By process of compatibility with male bettas, I have decided to stick with cory cats, raspboras, and 1 male betta. I have read from Drs. Foster and Smith about the size each school needs (ie: at least 6-8 corys and 8-10 raspboras). Would those two schools be healthy and happy if I reduced the numbers just a bit (ie: 4 corys and 6 raspboras)? I want nothing stressed, just trying to reduce the bioload a bit.
When Adding Fish, Which Is Added First
- Thread starter Lady J
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crazyforcordoras
CLASH OF CLANS!!!!
Cories really need six or more. The rasboras should do fine though. 
Thank you for your input! 
Ok, 6 corys (Julii), 6 raspboras (not sure which kind yet), and 1 betta should put the inches/per gallon at ~ 27" of fish. I realize this rule is certainly just a guideline as we all know it would SO cruel to put a 10" fish in a 10g. tank. So please know I'm just saying a guideline. Now, back to my tank. It has a sandbed which should make the corys happy, and there is drifwood and live plants which should make all of them happy. Is there anything I'm forgetting, need to add, need to change, etc. Also, my plan is to add the corys and raspboras at the same time (will this be too much for the filtration) and then the betta perhaps a week later (from your advice). Sound good?
Ok, 6 corys (Julii), 6 raspboras (not sure which kind yet), and 1 betta should put the inches/per gallon at ~ 27" of fish. I realize this rule is certainly just a guideline as we all know it would SO cruel to put a 10" fish in a 10g. tank. So please know I'm just saying a guideline. Now, back to my tank. It has a sandbed which should make the corys happy, and there is drifwood and live plants which should make all of them happy. Is there anything I'm forgetting, need to add, need to change, etc. Also, my plan is to add the corys and raspboras at the same time (will this be too much for the filtration) and then the betta perhaps a week later (from your advice). Sound good?BTW, I'm feeling pretty excited as I now have a healthy, compatible stocking list----geez, it was quite the process of research and receiving input from
you guys!
Darn, I forgot to say that I will be adding sand sifting snails. Geez, please tell me they'll be safe! (lol)
you guys!
Darn, I forgot to say that I will be adding sand sifting snails. Geez, please tell me they'll be safe! (lol)
Alm0stAwesome
Fish Aficionado
Hi there, if I'm honest I think you'll get happier fish if you put more in, it is possible to be too conservative in your stocking lol. I would have: 1 x betta, 8 x corys, 10-12 x Rasboras and you'll still be "understocked". You see these are schooling fish which in their natural environment would be in groups of 1000s so the more you have the happier they will be (within the limitations of your tank obviously) and the more natural behaviours you will see as well. Don't be afraid of just stocking your tank normally, the bioload will be able to cope just fine right from the start since you're fishless cycling.
Out of curiosity, which filter are you using?
Your plan regarding decoration and stocking of the tank all sounds good. As I said, when fishless cycling you can stock the tank all at once without stressing filter bacteria as odds are you've been adding more ammonia than your new fish will produce.
Yep, snails are fine too, generally speaking snails generate so little waste that you really need an "infestation" in order to make much impact. Apple snails are a little different because they make a bit more mess but would still be fine in your tank I like trumpet snails myself! They are great if you have sand because they live under the sand during the day and come out at night so they keep your sand churned up which helps to keep it "fresh".
Out of curiosity, which filter are you using?
Your plan regarding decoration and stocking of the tank all sounds good. As I said, when fishless cycling you can stock the tank all at once without stressing filter bacteria as odds are you've been adding more ammonia than your new fish will produce.
Yep, snails are fine too, generally speaking snails generate so little waste that you really need an "infestation" in order to make much impact. Apple snails are a little different because they make a bit more mess but would still be fine in your tank
I like trumpet snails myself! They are great if you have sand because they live under the sand during the day and come out at night so they keep your sand churned up which helps to keep it "fresh".Once again, thank you for your input. Your analysis of natural behavior of schooling fish makes perfect sense so I'll put in more raspboras.
AAhh, filtration. Well, initially I was going to do a high quality canister. The reason I didn't----> I'm 50+ years old and the thought of getting under the tank to clean the canister made me groan in despair. My knees, my knees... So, then I bought a typical MarineLand rated for 90 gallons. This was quite funny as the intake reached the bottom of the tank----uh, ok, that's not gonna work (lol). So, I ended up buying a smaller Marineland which is rated for up to 50 gallons. Truthfully, I'm a bit nervous as this seems so small. I could certainly add another of the same size but wonder if that's too much flow as well as I'd start another cycle unless I could somehow transfer bacteria from the first one to the old one. What do you think?
