[dm76]

I have a 50 gallon tank thats been running for a few months with some harlequins and black neon tetras in it and I am ready for some more fish. Maybe a few bigger ones to add color, or somethign for the bottom, shrimp, etc. You can see my tank pics by clicking here

 

[yikesjason]

How about some rams or apistos?

 

[fshfanatic]

Get a 1/2 Doz Scarlet badis. I love mine.

 

[seds]

odessa barbs!

 

[topfrog007]

How about some red cherrys or bumblebee shrimp?

As for fish, two of my favorites are rummy nose tetras and discus. =0

 

[lauraleellbp]

+1 for some dwarf cichlids (rams, apistos, kribs, checkerboards... )

 

[dm76]

I was thinking of getting a german blue ram, but have been reading in a lot of posts that they are dying off easily lately. Do you think one ram, along with 2 gouramis, and some otos or cory cats would be good? Would any of those guys eat ghost shrimp or similar sized? I guess I could put a bamboo shrimp in there if they do. Those look pretty cool.

 

[lauraleellbp]

If you can get good stock and maintain good water parameters, Rams can live 2-3 years on average.

They should mix just fine with the fish you mention. I personally wouldn't try more than 2 pairs in a 50gal, though, and I'd probably go for a trio (1m, 2f) instead.

Different people have different experiences mixing them with RCS- but mine went through an entire population in my 90gal in less than a week. :icon_eek:

 

[Noahma]

eek, what an expensive snack.
You have to be careful what you put with inverts. as many of them are at the bottom of the food chain. I have my LFS ordering some more mature cherry shrimp than what they usually get because I do not even trust my Danio's with some of the adolescent shrimp (1/2")

 

[dm76]

Yeah I was wondering about what would eat the shrimp. I used to have a 10 gal with a male betta and some of these harlequins and tried out some ghost shrimp in there since they were cheap. No one ended up bothering them and I really enjoyed watching them work in the tank. When I would feed bloodworms or crisps, I would hold some under the water so the shrimp could get them, and everytime I put my hand in the tank, one of them would swim up to it and grab on upsidedown and eat out of my hand! Oh well, maybe I can try those then I am not out a lot if they get eaten.

So for the rams, do those need to be in a minimum of at least 2?

 

[lauraleellbp]

You can keep just one ram if you want.

 

[dm76]

Ok, so would one ram, 2-3 gouramis, and some corys and/or ottos work together? Or without the ram and just the other fish I mentioned, could shrimp possibly work in there?

As far as gouramis, does anyone know what kind get a long best and how many? I remember the guy at the LFS saying pearls and dwarf neons get a long fine, but pearls are more peaceful. And I read on the forums that the dwarf neons are less hardy. Anyone with experience on this?

 

[lauraleellbp]

The issue with the dwarf neon gourami is so many have been artificially injected with hormones to make them color up more quickly. This practice can have a really bad impact on their health. They're lovely fish, though, so may be worth the time and trouble to find a reputable source. A local breeder would be ideal...

I'd go with adult Amano shrimp if you want to be sure they're safe.

Why don't you post the entire stocking plan you're considering (including the fish you already have)?

 

[dm76]

Oh, sorry about that! I thought I did post that but I guess I just had them listed in my tank journal. You can click that link in the first post if you want to see the tank, but right now I have 7 black neon tetras and 8 harlequin rasboras. I have been holding off on adding more becuase I wanted to get the algae under control which I think it finally is, so I want a few bigger colorful fish in there. The pearls are nice looking but not real colorful. But that is about the size I want. I don't know if anything much bigger than that should go in there. So maybe either a pair of those and a pair of rams, or 3 of those and 1 ram. This is so hard to decide since I can only really do this once! Its fun to watch the little guys in there now, but I want something bigger and beautiful that will really grab your attention and is peaceful enough that it won't bother the other fish. So maybe I am still undecided on that.

On that note, maybe I should get some bottom dwellers in the meantime. Those might be fun to watch working along the bottom. I have heard cories and ottos both mentioned a lot as good workers. Is it good to have both species, or just one? Maybe 3 or 4 of each kind, or something similar? I am so bad at trying to choose something!

 

[AquaTX01]

Ottos are great workers, but they work both bottom and mostly glass. I've got 4 in my 55 gallon, and thinking bout gettin few more. you do need designated bottom feeders like cory or shrimps. I put few 1/2" size ghost shrimp, and and as others mentioned, they became some pricey snacks for my mid-sized Angels! I'd put in some larger shrimp there to be able to defend themselves... as far as other fish goes, Blue Ram will be a beautiful addition. went to my LFS today, and they were out GBR, only had Long-fin Ram there and they're also gorgeous. goin back in two week to compare the two, and bring a pair home.... good luck.

 

[MoonFish]

I've had gouramis that were very territorial. Lots of common fish can terrorize other fish if the conditions are right.

I never kept a ram alive very long, not sure why. Hard water here. Had good luck with some shell breeding types though.

Ottos school some and a group of them is nice. Corys also can school and I think I'm going to do that soon. Haven't seen one in some time.

Some people dig loaches. Congo tetras are nice to look at. There's a lot of choices! Just one of something doesn't do it for me. It's hard to keep a theme going that way.

 

[dm76]

I know what you mean, there are so many kinds, ideally I would like to have several different varieties. I know its not practical to just get one of a whole bunch of different varieties, but is there a good rule to minimum amounts of how many of each kind there should be? I would like to have as many different varieties as possible to really keep it interesting. The reason I have 8 and 7 of one kind now is because I read where that is a good number to school. While they aren't constantly swimming around in schools, they do sometimes. Is it true that when they feel less threatened they are more likely to go off in their separate ways rather than school?

 

[dm76]

Another thing on cories..... I was just looking them up online, and I see a bunch of different varieties of them. Do they all act the same way? Do you just go by the size you want and what they look like? Or are there some varieties that are most common? And I read that they need a smooth substrate. Is flourite ok for them? That is what I have.

 

[petergriffin]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm from New Jersey but I'm originally from Thailand and like you I also have some black neon tetras but I just had my aquarium a month ago. I just want to ask what kind of fish food do you give to your tetras. And I'm also planning of buying some more columbian tetras like the one in the picture here http://www.aquariumfishexperts.com/tropical-fish-fish/tetras/hyphessobrycon-ecuadorensis-columbian-tetra/ .
Will that be okay? I still have to learn a lot in fish keeping. Thanks in advance.

 

[AquaTX01]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm from New Jersey but I'm originally from Thailand and like you I also have some black neon tetras but I just had my aquarium a month ago. I just want to ask what kind of fish food do you give to your tetras. And I'm also planning of buying some more columbian tetras like the one in the picture here http://www.aquariumfishexperts.com/tropical-fish-fish/tetras/hyphessobrycon-ecuadorensis-columbian-tetra/ .
Will that be okay? I still have to learn a lot in fish keeping. Thanks in advance.

usual Tropical Flake food, and you can feed them frozen bloodworm now n then as well...

now for ur Columbian Tetras, they're bit larger then ur other tetras, and might be semi-aggressive to your smaller ones' (if you get any small one's like Neon etc). good luck.