actually need for tetra's!

Anyway, its been a while now, and the mites are no longer a problem with feeding under control, so its time to add more fish. I'm now planning on having a tetra only tank, and think I'm gonna add 6 glowlights over the weekend, if the LFS have some in.

Glowlights should add to colour/ join in with shoal. > Do you feed them with Flakes?? I found 'TetraPrima' to be well-liked by tetras and it creates less waste than flake food. (just a thought)

P.s; My mate had Glow-lights for at least five years.

 

[Hewitt]

With the crabs no small fish should be added 30 tetres is wayyy to much for that tank id say 20 at a max

Dont think the tetres wouldschool in a group of 9 would be split up

 

[Mr Bee]

Rossy, Tetra Prima is what I feed them on as it was recommended as a good quality tropical flake. Thats their basic food, and then I add either dried bloodworm, frozen daphnia or a bit of pea a couple times a week for variety. Also, I vary between 1 and 2 feeds a day, with 1 fasting day a week too as was recommended on here...... It sometimes does get hard to keep track of where I'm up to though!


Do you think adding 6 glowlights is ok (12 in total), or could I get away with (and would the fish be happier) boosting it to 7 or 8 of each, or is that a bit too many for best conditions?? Just want to get the right balance of enough of a group so they are happy, but not too many so as to overcrowd them.

If thats ok, would I need to get LFS to put 7 or 8 glowlights in 1 bag, and the extra 1 or 2 neons in a seperate bag? But then would a lone or a pair of neons be ok in a bag (as I know they are supposed to be in groups) for 10 mins or so til I get home, don't want to shock them!!

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

Is there a reason you want to just keep tetras? Some dwarf corydoras or khuli loaches would be a nice addition to the bottom of the tank, African dwarf frogs would also be fine in your setup, they stay underwater at all times but need to eat bloodworm rather than flake (just be sure they are ADFs and not the bigger clawed frogs)

If your sticking with tetras have you thought about hatchet fish, these stay up near the top and so you would have fish on all levels then. Or maybe some honey gourami as these tend to stay up near the top.

My preference would be 5 corys (or 5 khuli loaches), up the neons to 10, and 6 marbled hatchet fish (or a trio of 1 male 2 female honey gourami)

Emma

PS where in west yorkshire are you? as i may be able to suggest some shops.

 

[Mr Bee]

Hi emma,

I was just gonna have tetras as I wanted fish that stayed small and were not too fussy on conditions (tetra's are genrally hardy little things aren't they?) and I just assumed tetras would be happier with other tetra's...... I don't know why really, I'm still new to this tropical lark, only had goldfish before my neons (and a white cloud minnow which became his breakfast one day!).

I'm in castleford/wakefield area, I'd really appreciate it if you could recommend some good shops as the only ones I know of and use near me are the aquatic dept. of a garden centre, and Pets at Home.

I don't know of any good tropical specialists anywhere.

 

[emma12321]

In wakefield the ones i go to are nautilus aquatics which is at spring green garden centre crofton wakefield, and victoria garden centre which is 2 mins up the road from there, both are ok nothing special but can drop on some bargains.

If you are willing to travel a bit futher then rainbow aquatics in mexborough is very good and has a lot of unusual fish in. all the addresses can be found on www.yell.com, theres another smaller shop in mexborough but i can't remember the name. also tingley tropicals bradford road tingley, qss in bradford and interfish at ossett lol

Emma