I'm leaving for work in a few minutes so I will check later for your advice (don't want you to think I'm ignoring your input).
AAhh, filtration. Well, initially I was going to do a high quality canister. The reason I didn't----> I'm 50+ years old and the thought of getting under the tank to clean the canister made me groan in despair. My knees, my knees... So, then I bought a typical MarineLand rated for 90 gallons. This was quite funny as the intake reached the bottom of the tank----uh, ok, that's not gonna work (lol). So, I ended up buying a smaller Marineland which is rated for up to 50 gallons. Truthfully, I'm a bit nervous as this seems so small. I could certainly add another of the same size but wonder if that's too much flow as well as I'd start another cycle unless I could somehow transfer bacteria from the first one to the old one. What do you think?
I'm leaving for work in a few minutes so I will check later for your advice (don't want you to think I'm ignoring your input).
Alm0stAwesome
Fish Aficionado
I'm glad I can help
Weeeellll, that'll get you by just fine. If you wanted to heavily stock I'd say yes you need a bigger one. Also you'll have to wait and see how your plants do as they like a decent amount of water movement. DON'T worry about it though And hey if you ever want to upgrade or change your filter it's easy, you just put the media from your mature filter into the new one and you're done Even if you have to cut it up and smoosh it in
I love my canister filter though and find it really easy to maintain. I have a pretty big one which is hard to move when it's full but you wouldn't need a giant one so probably wouldn't be too bad
Weeeellll, that'll get you by just fine. If you wanted to heavily stock I'd say yes you need a bigger one. Also you'll have to wait and see how your plants do as they like a decent amount of water movement. DON'T worry about it though
And hey if you ever want to upgrade or change your filter it's easy, you just put the media from your mature filter into the new one and you're done Even if you have to cut it up and smoosh it in I love my canister filter though and find it really easy to maintain. I have a pretty big one which is hard to move when it's full but you wouldn't need a giant one so probably wouldn't be too bad
crazyforcordoras
CLASH OF CLANS!!!!
Assassin sail are great cause they sift the sand and they will eat pest snails that may come in your ank.
You may want to try a small powerhead if your filter dosent make enough flow.
You may want to try a small powerhead if your filter dosent make enough flow.
Assassins are great little snails although you won't be seeing them much. I haven't seen mine in months because they love to bury themselves. With a good bunch of cories, you won't actually need snails to sift the sand but I guess they could be helpful if there are any pest snails in your tank.
Hi all---love the input and thank you. Well, I'm a bit confused regarding putting media from one filter into another; all this thing has is the cheap little plastic thing on one side and the blue spongy stuff on the other with a tiny little bit of carbon smooshed in the middle of them. You know what I'm talking about, I guess they're called the cartridge(s). I have a multitude of powerheads as I just broke my reef tank down 4 weeks ago; however, even one might be too large and would really push the water around. I've had them for so long I cannot recall how many gallons they're rated for, but much more than for a 30g. long. If I would use a powerhead, I have no idea where to put it. High in the tank just shooting across? Middle of the tank pushing straight across? I don't know how to do this with a freshwater tank. My reef had 3 powerheads in addition to the return so there was A LOT of turbulence at the top of the tank as well as no dead spots in the water column.
The other thing with powerful water movement at the top is that it definitely equalizes the gas exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide (and my tank has no lid as I do not want to diffuse the light intensity by forcing it to go through glass). Soooo, would I have to add more liquid carbon for the plants to make up for the higher gas exchange? I did think about a powerhead but had no idea if this was a good idea, or detrimental to both the fish and plants. And, I do not know how to calculate the pH difference if more turbulence is created. Or, would there be a pH difference with more turbulence--I believe yes but not sure.
Another concern I have is with the cartridges---they have carbon so isn't that going to almost neutralize the liquid carbon and fertilizer? I have so much Black Diamond carbon that I could use it in 10, 100g. tanks and had thought about adding more to the cartridges, but again, should you be running any carbon when using additives (ie: liquid carbon and fertilizer)?
Oh lordy, still another question: will my betta be happy with the water moving so much at the top of the tank? I imagine the raspboras and corys would be fine because they don't hang at the top of the tank, but the betta does (at least sometimes). I don't want to push him out of the tank and have him sitting next to me on the couch watching tv.
