Stocking Tank And Compatability

[angel face]

Hi

I have a 56 litre tank which has been running now for four weeks this weekend. When I added my gourmai's in the second week I started to get a bad nitrate problem which resolved with Amquel and have left it up until now when my water is nicely balanced again to add anymore and have added some Zebra Danio's yesterday.

In my tank so far I now have: -

3 neon tetras
1 male dwarf gourmai
4 Zebra Danios

I have a couple of questions.

First of all I put the zebra's in last night and they wont leave my tetras alone swimming after them and trying to go for their tails. Is this just because they are new will they calm down? LFS said that Zebras are good community fish and I shouldnt have any problems.

Secondly with feeding I was told to feed my fish two flakes of food every other day as I overfed before this is what caused my nitrate problem. Now I have the Zebras when should I start upping the feed.

When would be a good time to add a few more fish? Should I leave it another week or can I get a few more before then

And finally what would be a good next choice? I really love guppies (lovely tails) so would like to add some of those. Also really like Clown Loachs and some of the cat fish - would these be compatable with the rest of the fish in my tank? If not what are other good tankmates for the fish I already have.

Sorry so many questions

Thanks for your help

Angelface

 

[altselgreen]

Hi angel face

Firstly you're gonna need some more neons. They are a shoaling fish and prefer to be in groups of 5 or 6. I have kept zebra danios before and they should calm down after a while.

Secondly you should feed your fish once a day (the experts may tell you something different, if they do go with them) you could probably crush your flake up and then give it to them but not too much.

Finally Guppies are great fish but if I were you I would only keep males, if they breed you will be majorly overstocked! Unfortunately Clown Loach will outgrow your tank and also you will need at least 3 of them. You could get some corys though (get at least 4) they have great pesonalities. But if you are gonna get them wait a week to let your danios settle in.

Hope this has helped and good luck!

Sam

 

[angel face]

Hi angel face

Firstly you're gonna need some more neons. They are a shoaling fish and prefer to be in groups of 5 or 6. I have kept zebra danios before and they should calm down after a while.

Secondly you should feed your fish once a day (the experts may tell you something different, if they do go with them) you could probably crush your flake up and then give it to them but not too much.

Finally Guppies are great fish but if I were you I would only keep males, if they breed you will be majorly overstocked! Unfortunately Clown Loach will outgrow your tank and also you will need at least 3 of them. You could get some corys though (get at least 4) they have great pesonalities. But if you are gonna get them wait a week to let your danios settle in.

Hope this has helped and good luck!

Sam

hiya Sam

Thanks so much for your help I was starting to get really worried as the danios are now chasing my male dwarf gourmai, they seem to like to chase everyone's tail fins. They seem to have taken ownership of the tank!!! Hopefully they should soon settle as you say my main concern was that they were going to hurt my other fish.

I shall get a few more neon's next time I am at fish shop.

Thanks

Angelface

 

[dwarfgourami]

It may be that your danios will settle down, but then again they may not: there are a couple of problems with your current setup. The first is that the tank is on the small side for fish with such extreme energy levels and activity needs as danios, the second is that they really need to be in bigger groups (at least 6-8). We get a lot of posts about aggression in danios and they almost invariably involve one or both of these two factors: smallish tank (not necessarily tiny) and small numbers.
Also, I would think twice about putting danios with such comparatively fragile (and tempting) fish as male guppies. Female guppies might fare better, but I would concentrate on either rehoming the danios or doubling their numbers.