Stocking 38 Gallon Tank

[coyemuse]

Hi, I am fairly new. Let me tell you a bit about my situation. On January 2nd I got 6 Neon sword-tails (5 females and a male)as a gift. I had them in a 10 gallon tank simply because its what I had. Within a few hours one of them had died. On January 5th I bought a 38 gallon tank, and set it up. I also got lots of plants and 4 red wag female sword-tails. Within 24 hours of adding the new fish, the 5 neon swords that i had first, died. the water in the tank was new so that was likely a factor. But I'm not 100% sure that the reds didn't kill the neons... Anyway, on January 10th I started noticing fry in the tank. By the 15th I had 12 fry plus the 4 adult reds. Now all four reds look to be pregnant, and I have 3 fry left in the tank.

What I want to know is, what (if anything) can I put with the reds?

I bought the 38 gallon tank on the assumption that Id have 10 fish between 2-4 inches long. Now I have 4 fish 2 inches long and 3 babies about an inch long combined and they look a bit "alone". I have soft water with low alkalinity at the tank sits at about 78 degrees.

I know on a preference level, and past experience with them separately I like these:
Swordtails
Kuhli Loaches
African Water Frogs
Neon Tetras

I don't know if any of these would work well together in a tank since when I've had them in the past they were all separate...

Ideas? Advice?

 

[snake007]

Did you cycle the tank before you added fish

 

[coyemuse]

Did you cycle the tank before you added fish

No I didn't, which is why i said that's the likely cause of the first 5 dying after being added. but its been 2 weeks with the tank running, and the 4 reds are still alive. they were added when the 5 neons were moved. all to the new tank

 

[Liamm]

I've always liked the look of false penguin tetras, so if I were you I'd have a small shoal of those, a male pearl gourami as a centre piece fish and maybe even a small shoal of panda/sterbai corydoras. Stocked gradually and only once you're sure your tank is properly cycled though.

 

[coyemuse]

With the fry in consideration, would any of those fish eat them? Since the reds are pregnant, I expect more fry. I dont intend to keep them all, but i would like some to survive to adulthood...

 

[Liamm]

Fry would probably be too big for juvenile tetras to eat, I'd be surprised if the cories did, but the gourami deffinately will. If you want your babies to live you're limited to smaller fish, swords aren't difficult to breed so you could always get another male and breed them again. Since the females retain the males sperm you'll probably find they'll give birth again in about a month even without a male in the tank.

 

[coyemuse]

Would Kuhli loaches do well? Also, should I wait to add more fish till after the reds give birth, they're already a little aggressive toward each-other over food,not a lot, but just enough to be noticed.

 

[snake007]

I wouldnt add anymore fish til the tank is cycled but since you already know that I agree with the above.

 

[Liamm]

Kuhli loaches would be a good choice, as long as you have a sand substrate, they may hurt themselves when digging on gravel. I'd strongly recommend you are sure there isnt any ammonia or nitrite present in your tank water and that there is a low ammount of nitrate in it before you consider adding more fish to your stock. But in answer to your question: No, it won't make a difference as far as I am aware.

 

[coyemuse]

So how long will it be before my tank is considered cycled, also, is it better to use test strips for the water or the liquid kits?

 

[Fishy friend2]

The liquid kits are always better, be us they give you better, more accurate readings,

 

[coyemuse]

I also wanted to know, if its been 2 weeks of having the tank up and running, with fish in it and everything, how can it be that my water tests are virtually the same, as if there has been no change?

 

[Liamm]

So how long will it be before my tank is considered cycled, also, is it better to use test strips for the water or the liquid kits?

If your filter is straight out the box, you haven't used any active media and your tank has been running for 2 weeks already then it should be cycled in roughly another 4 weeks (which conveniently gives your current babeies time to grow a bit ). Liquid test kits give far superior results compared to test strips, which can be notoriously inaccurate. Just out of interest what are the results you've been getting?