New To The Forum

[SoCalFishGuy]

Hello everyone, my name is Trevor. I recently got back into fishkeeping after a few years away from the hobby and just got a 20gal High tank which is fishless cycling as we speak. I'm hoping to have a nice community setup. I'm currently brainstorming on what species I want in my tank and the only thing I'm certain on is Neon Tetras (I love them to death

). I'm having trouble deciding on centerpiece fish. I like gouramis but I was wondering what other options are available.  What do you guys think?
 
Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you guys

 

 

[ncguppy830]

welcome to the forum

. as for the center piece i would still go with gourami but how about a honey gourami with 7 neons .hope i could help

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Hi Trevor, to the forum.
I like ncguppy's idea, if you don't like the honey gourami's, you could always have a dwarf gourami instead.
If you like the look of neon tetra's, you could maybe have cardinal tetra's instead. Cardinals are (in general) hardier and they grow a bit bigger. They look almost exactly the same, the only difference is the size and the fact that the red stripe goes along all of their body instead of to half.

 

[SoCalFishGuy]

Thanks for the welcoming and your input guys . I've been kicking around the idea of a dwarf gourami, particularly a Flame dwarf, are they okay swimming solo or do they generally prefer to be in groups? I think Cardinals are beautiful but I didn't know they were hardier; gives me more to think about which is always a good thing . I'll have to delve deeper into the cardinal vs neon debate. 

 

[ncguppy830]

from what ive read flame dwarfs thrive in groups and with more females than males. as for the cardinal neon debate i would go with cardinals like you said hardier and i think absoutly awesome.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The hardiness issue seems to be matter of whe you live. It seems that in the UK and AUS neons are very sensitive. But for me, and others in the US, it seems that our neon stock is still fairly robust. Cardinals grow larger and wouldn't be as appropriate in a 20G tall, as the neons. So I'd stick to you r original plan, if I were you. Flame dwarf would be fine s, in fact better than getting more than one male. There wouldn't be enough space for them to have separate territories.


Oh, and welcome.

 

[ncguppy830]

theres always upgrading

 

[Blondielovesfish]

The difference in hardiness is due to the inbreeding of Neons, Cardinals don't seem to be as effect by inbreeding as the Neons so are generally hardier. 
Cardinals still would be fine in a 20, there's only about 1cm difference normally between the neon and cardinal so it shouldn't make much difference. However, if you prefer the neons then they would still be a good option.

 

[ncguppy830]

interesting i only think of inbreeding within guppies

 

[Blondielovesfish]

interesting i only think of inbreeding within guppies

 
Inbreeding is common with guppies and other livebearers too.
Inbreeding is also often the cause of DGD (Dwarf Gourami Disease) and NTD (neon tetra disease - part of the reason Neons aren't very hardy)

 

[ncguppy830]

i wondering if you could outbreed ntd with wild neons that arent inbred

 

[SoCalFishGuy]

Well I definitely have a lot of thinking to do, still undecided in the tetra debate but I think I'm gonna go with the Flame Dwarf for my centerpiece . Sorry to keep asking questions but now I'm tackling what bottom feeders I wanna get. I'm thinking of Cory Cats but I was wondering what species you prefer? Also does anyone have any experience or knowledge on Red Cherry Shrimp? I really like the look of them and think an invert would be a great change of pace from a straight fish tank.

Thanks again guys  

 

[ncguppy830]

a shoal of pygmy cories could do well in a 20 gall

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Pygmy's would be a good size.
But, you'd probably be over stocked if you add say 6 pygmy's, 6 neons/cardinals and 1 dwarf gourami. You could make it work with making sure to keep up with your water changes but I would recommend that you have 10-12 neons and a dwarf gourami. If it was a 20 long then you could add the Pygmy's but adding them to this tank would be pushing for swimming space.

 

[ncguppy830]

true i would agree with rcs as they take up little bioload you could get 10 although any shrimp that doesnt fit in the dwarfs mouth is good.