New to the hobby! Help with decisions.

[Byron]

OK, so I'll have some time to think after I start the cycling; but I'm going to go with the 20 gallon. 23.75" x 12.625" x 19.75".

Based on the advice, I'll avoid Betta/GBR combo, so how about GBR and Gourami (maybe a dwarf one)?

I keep finding mixed messages as to how many of GBR and Gourami I should keep; I don't want babies, so just Males...just 1 of each? 2 of each? 1 of one and 2 of another? Some other number? Or similar to Betta/GBR they shouldn't go together?

Thinking rest of tank, I still would want some Kuhli Loaches. Would any Cherry barbs or other barbs work to finish out the tank with a school? I may just end up getting some Danios?

It is your decision, and I realize various factors may play into it, but if you can, the 29g really will make a big difference you will not regret.

Moving on to your questions...neither tank is large enough for more than one male dwarf cichlid. A bonded pair (male/female) could work. But not more than one male.

Gourami and ciichlids is not a good mix unless the tank is quite large. These two groups of fish are alike in males being territorial, and in this tank, that means the male will consider the tank "his space."

Re gourami, dwarf gourami is a real risk for disease (the iridovirus which is not treatable) unless you obtain the fish direct from a reliable breeder. The Honey Gourami is similar and a safer choice. You could have a trio (one male, two female) in either the 20g or 29g. The latter will obviously give you more options for other fish.

The 20g is not large enough for danios. These are active fish, like the barbs (the cherry is one exception, sort of) and need more swimming space. Kuhlii loaches in a group of five or six will be OK, you need sand and chunks of wood.

 

[dexsting]

Gah, I'm a very wishy-washy person one big starting decisions like this. I'll probably go back and forth between the 29 gallon. Other than my initial thought; is there a great 29/30ish gallon tank you'd recommend? Also, I'm not averse to buying things individually if it's cost effective rather than a kit which includes all.

 

[dexsting]

Just so you know, one of the reasons I thought of the 20g is aqadvisor had 1 DG, 1 GBR, and some Kuhlii and Tetras were 68% stocking level.

 

[Byron]

First on your post #18...you have to be very careful with Aqadvisor. It is OK for very general initial thoughts (maybe), but it is not possible to programme in to something like this all the factors that can affect fish in a tank. It takes individual thinking. I can definitely say that you will have options for more fish in a 29g just from the additional six inches in length, and then from the additional 9 gallons of water. I have two of these in my fish room of 8-9 tanks, and find them very adaptable.

To your earlier post #17, I tend to buy the tank and equipment individually so I get what it best for what I intend. I do like getting the tank and hood together, provided I like the light unit (live plants or not affect what light is best), but when it comes to filters and heaters I prefer buying better quality (heater especially) than what usually comes with boxed packages. But, that can work too, depending what you intend.

Not all fish need the same type of filtration; and as water flow is primarily from the filter, you don't want too strong a flow for more sedate fish. You need to know what fish you intend to guide you. A tank with sedate fish like gourami, rasbora, etc, would be well filtered with a simple dual sponge, or a small internal filter that is basically a sponge with a small motor. As you are thinking this through from the beginning, you can plan the likely fish and go from there.

 

[dexsting]

Awesome, thank you. I spent time at the fish store looking at fish to see IRL versus online pictures and here's what I like. Believe me, this is a process and I do overthink things sometimes, but all your effort in helping me is greatly appreciated and I do take your suggestions to heart.

Centerpiece fish I liked the GBR and Longfin Gold Ram; Gourami's looked nice too (Sparkling or Dwarf). Betta as mentioned.

Little fish I liked: Pristella tetra, Brilliant Rasbora, Rosy tetra, Silvertip tetra, Hifin serpae tetra, and Cherry barbs.

 

[Byron]

Centerpiece fish I liked the GBR and Longfin Gold Ram; Gourami's looked nice too (Sparkling or Dwarf). Betta as mentioned.

