Mid level fish suggestions

[Michaelsf90]

I have a 125L Fluval Roma tank. Currently I have 10 danios, 4 peppered Corey's, 2 zebra nerite snails and 7 odessa barbs. I know it's a tropical site but my temperate is 22 as research told me the corys and danios prefer that temperature

Anyway the odessas are going back to the store. They're fin nipping and bullying my coreys so they're not for my tank

First of all I'm going to get more Corey's. Could I get 3 albino or do I have to stick with peppered. Also what mid level fish could I get that wont harass my other fish and is suitable for that temperature. Preferably colourful as well

 

[AquaBarb]

Shame about the Odessa's not sure what your water params are but Cherry barbs (colours of the males ) are a good mid level fish and i have these with my Zebra danios and panda cory's and they all get on great. Very peaceful.

Id up your peppered cory personal. They much prefer a bigger group and display more natural behaviour when there is a descent group of the same specie.

 

[CryptFan]

As I said on another forum you need more peppered corries not albinos, they will not school together since they are a different type.

 

[Byron]

First, can you give us the water parameters. The GH (general hardness) and pH here. We have the temperature (another parameter) and it is fine for cories and danios.

Second, you definitely need more Corydoras so increasing them is a good idea. This is a shoaling fish and a highly social one that will be stressed without a decent-sized group. No fewer than five, but if space is available a few more will be even better for them. They do not have to be the same species as all Corydoras seem to shoal and socialize across species, but having said that there is no doubt that having a few of the same species does seem preferable. With four peppered you could have albino cories, at least three but again four or five will be better. This will be OK in this tank which is 125 liters (33 gallons).

The problem with the Odessa Barbs may have been tank size. A group of seven should have been adequate, but this is a very active swimming fish and it needs space; a 36-inch (90 cm) length tank might work with no other fish, but when there are other upper species they should have more space, so at least a 48-inch (120 cm) length tank. If you can return them, good.

When we have parameters it will be easier to suggest other fish.

 

[Michaelsf90]

The ph is usually 7.3. The hardness I couldn't tell you I just know its within on the test strips. The general hardness is usually 4°d. I'm sure the kh is usually between 3°d and 6°d

I am torn with the coreys with conflicting advice. I would ideally want 4 albino. So 4 albino and 4 peppered but if more peppered is better then thats what il have to get

Is the stocking ok on my tank with that many fish? It's a 33US gallon

Also I can up the temp to 23/24 but what do you guys think. Would that be more ideal?

 

[Byron]

The ph is usually 7.3. The hardness I couldn't tell you I just know its within on the test strips. The general hardness is usually 4°d. I'm sure the kh is usually between 3°d and 6°d

OK, so basically we have soft water. That's all we need to know. It means hard water fish such as all livebearers are not an option, but there are many possible options with softer water.

I am torn with the coreys with conflicting advice. I would ideally want 4 albino. So 4 albino and 4 peppered but if more peppered is better then thats what il have to get

You are OK with four of each. I have 40 cories in one tank, representing 10 species, so I have 4, 5, or 7 for some species and one or two or three for other species (for various reasons). It is "better" to have more of a species, but provided there is a good sized group they should be fine with more species though fewer of each.

Is the stocking ok on my tank with that many fish? It's a 33US gallon

Are the danios the Zebra Danio? If yes, you could look at other danios, or some of the smaller peaceful barbs. Not the Tiger Barb as it would need a group of 10-12 in this tank with no other upper fish. The Black Ruby is a very peaceful fish especially for a barb, and nice colouring.

Also I can up the temp to 23/24 but what do you guys think. Would that be more ideal?

