Stocking 30 Gal.. Suggestions Please

[russi4nroulette]

I thought a 30 gallon tank would be suitable for a few clown loaches. And I just now found out it wouldn't be large enough and that they needed larger tanks cuz they get huge

uh.. dang..

sooooo......

what other fish are fun to watch that I can purchase for my tank? I want a center-peice fish and some other fish that are playful and enjoyable to observe.

suggestions.

PS. keep in mind it's only 30 gallons .. umm.. haha

 

[Ethos]

Have you looked into Gouramis? A few gouramis and tetras would look nice.
Even though they are labled "semi-agressive" I've found they can be quiet nice to tetras

 

[osteoporoosi]

My suggestions:

15 glowlight/blue emperor/black neon tetras
4-5 female bettas
8 panda corys(sand for substrate)

or:
1m+3f honey gourami harem
10 cherry barbs (2-3 males)
6 kuhli loaches(sand for substrate)

If you have grave instead of sand, you could always put a bristlenose pleco instead of the species that require sand.

 

[reddeerhobbiest]

30 gallons is big enough for 1 dwarf gourami, two in a tank that size would fight......its a really nice centre piece fish, (i would suggest a flame dwarf or the neon blue dwarf gourami, ) bleeding heart tetras are also nice, and a large school of neons or cardinal tetras too...oh ya cory cats are fun to watch, and are good bottom cleaners.

 

[russi4nroulette]

wow thank you guys for specific numbers of fish for the tank.. that really helps.

Still looking for suggestions though!

I want to hear a bunch so I can figure out which I like best.

PS. I have gravel.

 

[Ethos]

Yeah, I was thinking of a Pearl or Opaline Gourami. Beautiful fish, and almost as personable as cichlids!
Oh yeah, you could have 3 or 4 small african cichlids!

 

[IHave2Goldfish]

those r beautiful fish!

 

[OohFeeshy]

Depending on how tall the tank is, an angelfish would be a nice centerpeice.

 

[osteoporoosi]

Pearl & opaline gouramis grow rather large for a 30g, but liquirice, chocolate and dwarf gouramis saty smaller and are more suitable.

 

[CluelessScot]

For a 30 Gallon i would highly suggest a pair of Bolivian rams!! i have a pair and they are very nice fish!!
Also look into get some kind of corydoras!

Kev

 

[grumpymole]

You might want to consider some marble hatchets and/or harlequins 6 of each would look very nice
Pic of harlequins
Pic of marble hatchets

 

[Ethos]

Pearl & opaline gouramis grow rather large for a 30g, but liquirice, chocolate and dwarf gouramis saty smaller and are more suitable.

What?
When I first started fishkeeping, I had a pearl, opaline and a gold gourami together, and they were actually healthy. Finally I decided to give them better homes.
I gave em' back to the pet store, where an employee that had room would take em' in.
They both grow to about 5", so they'd be perfect for a 30G.

 

[osteoporoosi]

A 5 inch fish is pretty large, 30 gallons isn't such a big tank.

 

[Ethos]

Not really.
I had 3 almost ful grown gouramis in a 10G for almost a year.
They got pretty darn big, and If I wanted to really keep them in the 10G, I could, and I bet I could get em' to live out their whole life span.
I'm surprised you think this. Not that its automatically wrong, just....Nvm.
The fact is, I've kept Gouramis in much smaller, worse conditions.
I'm sure they'd be just fine for a 30G, even all 3 of them.

 

[osteoporoosi]

How can you tell that the small tank didn't affect them in any way? Usually 10gallon tanks are 15-17 inches long, just three times longer than an adult pearl gourami. Afterall, they live up to 8-10 years and are potentially aggressive.

A good basic rule is to make shure that the tank is 10 times as long as the fishs's body length. Imo the minimum tank size for pearls is 45-50 gallons.