New Juwel 18g Tank - What Fish ?

[Johng89]

Ok here goes
I am now the owner (kind of) of the tank below and for my little girls 4th birthday this wll be set up soon for her (not me honest!!! )

I have another member assisting with setting up the tank ( cycling etc) but here is the plan

He is supplying filter media @ water to speed up setting up the tank along with some cardinal or rummy nose tetra

I plan to have a large peice of bogwood as a centre peice with some live plants ( thanks to this who have assisted with my choice on the plants area of the forum)

but I want to get as many fish for effect as i can using the 1 inch per galon rule ( had never heard of this before now and glad ive joined this form as its a wealth of information

my initail short list of fish

3 dwarf gourami
5 cardinal tetra
2 cherry shrimp
cory
apple snail

however due to variety available i am now tempted with
5 cardinal tetra
2 cherry shrimp
apple snail

Guppies making up the rest of the stock in tank

So the ultimate question is if you had the following what would fish would you add fishwise

Tank : Jewal 56l Record m60
Heater : Jewal compact heater
Filter : Jewal Compact super Filter System
Stock : Undecided suggestions welcomed
Planted with no CO2
Bogwood Centrepiece with rock caves
black gravel and background so fish are shown off at there best

 

[Kizz]

Nice to see someone so close by !!I'm less than a mile down the road from you!!

In my opinion i'd stay away from the Dwarf Gourami i had 2 and both died due to internal parasites which they are very prone to ...Then tryin to explain that to my 3 year old son

Why not go for some GUppies vry bright and colourfull (breed like rabbits tho) 3/4 cory's and some cardinals/Neons or even some Harlequin Rasbora's

Or you could go for a nice little female Betta Sorority tank 4/5 Females and some cory or shrimp to help combat algae

If you need any help just drop me a line

 

[youngfisher]

Yeah - maybe get some guppys - So when they have babys, you have another excuse to get a small tank, and maybe you can get your daughter to take care of the tank and watch the baby fishies grow

 

[Johng89]

Yeah - maybe get some guppys - So when they have babys, you have another excuse to get a small tank, and maybe you can get your daughter to take care of the tank and watch the baby fishies grow

Ok have kind of decided on the following as it will give a nice colour variety depending on what i pick but def blue guppy in there somewhere

6 guppies
5 cardinals
2 red shrimp or a bottom feeder ? help choosing please or a both

apple snail ?

Thoughts please



if these fish were all added to the tank am i okay with filtration etc based on sig below
I plan to have 3 or 4 live plants for cover etc plus an airstone/ curtain

Also just been as P@H to get wood got a lovely peice soaking at moment and they had just taken a delivery this moring of some stunning red & blue betta male amongst others

 

[K-Holed]

I'd think twice about the betas. They can be kept in community aquariums, but there are so many fish they are incompatible with (guppies included) that it becomes a bit of a headache.

 

[loubega]

Yeah - maybe get some guppys - So when they have babys, you have another excuse to get a small tank, and maybe you can get your daughter to take care of the tank and watch the baby fishies grow

Ok have kind of decided on the following as it will give a nice colour variety depending on what i pick but def blue guppy in there somewhere

6 guppies
5 cardinals
2 red shrimp or a bottom feeder ? help choosing please or a both

apple snail ?

Thoughts please



if these fish were all added to the tank am i okay with filtration etc based on sig below
I plan to have 3 or 4 live plants for cover etc plus an airstone/ curtain

Also just been as P@H to get wood got a lovely peice soaking at moment and they had just taken a delivery this moring of some stunning red & blue betta male amongst others

Remember guppies will breed quickly...so you have to watch that. Cardinals sounds good, but would look better in a lrger shoal so maybe add one more to make it 6?

as for the bottom, shrimps are great, cherry shrimps are lovely and dont really add anything to the bioload? have you looked at corys? small plec like bristlenose/pitbull/etc...ones that get to about 4inches max..? although i dont know the footprint of your tank

As long as you have mature media put into the new filter the cycling time will be minimal so you should be ok to add the fish. Just watch for ammonia and nitrite spikes, but with the amount of fish you are putting in the mature media should be able to cope with it.

sounds like you have a great little tank...im sure the little one will love it
Air stone is not crucial, but just looks good, the air bubbles just distrurb the surface of the water and promote gas exchange (more o2 in the water etc...)

dont get male betta...can only keep them on their own safely.....no matter what anyone says they are at risk and put other fish at risk if you keep them with others....especially in a small tank

 

[pippoodle]

i recommend a group of 6 pygmy corys and a couple of pitbull plecs (only grow to about 2.5 ") for the bottom

 

[loubega]

i recommend a group of 6 pygmy corys and a couple of pitbull plecs (only grow to about 2.5 ") for the bottom

+1...good choice

 

[Johng89]

i recommend a group of 6 pygmy corys and a couple of pitbull plecs (only grow to about 2.5 ") for the bottom

+1...good choice

" loubega "Betta's are not on my list but i would love one or more ,
just that P@H had just taken a delivery this morning when i was in

Still drawn to guppies even though they breed llike crazy but woud try to get a group of same sex if i could

reason for botton feeders/ fish is i woud like to have a bit of something in each part top / middle /bottom

the fish list is a long term plan
Cardinals are free from a good mate
followed by guppies over a few months initially 3x guppies will be arriving with 2x shrimp and 1x snail about 3 weeks after adding cardinals

then i will see where igo with the bottom feeders but please keep on supplying sugestions as not setting up for another week or so

I promise I will post piccies once its all done