For the danios and cories, you are OK with 22C (72 F) but increasing it to 24C (74-75F) would also be OK. I keep my cory tank at 24.5C (76F) and have for over ten years. I would not go above this.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Yes the water round here is very soft. The tank is now around 2 months old. The odessa barbs are now in a small tank and going back Tuesday. I'm going to swap these for 4 coreys. Peppered or albino

After putting these 4 cories should i wait before I get the mid dwellers. Its just I'm off work this week so its an ideal time to visit this aquatic shop which is about 40 minutes away

The danios are 3 zebra, 3 leopard, and 4 golden. I'm torn with barbs now. I thought odessas were the tamest or one of the tame ones. I used the aqadvisor stocking calculator and if I get away 8 tetras my stocking is 100% but my filtration is about 70%. Its a fluval u3 which I thought would be more than enough

Its slowly going up to 24. If I get it up to 23 today and 24 tomorrow. At 22 the heater is barely on so I'm hoping at 24 it isn't on all the time

 

[Byron]

Yes the water round here is very soft. The tank is now around 2 months old. The odessa barbs are now in a small tank and going back Tuesday. I'm going to swap these for 4 coreys. Peppered or albino

After putting these 4 cories should i wait before I get the mid dwellers. Its just I'm off work this week so its an ideal time to visit this aquatic shop which is about 40 minutes away

The danios are 3 zebra, 3 leopard, and 4 golden. I'm torn with barbs now. I thought odessas were the tamest or one of the tame ones. I used the aqadvisor stocking calculator and if I get away 8 tetras my stocking is 100% but my filtration is about 70%. Its a fluval u3 which I thought would be more than enough

Its slowly going up to 24. If I get it up to 23 today and 24 tomorrow. At 22 the heater is barely on so I'm hoping at 24 it isn't on all the time

The three danios are all the same species (Brachydanio rerio), just hybrids probably selectively bred as neither has ever been found in the habitats so far as I am aware. These will shoal in the upper level, as you've probably observed.

The Odessa issue was as I said likely tank size; on their own, this would probably have worked. Fish under stress often resort to aggressiveness as their way of deal with it. The Black Ruby Barbs should fare better, though no one can give guarantees. But they are a bit smaller, and tend to occupy the mid-level. I had a group of 18 in a 30g 3-foot tank and half a dozen fry appeared over a couple of years. They were on their own of course, in a biotope tank. Photo below.

So-called stocking sites are sometimes preliminary starting points, but they should never be relied upon. It is impossible to factor in all the aspectsw of a community tank to have a computer programme, it takes some human thought. Water flow, temperature, GH, pH, substrate, decor materials, tank size, numbers for shoaling species to be healthy--there is a lot to consider. Most look at fish mass related to water volume, but that is only the beginning and in fact not even most important.

If this tank has been established for a while, or/and if you have live plants especially floating, you will have no issues introducing more fish.

 

[Michaelsf90]

The danios go to the top if anyone walks past the tank as they think its feeding time. Other than that they can be all over the tank. Very inquisitive little fish. I really dont want to go down the path of having to take fish back so I dont want to take the risk. Would glowlight tetra be an option

The tank has 3 plants but no floating ones. A large java fern planted in a rock. A newly planted red leaf one. Amazonia or something. And another smaller java fern. Nothing at the top although the large java fern is nearly at the top of the water level in places

It's been running for 2 months. I upgraded so I used the old filter and new one for a while. It took getting 6 danios and the 4 coreys to even have slight ammonia. It all seems settled now. Beautiful tank by the way

 

[Byron]

You want relatively active fish to go with the danios. Glowlight tetras are more on the sedate side, like neons, and similar. The Diampond Tetra is a very active swimmer, and suited to a 33g. I had a group of 30 of these in this 33g tank more recently, they kept spawning and fry were surviving from the original group of 9. I took them all to a local fish store and gave them to her. I had to downsize my tanks when I moved last May, and needed this tank for my chain loaches.

 

[Michaelsf90]

We want to add some colour to the tank tho. The odessas were perfect for that. It's hard finding a balance! Even harder finding a tetra that doesnt fin nip and is suited to the fish I have and tank size!