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Are my fish compatible?

874 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Betta132
So far in my 55 gal, heavily planted, low tech, well filtered tank I have:

6 Kuhli Loaches
5 Blue Gouramis
6 Turquoise rainbows
3 Pristella tetras
5 Red Minor Serpae Tetra

And a couple snails and shrimp.

So first off, no more impulse buys, and no more trusting the people who work at the aquarium, cause many don't have any idea what they're selling.

The Red Minor Serpae Tetra are said to be semi aggressive, and seem to be fin nipping other fish in the tank, even though the pet store guy said they're perfect community fish.

I've also heard Blue gouramis are aggressive as well, so I'm not sure what I should remove from the tank at this point. I have a 10g I'm thinking of moving the tetras into, because the gouramis seem to get along well with the rainbows.

What else would you guys recommend adding after I figure this out. Next week as my last addition, I was thinking of adding one or two bigger fish, and a couple neon tetras. For the bigger fish I was thinking an angel or something, can anyone recommend an angel or larger fish that will be okay in a community tank? Thanks!
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BOTH your tetra species need to be in much larger schools (8+ of each) to reduce fin nipping risk, and your 'blue gouramies' (actually a color variant of the opaline gourami) are highly likely to turn on each other violently, and possibly also their other tank mates.
Alright, thanks for the info. Ill get the tetras into my other tank tonight, and find a place for the gouramis and get some more tetras.

So any recommendations for other community fish?
I'd suggest you way-up the school of pristellas. 10, at least. I'd go with:
One blue gourami
8-12 pristellas
6-8 kuhlis
Your rainbows
And another school of small fish. Suggestions for fish:
20ish neon tetras
15ish Beckford's pencils (gotta be Beckford's, they're bolder)
18ish rummynose tetras
Maybe some other sort of tetra you like.
Eventually the Gourami can get up to 10".
Try this link for compatibilities..no gaurantees but they seem to actually be overly cautious about which can go/w what.
http://www.aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php
That site is pretty good. Any stock level up to 120% on there is good, and it tells you if you could use a bit more filtration.
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