I would like to add snails although I understand the corys will do some sifting. It just seems that the snails will help keep my sand healthy, clean, and less inclined to get too compact. I'm glad I have no animals yet because I'm not ready---I simply don't know enough about this yet so again, thank you very much for your input.
Well, I'm a bit confused regarding putting media from one filter into another; all this thing has is the cheap little plastic thing on one side and the blue spongy stuff on the other with a tiny little bit of carbon smooshed in the middle of them. You know what I'm talking about, I guess they're called the cartridge(s). I have a multitude of powerheads as I just broke my reef tank down 4 weeks ago; however, even one might be too large and would really push the water around. I've had them for so long I cannot recall how many gallons they're rated for, but much more than for a 30g. long. If I would use a powerhead, I have no idea where to put it. High in the tank just shooting across? Middle of the tank pushing straight across? I don't know how to do this with a freshwater tank. My reef had 3 powerheads in addition to the return so there was A LOT of turbulence at the top of the tank as well as no dead spots in the water column. The other thing with powerful water movement at the top is that it definitely equalizes the gas exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide (and my tank has no lid as I do not want to diffuse the light intensity by forcing it to go through glass). Soooo, would I have to add more liquid carbon for the plants to make up for the higher gas exchange? I did think about a powerhead but had no idea if this was a good idea, or detrimental to both the fish and plants. And, I do not know how to calculate the pH difference if more turbulence is created. Or, would there be a pH difference with more turbulence--I believe yes but not sure.
Another concern I have is with the cartridges---they have carbon so isn't that going to almost neutralize the liquid carbon and fertilizer? I have so much Black Diamond carbon that I could use it in 10, 100g. tanks and had thought about adding more to the cartridges, but again, should you be running any carbon when using additives (ie: liquid carbon and fertilizer)?
Oh lordy, still another question: will my betta be happy with the water moving so much at the top of the tank? I imagine the raspboras and corys would be fine because they don't hang at the top of the tank, but the betta does (at least sometimes). I don't want to push him out of the tank and have him sitting next to me on the couch watching tv.
I would like to add snails although I understand the corys will do some sifting. It just seems that the snails will help keep my sand healthy, clean, and less inclined to get too compact. I'm glad I have no animals yet because I'm not ready---I simply don't know enough about this yet so again, thank you very much for your input.
Alm0stAwesome
Fish Aficionado
Woah! OK - first, don't think about the powerheads just yet. You may not need them at all, let's cross that bridge when we get there (and that bridge is somewhere quite a ways down the road
)
The carbon isn't going to hurt anything especially as it's only effective in removing additives to your water for a short period anyway. After that it's only purpose is as a regular sponge. Which is fine because you only really need carbon if you're trying to remove meds from the water. ALSO, and I don't fully understand this but, I think carbon only removes certain things and I don't think your liquid carbon and ferts are included
I've got carbon in my filter and my plants are doing really well with carbon and ferts.
Also, bettas have been known to jump out of tanks so be watchful with the opened top tank. A safety measure some take is to keep the water level low but that doesn't look very nice. You could probably get a glass lid custom cut for you at little expense. It's not something I know much about but I know many forumers have converted their tanks to glass lids. May be something for you to consider.
Regarding bettas and flow. I'm a bit of a non-conformist on that front. Yes bettas will struggle with flow compared with how they are often kept before you get them. However, I keep my betta in a 180L (46g) tank with a TetraTec EX1200 which is well more than my tank needs and he's perfectly fine. The key is to slowly increase the amount of flow in the tank over a long period of time so that they can muscle up to the point to deal with it. Plus in a larger tank they can avoid high flow areas when they want to. My guy doesn't really shy away from the flow even though he sometimes looks totally goofy swimming in it hehe.
And I agree on the snail front, I think they are a great and useful part of the little ecosystem we try to create in our tanks
(and that bridge is somewhere quite a ways down the road
The carbon isn't going to hurt anything especially as it's only effective in removing additives to your water for a short period anyway. After that it's only purpose is as a regular sponge. Which is fine because you only really need carbon if you're trying to remove meds from the water. ALSO, and I don't fully understand this but, I think carbon only removes certain things and I don't think your liquid carbon and ferts are included
I've got carbon in my filter and my plants are doing really well with carbon and ferts. Also, bettas have been known to jump out of tanks so be watchful with the opened top tank. A safety measure some take is to keep the water level low but that doesn't look very nice. You could probably get a glass lid custom cut for you at little expense. It's not something I know much about but I know many forumers have converted their tanks to glass lids. May be something for you to consider.
