Starting Over, Need Guidance

[imat]

Ok, so I returned the red minor tetras.  They were being too aggresive and even nipping at my oto catfish.
 
So, I am rethinking what I will have in my tank. 
 
I currently have
 
oto catfish and I want to keep those for sure.  They are awesome.
 
I would especially like a true schooling fish (not a schoaling fish)
 
Here are the types I like.  What are compatible and will live in the same tank together ok?
 
 
Mollies
cardinal tetra
neon tetra
black neon tetra
danio erythromicron
galaxy rasbora/ celestial pearl danio
rummynose tetras
sterba cory cat
zebra danio
 
 
most of these are smaller....I liked the mollies because they were a little bigger, but not too big. 

 

[tetraodon_biocellatus]

It would be advisable to keep tetras, danio, and rasboras in schools or at least five of their own species. You dont necessarily have too but its better for the fish and it keeps aggression among the individuals in the school and away form your other fish (especially the mollies). All of those fish should be fine together as all are peaceful schooling species, but the one thing I would look out for is the possibility of the danios and faster tetras outcompeting slower fish or bottom feeders so just make sure everyone gets enough to eat! Danios can also be too spazzy or "bombastic" for low key species so express caution, though Im not sure that would be too much of an issue in a larger tank.
 
Have you considered rainbowfish?
 
Just choose your favorites and try to avoid overstocking.
 
Cheers!

 

[fluttermoth]

I think your water is soft, if I remember rightly?

If so, I would forget the mollies, as they do much better in hard water (they can even live in full marine conditions). One of the dwarf cichlids could replace those, for your larger fish. Apistogrammas or Bolivian rams (they don't look much in shop tanks compared to the blue rams, but colour up lovely when they're settled, and are much easier to keep than the blues) would be a good choice.

The dwarf emerald danios (Danio erythromicron)and celestial pearl danios both prefer harder water too, and you'd need a very large number, as they're very small and shy and will just hide, if you have small numbers in a large tank, ime.

The zebra danios won't really do well at full on tropical temperatures; they're more of a temperate fish and actually do best in unheated tanks.

Of your other choices, all the tetras would be good, but the rummynoses are the best schoolers, although no freshwater fish never school very tightly all the time.

I'd pick one species, and have more of them, rather than having two or three smaller shoals. 'Mixed' shoals tend to look messy, and you'll have fish that are happier (as far as it's possible to tell!) and behave more naturally in larger groups. Don't forget that these fish live in shoals of hundreds, or even thousands, in the wild, so you want to keep as close to those conditions as you can.

The cories (and your otos) also need to be in as large a group as possible, and the cories would really prefer a sand substrate; even smooth gravel can erode their barbels and harbour dirt that can lead to infections. It's also part of their natural behaviours to sift and dig through the substrate, so it's better for them to be able to do that too, if at all possible

Hope that helps

 

[imat]

I am still learningt the water hardness stuff. My water is around 30.

Can you change the hardness of your water? It is a pain to do?
Dwarf chinlids (spelling?) are they agressive towards other fish? Say... Are they compatible with oto catfish , cory catfish, rummynose tetras, black neon tetra, neon tetra?

Again, i would NOT get all of those species, just trying to figure out kost compatible.




If i was able to change the hardness of my water would the mollies be compatible with those fish as well?

 

[fluttermoth]

That's 30 GH, yes?

Although it easier to make soft water harder than it is to make hard water soft, it's still not an easy thing to do. I would highly recommend you keep your water as it is as, apart from the mollies, all the other fish on your lists like soft water.

The dwarf cichlids I mentioned (apistogrammas and Bolivian rams) are not aggressive; the cichlid family is very large, and only some are aggressive (mostly the African and Central American ones).

Dwarf cichlids do very well with tetras and corydoras, as they come from the same places and live in the same areas in the wild

 

[Wills]

Really agree with everything Fluttermouth has said Just wanted to add in an other dwarf cichlid suggestion - Laetacaras, by far for me one of the most peaceful dwarf cichlids - Laetacara Dorsiger and Laetacara Curviceps are the most common of the family and also the smallest
 
I saw on your other thread about what your doing with the Serpaes I think its probably right if things are starting to go badly One thing I would do is look at focusing on the fish you have already and making bigger schools of each which will look stunning! And if your mixing dwarf cichlids in there big schools really bring out their confidence as it shows to them there are no predators about
 
I think your tank is big enough to do a group of the cichlids as well which will look good.
 
4-6 Laetacara Dorsiger (or you could change these for any of the other dwarf cichlids above, though Apistos would be different - an other one to look at would be Cupid Cichlids)
15 Neon Tetras
15 Black Neon Tetras
10 Oto Catfish
 
Wills

 

[imat]

Ok! Sounds like a good plan. Can I mix the kinds of cichlids z(non aggressive ones? Can they be single or need more than one?
Also, my tank is a 55 gallon. Could I add rummy nose too? As a final schooling fish? I heard they are pretty cool. Or a few Cory on the bottom.? I will build up my schools though. I was just thinking rummy sis because they school so tightly

 

[Wills]

You would probably be able to mix them - I would look at pairs or groups though as they can be quite timid fish if kept singularly. Which ones were you thinking of?
 
The more of each school that you add you will see them school more as the hierachy will become more focused and each fish will be less accepting to become 12 of 12 rather than 6 of 6 for example they all want to be higher up the rankings so the school will constantly show off to each other to test each others dominance (though the dominance of a neon tetra is reasonably futile... but you see what I mean) 
 
You could drop the two schools of tetras down to 10 and then add in 8 cories - Panda Cories are nice and stay quite small so would suit the tank really well
 
Wills

 

[imat]

So i decided to go with dwarf cichlid. The blue ram. I made sure our water was exactly what they needed. I bought two, while trying to get a male and female. Not sure if they are male/female or both female.

They have been in our tank for about 3 hrs. And they are coming out of hiding and eating so thats a good sign.
Thanks for all your guidance!!

This is what is in my tank for now

6 oto cats
15 neon tetra
8 black neon tetras
2 blue ram cichlids
So i am pretty sure they are both female blue rams. Is this ok or do i need to take one back? Can i have 1 male with / female? Or 2 males with 2 females?