Little fish I liked: Pristella tetra, Brilliant Rasbora, Rosy tetra, Silvertip tetra, Hifin serpae tetra, and Cherry barbs.

I can't remember what I may have said previously, I post in several threads simultaneously, but...

Betta (I am assuming male) is solitary in whatever tank, nothing else.

GBR or Gold Ram or any other variety of the common blue ram...temp has to be 80F and this will impact other tankmate options. Also this is a sedate fiish so tankmates must be similar--no active swimmers, no fin nippers (which would eliminate some of the small species mentioned).

The sprarkling or pygmy gourami is a nice fish, you could have a group (they are best in a small group) of five or six. Distinguishing gender is not easy until you see them interacting, and you would likely get male/female with this number. They are very nice fish, the males make an audible clicking sound when they circle each other in their displaying/challenging, esp if females are present. Must have floating plants, fairly thick. Dim light. Very peaceful for a gourami. The dwarf I would frankly forget, too risky for disease.

Pristella tetra...nice peaceful fish, maybe a bit active, but not such that I would worry about it depending upon tankmates. While it can manage with the warmer temp, it would be best a bit lower, say 76-77F, so not especially suited to rams.

Rosy Tetra, another beautiful and peaceful tetra. Not active swimming, so good match with sedate fish. The 20g would confine this species though, best in the 29g (I said the 29g is going to open more options).

Serpae tetra...avoid this species no matter what, unless you want a 29g with only this species in a group of 12-15. It is notorious for fin nipping sedate fish, and needs this many in the group but that fills this tank. Silvertip is not so bad, but best with more active fish so it won't be tempted to fin nip.

Cherry barbs should work, but not with rams as the temp is a bit high on a permanent basis.

Brilliant Rasbora (Rasbora einthovenii) is a species not too common where I live. It has some issues unfortunately...cooler water than ram, plus its activeness is too much, and it needs a larger tank; Seriously Fish recommend at least 4-foot length to accommodate the active swimming.

 

[dexsting]

Awesome advice. Thank you so much!

 

[dexsting]

Maybe 2 male Pygmy Gouramis if he wants a buddy; or would it better to do 1 or 5, not 2? Obviously if not 5 maybe adding 1 male GBR, and 5 Kuhlli loaches. Keeping the tank at 80 degrees?

X-Ray Tetra - really temp 77ish F? Most of the fish sites I see list 82 degrees F as the upper bound and 80 degrees would be fine; I would round-out my tank with 6 of them? Or I suppse just 6 Rosy tetras.

Also, I was wondering about snails/shrimp. Any suggestions? I know I may have issues with the fish eating them, but would there be a balance where the shrimp/snails reproduce enough to make-up for the occasional snack they become?

Also a completely random question. Bettas...could I get a nano 5 gallon tank and put it next to my larger one and so the fish would be "divided", or would it stress them out being next to each other like that? Thinking down the road, not right away; but since I'm here thought I'd ask.

 

[Byron]

Maybe 2 male Pygmy Gouramis if he wants a buddy; or would it better to do 1 or 5, not 2?

Yes, this species is always better with a small group. As I said it is not easy to discern gender, and "two" might be either. Besides, maybe I wasn't clear previously...although peaceful they are still gourami, and males are territorial so spreading this around is better. And you may get some spawning. It won't be much with fish present as they will eat any eggs they find, but some may escape predation.

X-Ray Tetra - really temp 77ish F? Most of the fish sites I see list 82 degrees F as the upper bound and 80 degrees would be fine; I would round-out my tank with 6 of them? Or I suppse just 6 Rosy tetras.

