Shocked! No nano size rasboras recommended?

19689 Views 37 Replies 13 Participants Last post by exv152, Jul 25, 2012

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · Jul 20, 2012

My aquarium is getting to the stage that I am thinking about stocking it in a few more weeks. I went to AqAdvisor.com to get some suggestions. They actually had my aquarium listed, so I asked for recommended fish, and I was surprised that nothing I had considered appeared in the list. No neon tetras, none of the tiny rasboras, CPD's, etc.

Instead, it suggested fish I never would have considerered: tail spot corys (Corydoras hastatus) and Badis Badis.

The more I look at Corydoras hastatus, the more I like the idea. Their white would really pop against my black background, and I really enjoy their behavior.

What are your opinions about keeping a small school of 5-7 Corydoras hastatus in the tank, below? AqAdvisor.com seems to think it is fine.

For anyone that has kept them in a nano aquarium, have you encountered any issues, or do they do well? Do you think the long length of this tank will be a plus for them? I would really appreciate hearing from someone who has experience with them.

Also, I've never dealt with a fish that prefers a live diet. Is it difficult?

Here is my aquarium still in the grow-out stage, and there will be a heavy planting of hemianthus micranthemoides behind the rocks next week, so there will be cover by the time the fish are ordered in a few weeks. For scale, one Corydoras hastatus's length will be about equal to the width of my filter pipe in the photo, below.

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1 - 20 of 38 Posts

Geniusdudekiran

· #2 · Jul 20, 2012

AqAdvisor.com is garbage. Many of us keep CPDs in tanks as small as 3.5 or even 2.5 gallons without issue (although the latter is certainly pushing it). "Tiny rasboras" such as B. brigittae, are probably one of the best candidates for a tank such as this. You're better off listening to forum members with real-life experience than a poorly-programmed Java applet

roud:

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 20, 2012

Geniusdudekiran said:
AqAdvisor.com is garbage. Many of us keep CPDs in tanks as small as 3.5 or even 2.5 gallons without issue (although the latter is certainly pushing it). "Tiny rasboras" such as B. brigittae, are probably one of the best candidates for a tank such as this. You're better off listening to forum members with real-life experience than a poorly-programmed Java applet roud:

Kiran, you're going to really get a kick out of this. This is the honest truth. I didn't know anything about AqAdvisor until tonight when I found a guy who mentioned it in this post:
http://plantedtank.net/forums/showpost.php?p=1355820&postcount=4

How's that for irony?

I haven't commented on any of your threads, but I've looked at your journal many times. You really did a great job on your MINI. After this Petco bookshelf experiment, I plan to move on to an ADA tank and go completely high tech. I was initially thinkng a MINI M or MINI L, and got a quote from Frank for a complete MINI M, but I may go ahead and move up to a larger aquarium and display it in our great room.

If this was your aquarium, would you stock it with B. brigittae?

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

aweeby

· #4 · Jul 20, 2012

I stocked my 5.5g with ember tetras because they were cheaper at the time. when i think of it, i really am glad i went with them. IMO in slightly 'larger' nano tanks, the micro rasboras don't make much of a visual impact. I'm liking them so far, and they supposedly tend to stay smaller than the neons and other common fodder. they school pretty tightly too.

I've always liked the look of rummynose tetras and coral pencilfish... but I suppose that's up to you and your wallet.

btw i wouldn't say aqadvisor's 'complete rubbish', but rather, more like a rule of thumb for extreme newbs, ranking some where between guessing with an average IQ and asking LFS employees.

It's certainly better than nothing, and a decent reference, but it is lacking, to be sure.

CatB

· #5 · Jul 20, 2012

i think AQ advisor's pretty good for an idea of how many fish you can cram in your tank with what filter, but there's only so much a machine can do to recommend proper fish for your tank

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 20, 2012

From my limited research, it looks like even if I wanted corydoras hastatus, I would have a very hard time finding them. They are a really neat cory in that they don't stay on the bottom and they shoal really nicely. I'm surprised they haven't become more popular.

@[email protected]

· #7 · Jul 20, 2012

im sure you could find them on aquabid, heres what one search brought up:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcatfishc&1342939796
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcatfishc&1342940408
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwcatfishc&1343190644

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 20, 2012

aweeby said:
btw i wouldn't say aqadvisor's 'complete rubbish', but rather, more like a rule of thumb for extreme newbs, ranking some where between guessing with an average IQ and asking LFS employees.

