Thoughts on this stock?

[Stefan3289]

So I have a 29 gallon currently have 9 Cories, I originally had mollies but was told they should not be in soft water so I have returned them. Here’s what I was thinking of adding:

6 celestial danos
10 tetras (not sure which one)
9 Cories (that are currently in there)

Would this work? Here are my water parameters

Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ph: 7.4
Gh: 160 ppm
Tank is well planted

Any other suggestions would be appreciated as I’m at a loss for stocking. Only issue with the above stock is that I’ve never seen celestial danios in my area. Just want to avoid barbs that’s about it.

 

[Colin_T]

what are the tank dimensions (Length x width x height)?

 

[Stefan3289]

It is a 30 x 12 x 18

 

[Byron]

If you decide on Celestial Danios, which is the species Danio margaritatus just to be clear (common names can get mixed up), note the following:

Compatibility/Temperament: Shy and quiet by nature, and given its minute size, it should have its own aquarium. Dominant males can be quite feisty, even nipping fins of rival males, but kept in a group of 20 or more lessens the damage. The tank should be well planted to break up the line of sight.

The cories can stay, and you could add a few more. But no other upper species with the 20 danios.

Alternatively,leaving out the danios, you could have two, three ormaybe four species, the smaller/medium sized shoaling fish would be suited to this space. Avoiding any s;ightly aggressive species of course. There are plenty of options, depending how you want to proceed.

 

[Stefan3289]

If you decide on Celestial Danios, which is the species Danio margaritatus just to be clear (common names can get mixed up), note the following:

Compatibility/Temperament: Shy and quiet by nature, and given its minute size, it should have its own aquarium. Dominant males can be quite feisty, even nipping fins of rival males, but kept in a group of 20 or more lessens the damage. The tank should be well planted to break up the line of sight.

The cories can stay, and you could add a few more. But no other upper species with the 20 danios.

Alternatively,leaving out the danios, you could have two, three ormaybe four species, the smaller/medium sized shoaling fish would be suited to this space. Avoiding any s;ightly aggressive species of course. There are plenty of options, depending how you want to proceed.

Considering I haven’t ever seen the danios near me, what do you think would be some good set ups with different species. I will add then a few more Cories this weekend when I do a water change. I’d rather have more smaller fish then less larger fish since I have my cichlid community tank that has larger fish, just want to avoid barbs or bland tetras (such as gray ones since my Cories are all similar to that color)

 

[Byron]

Water is on the moderately soft/hard side at 160ppm (= 9 dH) which would be fine for many of the tetras. Some of the rasboras too. Most barbs would be too active and/or large for this tank, similar holds for some danios but common species like the Zebra are OK.

As for tetras, you would want to have a combination that occupy all levels. Upper level is the trickiest, but there are penguin tetras, or pencilfish but the only species more suited to the water is the common beckford, Nannostomus beckfordi, which remains in the upper area most of the time. It can get very fin nippy of anything coming into that space, so don't have penguins or similar as well. The pencil is more colourful, so I suggest it to consider. For mid-level, you could consider several of the more commonly-seen tetras.

Cories need soft sand, wasn't mentioned previously. Changing the substrate is not difficult, but easier before more fish enter the tank.

 

[Stefan3289]

Water is on the moderately soft/hard side at 160ppm (= 9 dH) which would be fine for many of the tetras. Some of the rasboras too. Most barbs would be too active and/or large for this tank, similar holds for some danios but common species like the Zebra are OK.

As for tetras, you would want to have a combination that occupy all levels. Upper level is the trickiest, but there are penguin tetras, or pencilfish but the only species more suited to the water is the common beckford, Nannostomus beckfordi, which remains in the upper area most of the time. It can get very fin nippy of anything coming into that space, so don't have penguins or similar as well. The pencil is more colourful, so I suggest it to consider. For mid-level, you could consider several of the more commonly-seen tetras.

Cories need soft sand, wasn't mentioned previously. Changing the substrate is not difficult, but easier before more fish enter the tank.

I have tried sand is the past but I did not had luck keeping it as clean and my Cories didn’t work well on it. I have small smooth gravel for the past few months that I keep very clean and my Cories appear happy with no damage on their bristles. I know this not good or ideal, but I would rather be able to keep the gravel very clean to prevent them from getting bacterial infection or ammonia spikes than having sand that I wasn’t able to clean well and would always seem dirty and did not work in the past.

As for the recommendations, I would definitely try pencil fish I love their unique shape and colors. How many should I have as a group? Also, what would then be some good fish for the mid level?

 

[Byron]

I have tried sand is the past but I did not had luck keeping it as clean and my Cories didn’t work well on it. I have small smooth gravel for the past few months that I keep very clean and my Cories appear happy with no damage on their bristles. I know this not good or ideal, but I would rather be able to keep the gravel very clean to prevent them from getting bacterial infection or ammonia spikes than having sand that I wasn’t able to clean well and would always seem dirty and did not work in the past.

I and countless others have never had this, so I would suggest there was a problem causing it. It was not the sand per say. My 115g Amazon tank held my 7- wild caught cories (with 100+ upper fish) and over several years I never "cleaned" nor had to clean the sand. I had a 70g with 50 cories, same thing. And more recently after I moved, my 40g with 40 cories and I never once vacuumed or stirred the sane.

And it is inhumane to deny a fish something it considers normal, and expects. Cories cannot filter feed gravel. The gravel is well known for promoting bacteria that can harm substrate fish like cories. The roughness is usually not the detriment, though obviously it can be. As responsible aquarists we should be prepared to provide out fish with what they need, not what we may prefer.