Two rather normal questions.

[Peggotty]

Hi, I am new! To fishkeeping and this forum. Okay, here goes. For a birthday gift about a month ago, my sister gave me a 1 and a half gallon tank, holding an African Dwarf frog and 4 neon tetras. I soon found out that it was waay to small (!!!), but before I could take action, 3 of my tetras died. I purchased a 10 gallon tank (the biggest I could afford) a little while later, along with a female swordtail to cycle the tank (because I heard neon tetras were not good for that). I have had my 10 gallon for a little over a week, so it has a long way to go before it cycles, but my question is this: When my tank gets done cycling, would it be okay to put my remaining neon tetra in with my swordtail, buy 2 or three more neon tetras (since they like to school), AND get a dwarf gourami? Would this be too much for my little tank to handle? Will these fish be compatible? I intend to keep my African Dwarf froggie in the 1 and a half gallon tank, btw.

Thanks for any help, advice, or any "I dunnos"! I really appreciate it.

 

[William]

If I were you I'd ditch the idea of dwarf gourami, buy a female (or male if the one you've got is female) swordtail, get the 3 tetras you want. With a pair of swords you'll be in line for some babies before long but then again I like livebearers so am a bit biast .

 

[LesGerber]

As always William is on top of the game, for a 10 gal tank I would rather have several smaller fish as to one or 2 bigger ones, and William is right livebearers are fun

Les

 

[Tanked]

not only are livebearers fun they are very hearty fish in comparison to others. our 10 gallon has 3 marigold swordtails (2 male 1 female), 2 mickey mouse platys (1 male 1 female) and 1 red wagtale platy (female)

 

[steve-0]

live bearers are great and all but like pegotty said that a 10 gallon was the biggest he/she could afford. Might not be anywhere to put them.

 

[steve-0]

oh sorry peggoty forgot to say hi and welcome
great place. don't forget to post on what you decided on.

 

[Pufferpack]

Hi Peggotty...Welcome to the forum...sit back and enjoy, theres a lot of good folks here who love fish and like to have fun as well

..I was wondering, do you know what kind of African Frog you have? I don't have any experience with them myself, but I have read that there is one type of African frog that gets quite big and likes to munch down fish (I think it's the Clawed frog)

 

[Fishsmurf]

live bearers are great and all but like pegotty said that a 10 gallon was the biggest he/she could afford. Might not be anywhere to put them.

I'm wiv im !! Great if you have somewhere to put the babies.... More neons would look good in a school....

 

[Peggotty]

Hey Thanks a bunch for your replies, advice, comments, and welcomes.

I adore swordtails and would love to have babies, but Steve-0 hit it when he said that about the ten gallon being all I could afford. Here is a sad story: I really wanted Swordtail babies, but obviously didn't have the room. So I bought the very largest female in the tank at the store, so if she was pregnant, it would be an accident, not my fault, and I'd cross that bridge when I came to it!!! B) To my great disappointment, however, she not has not grown any fatter or developed a dark triangle on her stomach, and I can't see any eyes. I am not sure I have the nerve to go out and actually buy a husband for her! Accidents are one thing...

Since nobody has or or at me yet, I guess there is nothing wrong with the mixture of fish I proposed being together, and I guess you don't think it would be too crowded. I want to get the bare minimum of neon tetras for company for my little guy because while I love them (I love all fish!!), I have always held a particular fascination for gouramis. I don't want to ditch the gourami idea, another reason for not getting a Mr. Matilda (my Swordtail is named Matilda).

Ah! My African dwarf frog! Yes, I am sure he is a dwarf, not a clawed frog, but thanks for the warning! He is SO good and SO easy to keep. I love him to pieces. I say "him" because I named him Charles Dickens, but I have since learned a lot about African Dwarf frogs and am pretty sure he is a she!

I still love my neon/swordtail/dwarf gourami idea. Thanks for the input!

 

[Pufferpack]

If your frog is a she you can just call her "Charlie, or Charlene" ...what do you feed her?

 

[Peggotty]

Great minds think alike B) I actually thought about Charlene. However, it REALLY looks like a Charles Dickens, so I decided to just stick to Ms. Charles Dickens. I feed her tetramin flakes (I believe that is the name), and frozen bloodworms as a treat a couple times a week. I have heard that they never need live food, but I would like to get her some black worms or something so that she'll grow strong and healthy. I would like to get her a husband, too, but I have heard that raising tadpoles is very difficult. I read that you can grow your own infusia by taking a glass jar, filling it with pond water and a lettuce leaf, and then letting it sit on a window sill for a few days.

African dwarf frogs rule! I recommend them to everyone who can't seem to keep fish alive!

 

[Jamnog]

hi welcom to the forum

 

[Alia]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Nice bunch of people here, but I have noticed a bias toward livebearers . . . wonderful fish, as you know, but all those babies can be a challenge!

I for one think dwarf gouramis are well worth having, even if they do take up a little extra space. I've never kept any with neons, but I've never seen them bother the fish that I have (black skirt tetras and cory cats). Mine are not regular dwarfs, they are one of the "red" varieties (orange), and I don't know if they have a better disposition than ordinary dwarfs, but they are very personable to me and mild mannered to their tankmates.

I will tell you something interesting about them (mine, at least). They love sinking pellets (cory cat food). They eat the floating stuff, too, but sometimes they get so wrapped up in eating the pellets, they don't even look up. I have pictures of the feeding frenzy if you are interested, I'll post them in the Tanks forum.

That said, I only see one potential problem, assuming none of your bigger fish turn out to be bullies, with your proposed tankmates: they all kind of inhabit the same level. Because of that, I would make an extra effort to provide hiding places like plants (real or artificial, some floating ) and tallish decorations so everyone can make themselves at home and get a little privacy.

 

[LesGerber]

I dont think that there is a bias towards live bearers but rather thay are the fish of choice for many fishkeepers because of their hardiness. They are an excellent fish for bigginers and after having them their owners find they have developed a great love for them. If other spieces of fish were as hardy as live bearers then everyone would start out with angels and the likes.
Now as a live bearer owner I have to say they are awesome fish with great personalities


Les

 

[William]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Nice bunch of people here, but I have noticed a bias toward livebearers

What do you mean!! Never Surely not me!!

Well maybe a little bit I guess