Stocking Plans

[Neal]

Well, i'm thinking of the following stocking for a 30"x15"x18",
10x Cory trills
10x Neons
5x Cherry barbs
1x Male dwarf gourami
10x Cherry shrimp

Would all of these be compatible or will there be fin nipping and will the shrimp be threatened or eaten by anything?

Neal

 

[guppler]

that sounds good to me, but Ive never had barbs or chery shrimp or dwarf gourami personally, and I haven't done your math.
I have a 29usg tank that has mostly cories and guppies now, but I still have 1 tetra, 1 minnow, a couple of loaches, a hatchet, and I have had ghost shrimp in about the same mix and ocasionally a betta. So if gouramis are simmilar to bettas (but I imagine a bit better behaved), and if cherry shrimp are much like ghosts, then the only one I don't have a fish comaparable to would be the barbs, but I get the impression their temperament might be similar to that of a danio, and I have had those. My danios were fun, but they eventually picked each other apart and I was surprised how easily they could rip the guts out of a mystery snail. i don't think they bothered most of the other critters though. So you might need to hear from someone who's had the barbs at least. I have considered cherry barbs, and I don't remember if I refrained because I was told they might nip my gups, or if I just didn't have the right space at the right time.
(I did originally purchase the ones that should be schooling in multiples, but haven't rplaced some of them as their schools shrank due to presumably natural causes. The minow and tetra like each other pretty well and have been single for at least a year, but I am planning to get more hatchets and loaches once I sell more gups and cories. )

 

[Darkerwhite2]

I like someof your choices but i think you might be a bit overstocked but its not really my place so tell people what they should and shouldnt do on here, so thats just my opinion.

 

[Neal]

Yes, I know it would be rather overstocked, but if it was well filtered, well maintaned and heavily planted, it makes a difference. I'm not sure yet, I might not have the cherry barbs, and put them in my tank downstairs, as there will be too much red in the tank, with the cherry shrimp and the neons. They are a bit fast aswell, and gouramis don't really like fast moving fish, neons are also fast but only when they get chased. Gouramis are much better behaved than bettas IME. Cherry shrimp are very small shrimp, and I think they are even smaller than ghost shrimp. I may consider another centre peice fish, but I really like dwarf gouramis, but I deffinately want shrimp that will breed in freshwater. I'd really like hatchetfish instead of neons, but they are quite rare, and i've never seen them in any of the shops i've been to.

Neal

 

[Darkerwhite2]

yes your right if filtered and planted properly you can make it work wonders... goodluck

 

[oscar52]

. I'd really like hatchetfish instead of neons, but they are quite rare, and i've never seen them in any of the shops i've been to.

Neal

Seen hatchet fish down my end quite regular

 

[Neal]

And your end is where exactly?
How much were they price at anyway? I've heard they are about £3 to £5 each...

Neal

 

[n3ont3tra]

Another suggestion instread of cherry barbs would be a school of Harlequin Rasboras. They are white and black, so I think they'd contrast well again red and blue. They are also very peaceful, or so I've been told.

EDIT:: One online fish sotre that I bought a lot of my stock from was liveaquaria.com. I would reccomend it if you were looking to buy uncommon fish, like hatchetfish. I bought my Black Kuhlie loaches there, which I've heard are quite rare. I don't know if they ship to the UK, though. There are a few good UK shippers out there, but the names elude me. Good luck!

 

[Neal]

The thing is i've already got cherry barbs, however I have always had a liking for harlequin rasboras. I'm not too fussed about hatchet fish, not in this tank anyway. My LFS sells black khulie loaches, i've never really looked into them, I might get myself some.

Neal

 

[guppler]

the rasboras do sound like fun. I've seen pictures, but I don't see many in stores. I like the exclamation spot rasboras, because they are so tiny, you can geet more in a small space. i find silver hatchets almost everywhere around here, but I get the marbled ones mostly because they're smaller. This probably isn't the right place to ask, but I was just remembering about how my neons got about as big as my glolites, but not as big as the black neons. neons in stores always look so tiny, I wonder if mine were really cardinals or something, or if the ones in stores are just usually very young.

 

[Sibelius]

Take out the barbs (you're a little overstocked possibly, also they'll be the most likely to nip), then you're fine. I like the sound of the rest.