Who's next in my new 55 gallons?

[meodix]

So i just started a 55 gallons. I've done the cycle. A bit faster with the help of my other 2 tanks but my water is good. I've just added a few days ago my 2 remaining mollies (a silver male and a red dalmatian female) from the 25 gallons and bought 5 more (2 dalmatians (1 male, 1 female) and 3 female gold dust. I plan to add a male gold dust and probably another female. For a total of 3 males and 6 females.
My question is:
the next two species i want to introduce are between 8 and 10 rummy nose tetras and 6 to 8 glass catfishes; which ones are the least fragile for a new tank?

 

[Sgooosh]

So i just started a 55 gallons. I've done the cycle. A bit faster with the help of my other 2 tanks but my water is good. I've just added a few days ago my 2 remaining mollies (a silver male and a red dalmatian female) from the 25 gallons and bought 5 more (2 dalmatians (1 male, 1 female) and 3 female gold dust. I plan to add a male gold dust and probably another female. For a total of 3 males and 6 females.
My question is:
the next two species i want to introduce are between 8 and 10 rummy nose tetras and 6 to 8 glass catfishes; which ones are the least fragile for a new tank?

tetras are less fragile than catfish, a lot of catfish are picky about params
my cories are fussy when the water isnt right, get all scratchy and stuff

 

[meodix]

"cories", you mean corydoras? My experience has been the reverse for those, all those i had have always been very tough (i'll have an anecdote about that in the future).
But i know glass catfishes are more fragile. I knew tetras in general were tougher but i heard the rummy nose variety were not the toughest of them. Hence my doubt.
Had i not received any outside opinion, i would have gone for the tetras first anyway so i'll definitely introduce them tomorrow. And then, if all goes well and my water tests are ok, i'll introduce the glass catfishes in two weeks.

 

[Slaphppy7]

The livebearers may be the only stocking you will need, they reproduce prolifically, and can overwhelm a tank in a short amount of time.

Mollies are hard water fish, tetras prefer soft water.

 

[meodix]

I've had them both in the same tanks over the years...when reproduction was under control. That's partly why i bought the 15 gallons last year; i had an explosion of platies and my tetras were overwhelmed, so i had to transfer them into another tank.
To stop the reproduction frenzy, i just lowered the temperature by a degree or two and it did the trick. Not sure if it's the right-optimum way but they seem to be doing very well, apart from breeding out of hands. I've been doing this fish tank thing on my own, with a few books, it's nice to be able to exchange with other enthusiasts, thanks!

 

[Slaphppy7]

What temps are your tanks?

Is your source water hard or soft?

 

[meodix]

temp in the tank with the platies, somewhere between 23 and 24
source water; slightly on the hard side

 

[Slaphppy7]

Do you have access to a water quality report from your municipality?
It would be helpful to know your GH and KH readings for your source water.

Again, tetras need soft water....

 

[meodix]

No access to a report directly but my local pet store where i get most of my fishes do check and that's what they told me, as of a few months ago.
Tetras (mostly neons, cardinal and black phantoms so far): i never had any big problems with them, even when 20 years ago i wasn't checking much apart from the temp. Worst case scenario i got was losing 1 or 2 for every dozen i bought in the next few days after transfer, and i thought (and was told) that it was 'normal' because of the stress of the move and new water (even if it meets good quality criteria).
Perhaps i've just been lucky but that's my experience. And like i said, the source water doesn't appear to be on the far side of 'hard', just a bit.

 

[Slaphppy7]

All you can do is try, then...if you're considering rummynose, get a good large group, 15 or so

 

[meodix]

I was planning to start with 8 or 10 (as my tank i still not very populated) and add a few more to 12 a week later. I might go to 15, i'll see how it goes.

 

[Byron]

It really would be advisable to pin down the exact GH, KH and pH of your source water. You have fish requiring very different levels of GH and pH, and while I am not saying this is not possible, it may be so depending upon the numbers. It can take months before the detrimental effects of inappropriate GH and pH show up, and then it can be simply fish dying "for no reason."

If the store did not give you numbers for GH, KH nd pH, they are unreliable for advice. Check the website of your water authority, or call them. The pH you can obviously test yourself, and a reliable pH test is well worth having; GH nd KH in the source water will remain basically the same in the aquarium with regular water changes, unless something is being used to target these. The GH is the most important of the three as it directly affects how the fish species' physiology functi8ons.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

The glass catfishes are quite shy, at least in the beginning and as you have said they are more fragile, a good amount of plants would help a lot to acclimatize them.

 

[meodix]

I've decided to wait a few days for more checks and water tests before i introduce the rummy noses.
But i have a report on the mollies in a new thread:

molly report

First, i've nearly always had mollies. Of course, when you start, they have one of the best ratio price/colors/toughness. But for me, it's also the excellent ratio energy/non-agressiveness. I have a bit of a crush on dalmatians, here's my experience on them. Apart from those i just bought, the...

www.fishforums.net

 

[meodix]

So, i've added my rummy noses, after checking the water hardness in my region (106 ppm from last august, which is considered, if i understand correctly, moderately hard, which is just about what my guy at the store told me).
I added 12 two weeks ago and 3 more three days later. So far, all 15 are doing fine. They sure like to swim together, going fast back and forth the whole width of the tank at some point during the day. But they seem to feel secure so, they also disband and explore a bit on their own.
And they all have their red noses (see other thread).

See my other thread for the mollies.

As much as i wanted to have glass catfishes, i've got to consider the well being of the inhabitants of the tank. Given that i now have more mollies and tetras than originally planned, i recalculated and having 6-8 glass catfishes and a bottom feeder would have been too much for a 55 gallons. So i introduced a couple of gourami opaline yesterday. And a few amano shrimps in a few days. That would be it. I'll give you news on these latest addition later on.