Something to explain about temperature ranges. Reliable sites like Seriously Fish will give a range for the species; with few exceptions the intention is to stay in the middle; the high and low ends are what the fish should be OK with but not usually long-term. Fish are ectothermal, meaning their body temperature internally is that of their surroundings (sometimes called cold-blooded), so the water temperature is what drives the metabolism. If the temp is above what the fish "prefer," it means the fish is spending more energy just to function and this weakens the fish over time. Similarly, too cold a temp will not allow proper functioning, and with this frequently disease breaks out. Fish (tropical species) seem less able to withstand cold than heat outside the norm.

Tetras like danios, barbs and rasbora are shoaling fish living in groups usually of hundreds. Six is often suggested as minimum, but when you have space a few more will always be better for the fish. I like odd numbers, for no reason other than me, so with the tetras I would say 7-9. Again I am assuming the 29g.

Also, I was wondering about snails/shrimp. Any suggestions? I know I may have issues with the fish eating them, but would there be a balance where the shrimp/snails reproduce enough to make-up for the occasional snack they become?

Not all fish will eat snails, and not all snails will be eaten. If you mean the small snails some consider nuisance, like pond, bladder, Ramshorn or Malaysian Livebearing, no fish mentioned here will eat them, except perhaps the kuhlii loaches; I don't know how adept kuhlii are at this. These snails are well worth having; I have MLS and pond snails in all tanks as they are a great benefit biologically.

 

[dexsting]

Ah, the temperature thing now makes sense to me!

 

[dexsting]

I'm getting closer! I'm going to obviously cycle my aquarium first without the fish and make sure everything's up to snuff; but what's the best way of introducing fish to the aquarium? Get all the loaches and tetras first and have them hang out for awhile (weeks?) and then add in the Gourami?

 

[Byron]

I'm getting closer! I'm going to obviously cycle my aquarium first without the fish and make sure everything's up to snuff; but what's the best way of introducing fish to the aquarium? Get all the loaches and tetras first and have them hang out for awhile (weeks?) and then add in the Gourami?

First point: with a shoaling fish species, like the loaches and the tetras, always acquire all of the fish of that species together, and introduce them to the tank at the same time. So if you have five kuhlii loaches, buy all five together and add them together. Same for tetras.

Having said that, it is best to add one species at a time. If you have floating plants this doesn't really matter at all, but without fast growing live plants you want to go slow with fish additions. But still each species together.

Here I would probably add the gourami first. Then the loaches. Then the tetras.

 

[NickAu]

Not all fish will eat snails, and not all snails will be eaten. If you mean the small snails some consider nuisance, like pond, bladder, Ramshorn or Malaysian Livebearing, no fish mentioned here will eat them, except perhaps the kuhlii loaches; I don't know how adept kuhlii are at this.

Kuhlis will eat small snails but only if you squash them first.

I have Kuhlis Ramshorns and Malaysian Trumpet snails and if the Kuhlis are eating the snails I have not seen it. Bettas on the other hand can develop a taste for live Malaysian Trumpet snails, but you have to teach them snails taste nice but they wont control them.

 

[dexsting]

Going to get my tank and start the cycle. With the Gourami/tetra/kuhlii's...what temperature is ideal? Is blank sand ok as my substrate? How deep is good?

 

[Byron]

Going to get my tank and start the cycle. With the Gourami/tetra/kuhlii's...what temperature is ideal? Is blank sand ok as my substrate? How deep is good?

Temperature...what tetra species are you thinking of? The pygmy gourami are better a bit warm than some fish, say 78F, the kuhlii are OK with this too. Some tetras are, some are not.

Sand...a depth of 1-2 inches overall, meaning that you have say 1.5 inches depth when the sand is laid even in the empty tank, and you can push some from the front to the back if you like when aquascaping. Though sand tends to even out with normal water currents. The plants (if any) in thee substrate can affect sand depth; with larger rooted plants you obviously need more depth than you would along the front where no plants wold bee.

I use play sand; it is natural, fish and plants do well with it as it is completely safe, and it is very inexpensive. Avoid white sand, this is not good for fish as it is too bright.