My 30 Gal Community

[mandi]

This is my 30 gallon tank in my livingroom. It's been up and running for a little over 6 months now I think (since last summer).

Current inhabitants are:
- 2 x male koi swordtails
- 1 x julii corys
- 2 x peppered corys
- 5 x otos

I'm currently searching all over town for more corys (I'm thinking I'd like to add 3-4 more peppered corys) -- no where seems to have them in stock right now! I have one more LFS to check though, otherwise I plan to have the LFS order some for me.

I'm more than likely getting rid of the swordtails as well (trading in to the LFS) -- I'd bought a very young (unsexed) trio -- all 3 turned out to be male and 1 died, and now I can't seem to find any females, so I think I may trade them in on something different.

Any suggestions of what other fish to add?
I was thinking perhaps a pearl or 3-spot gourami as a "centerpiece" fish?? I also like different sorts of tetras (cardinals, penguins, black neons) and barbs. I'd like to try something new/different (I've kept a lot of livebearers and some gouramis in the past, would like to try something different). I'd like a variety of color if possible, and something enjoyable (active) to watch because this tank is in my livingroom!

Here's some photos...


BEFORE: (I bought this tank used)

I got rid of the gravel (switched to sand) and added a blue background.

AFTER:

And a shot with the flash on...

You can see the swordies and an oto stuck to the glass, haha. The green on the driftwood is a bunch of java moss and java fern. There's also vals planted in the back corners of the tank.

Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions are much appreciated!!

 

[IovaykInD]

The tank looks great already..plantwise, maybe a foreground carpet plant. The substrate seems a bit bare for my taste. Fishwise, you could go with angels or maybe some gouramis. Those are my favorite fish I think.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Nice tank you have there, if you are trading in the swordtails and want somthing different, personally i'd go for a group of barbs, like maybe a group of 8 tiger or cherry barbs? The tiger barbs are alot more agressive than the cherrys, but are very beautiful and active fish- otherwise i'd go for danios, maybe like some pearl danios? What temp is the tank usually at? You could also try a female betta community .

 

[BabySealClubber]

Beautiful tank. Well done!!!

 

[afireinside]

Maybe some Neons or Cardinals? I personally like Serpaes. Even though they are acused of notoruis fin nippers, they only really nip each other, or long flowing fins. So that's a no go, swordies. Maybe a nice group of Lemon Tetras.

 

[charlie d]

Beautiful tank.
If it was mine I would add a few more plants and some more cories - my favourite fish - I dont think that you should keep more than one male swordtail as they will fight. Good idea to trade them or at least one of them, shops here are full of females. Mine breed like crazy, I actually had another brood this week. As to what else to put in, well from your list I would go for the black neons.

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

A blue/gold gourami would be cool for your tank... Some good sized tetras like black skirts or rasboras might be cool... don't know if I would go with barbs personally, but if you like them then you probably could.. Just be sure they don't nip your swordtails or gourami (if you get one)... could get some keyhole cichlids if you are interested in cichlids.. they're nice little guys.. very interesting

 

[someguy]

I agree with charlie -cories! such lovely cheerful fish.

Gournamis are good too if you want something a bit bigger and elegant - but I'd stay away from the threespot! I had two [my first fish actually] and they were horrible vicious fish. Other people however have had different experiances. Pearl gouramis [Trichogaster leeri] are beautiful and very peaceful - I've got two in my tank now. The dwarfs are also peaceful and very pretty but my local acquarium guy [who rocks] has told me horror stories about the other kinds. Apparantly the kissing gouramis have been known to suck fish to death

 

[SRC]

I say a big group of neons or harlequin rasboras...they look so lovely in their little schools. Everyone always comments on mine...first thing (then they see Farida lol).

 

[RedShark]

What a great improvement, job well done!

 

[mandi]

Beautiful tank.
If it was mine I would add a few more plants and some more cories - my favourite fish - I dont think that you should keep more than one male swordtail as they will fight. Good idea to trade them or at least one of them, shops here are full of females. Mine breed like crazy, I actually had another brood this week. As to what else to put in, well from your list I would go for the black neons.

I'm definitely planning to add more corys (I think I mentioned that?). Probably 2-3 more peppered, so I'll have a total of 5 or 6.

There's lots of swordtails around here, but very few *KOI* swordtails.
I guess they're a relatively new color strain, and because they're so popular, they're quite pricey AND most of the breeders aren't willing to part with females (they want to keep them all for their own stock). I actually went through a whole ordeal a few months back trying to get a few females -- no luck. So anyway, ultimately I'm planning to return them to the LFS. I'm sure someone else would be happy to have them. Surprisingly though, they don't fight.


Right at the moment, I'm starting to lean toward:
- 1 gourami, either pearl or blue (I'd really like a pearl, but haven't found them locally yet)
- a group of tetras -- either cardinal or penguin (for some reason penguins really appeal to me)

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions Keep em coming!

 

[fish_keeper2]

like the others said a nice foreground/carpeting plant would be nice.


as for fish i would get rid of one of the swordtails. and get a blue 3_spot gourami and a big school of tetras along with a few more corries.

something like this: 1 blue 3-spot gourami, 1 swordtail, 5 ottos, 5 corries, and about 15 cardinals. this is a set up i would like but its all up to you really. if you really dont want any of the swordtails maybe you could go for a trio of 3-spot goruamis(all female but each one a different color), 5 ottos, 5 corries, and a large school of tetras. just some ideas for you.

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

penguin tetras are cool..

 

[mandi]

penguin tetras are cool..

Glad someone agrees with me, haha. When you see photos of them online, sometimes they look really plain & "boring" -- just black and white. But when I saw them at the LFS I was surprised to see how the "white" sections of their body actually reflect a lot of different colors. I thought they were very eye-catching.

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

They were called ''hockey stick tetra'' back in the day by an lfs of mine.. being a hockey fan I bought some right away... haven't kept them in years though... still a cool fish!