Regarding bettas and flow. I'm a bit of a non-conformist on that front. Yes bettas will struggle with flow compared with how they are often kept before you get them. However, I keep my betta in a 180L (46g) tank with a TetraTec EX1200 which is well more than my tank needs and he's perfectly fine. The key is to slowly increase the amount of flow in the tank over a long period of time so that they can muscle up to the point to deal with it. Plus in a larger tank they can avoid high flow areas when they want to. My guy doesn't really shy away from the flow even though he sometimes looks totally goofy swimming in it hehe.
And I agree on the snail front, I think they are a great and useful part of the little ecosystem we try to create in our tanks
Hi again Just picked up my new lights (yay). I had been using my reef light and oh dear, wayyyy too strong but I needed something till my new light arrived. My buddy who owns the pet store told me I'm over-thinking all of this and making it much more complex than it is. He also said the little amount of carbon that's in the cartridge will have very little impact on the liquid carbon and fertilizer. He said it would remove some, but not much.
I read about powerhead placement and the article said to do the standard placement: in the back right corner and shooting at the front left side. Pretty standard so that wasn't too difficult. I actually put one in and the water is moving rather briskly. I really don't know if it's too much flow as I have no experience with it. What I find interesting when watching planted tanks (like on youtube), is that nothing but the fish seem to move and I wonder about that. Plants in rivers and streams must get tons of flow, but a pond probably doesn't. IDK.
I have considered getting a glass lid; I don't know if it can be made like a standard one that is divided in the middle and lifts up in the front. They probably make them, I was just hoping to not need one. Clear netting is a nice alternative as well although small fish could probably jump through it.
Well, that's it for now. Please respond when you have time!
Just picked up my new lights (yay). I had been using my reef light and oh dear, wayyyy too strong but I needed something till my new light arrived. My buddy who owns the pet store told me I'm over-thinking all of this and making it much more complex than it is. He also said the little amount of carbon that's in the cartridge will have very little impact on the liquid carbon and fertilizer. He said it would remove some, but not much.I read about powerhead placement and the article said to do the standard placement: in the back right corner and shooting at the front left side. Pretty standard so that wasn't too difficult. I actually put one in and the water is moving rather briskly. I really don't know if it's too much flow as I have no experience with it. What I find interesting when watching planted tanks (like on youtube), is that nothing but the fish seem to move and I wonder about that. Plants in rivers and streams must get tons of flow, but a pond probably doesn't. IDK.
I have considered getting a glass lid; I don't know if it can be made like a standard one that is divided in the middle and lifts up in the front. They probably make them, I was just hoping to not need one. Clear netting is a nice alternative as well although small fish could probably jump through it.
Well, that's it for now. Please respond when you have time!
Alm0stAwesome
Fish Aficionado
Good news on the lights New tank stuff is so much fun!
Like I said, I'd not bother with the powerhead right now, it's totally possible that your tank will be fine without it and the flow will likely be a bit strong for your betta by the sounds of it.
Regarding glass lids, if your curious about how to go about getting one I'd start a new thread in the Hardware section
New tank stuff is so much fun!Like I said, I'd not bother with the powerhead right now, it's totally possible that your tank will be fine without it and the flow will likely be a bit strong for your betta by the sounds of it.
Regarding glass lids, if your curious about how to go about getting one I'd start a new thread in the Hardware section
Hi all Yes, I took the powerhead out because it was too strong (I think). I checked out glass lids made for tanks and they're relatively inexpensive. I guess I worry that my plants won't get enough light because it will be greatly diffused due to the glass. Aahh, something else to worry about. LOL I have a 2 lamp t5, great par but only 78w., which isn't bad for plants but it will be less with the lid. On the other hand, not too fond of finding dead fish on the floor. Last year my awesome midas blenny jumped and I was quite upset. Sooo, how do I balance this dilemma?
Yes, I took the powerhead out because it was too strong (I think). I checked out glass lids made for tanks and they're relatively inexpensive. I guess I worry that my plants won't get enough light because it will be greatly diffused due to the glass. Aahh, something else to worry about. LOL I have a 2 lamp t5, great par but only 78w., which isn't bad for plants but it will be less with the lid. On the other hand, not too fond of finding dead fish on the floor. Last year my awesome midas blenny jumped and I was quite upset. Sooo, how do I balance this dilemma?Similar threads
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