Given what I've encountered at my LFS, that would make it pretty much rubbish. :hihi: No, seriously, I can see where it could still be useful. I liked how it showed the ideal water parameters of my selection and gave warnings where there might be possible conflicts.

CatB said:
i think AQ advisor's pretty good for an idea of how many fish you can cram in your tank with what filter, but there's only so much a machine can do to recommend proper fish for your tank

If little else, it sent me off learning about a new fish I knew nothing about, so that's a good thing.

Do any of you have Emerald Dwarf Rasbora (Microrasbora erythromicron)? I really like these and CPD's, but I understand they spend most of their time hiding out.

I know a lot of you guys keep shrimp, and I'm going to need some algae control. What shrimp would you recommend for a beginner? I'm not interested in breeding them at this point, and I'm not interested in any of the exotic high-value shrimp at this point.

Thanks!

Complexity

· #9 · Jul 20, 2012

SaltyNC said:
What are your opinions about keeping a small school of 5-7 Corydoras hastatus in the tank, below?

They would go great in your tank. The only problems I've had with them is keeping them alive. For some reason, all the pygmy cories don't do well in my tanks. I finally had to let go of the idea I'd eve be able to keep them.

As far as AqAdvisor, I just put in my info, and it claimed my 75g was already overstocked at 141% which is absurd. I only have a skeleton crew of fish in the tank right now! If I didn't know better, I'd swear it's using the 1" per gallon rule or something similar.

Having said that, I don't think it's a totally bad utility. It is our job to acquire as much information as we can in order to made educated decisions. That site is helpful in the process of information gathering as proven by this thread. However, in the end, we are each responsible to make our own decisions regardless of what others might offer as suggestions.

We should neither summarily disregard nor blindly follow the advice of others no matter who or what the source.

Ozydego

· #10 · Jul 20, 2012

Also, keep in mind with a heavily planted tank that just because your "filter" can only handle so many fish, the plants filter as well and do an amazing job. A well stocked subtrate with bacteria does wonders as well. I would not use a program to accurately judge what a nature aquarium can handle. Rather, I look at what the individual fish need and want. Neons for example need a large school and get big enough that you will never see them in a planted aquarium under say 8 gallons. Rasboras sure, ember tetras, absolutely. The "micro" fish are what can handle the smaller space and I would not focus on the capacity of a filter to judge what to stock. For example, there is a member that stocks 25 B. brigittae in a nano tank and they are doing well. brightly colored and no jumpers... a good sign of low stress on the fish. I personally stock 15 emerald eye rasboras in my 5 gallon and before when I followed the "rules" and only had 5, I had jumpers constantly. Now with 15, no jumpers since their addition.

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SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 20, 2012

Complexity said:
They would go great in your tank. The only problems I've had with them is keeping them alive. For some reason, all the pygmy cories don't do well in my tanks. I finally had to let go of the idea I'd eve be able to keep them.

Do you recall what you fed them? I was reading somewhere that they really thrive with a live diet. They also prefer cooler water.

Ozydego said:
Also, keep in mind with a heavily planted tank that just because your "filter" can only handle so many fish, the plants filter as well and do an amazing job. ...snip.... For example, there is a member that stocks 25 B. brigittae in a nano tank and they are doing well. brightly colored and no jumpers... a good sign of low stress on the fish. I personally stock 15 emerald eye rasboras in my 5 gallon and before when I followed the "rules" and only had 5, I had jumpers constantly. Now with 15, no jumpers since their addition.

Good point about the filter. Right now, my biomass is really low, but it will eventually get there. I'm adding some HM "bushes" behind my rocks, so that will soak up a lot more than my hairgrass carpet.

That's an amazing number of fish for a nano. I bet it looks incredible. Do you have any pics of your emerald eye rasboros?

xenxes

· #12 · Jul 20, 2012

2

I understand CPDs aren't truly schooling fish, and keeping a pair is doable in a 5g. They get to about 1" fully grown, very vibrant and a little less shy than the mosquito rasboras.

I have 4 in my 9 and 4 in my 20 right now. Thinking about getting a couple more to keep pairs in my 5g tanks, need something to eat the worms to float out of the substrate.

Here is a male sleeping:

and a female:

Corydoras require a school to exhibit their natural behavior (10+). You can keep a few, but they would panic and hide all the time. In terms of shyness, habrosus is more active/outgoing than pygmaeus and hastatus.

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Ozydego

· #13 · Jul 20, 2012

i was slightly off on the rasboras used by Frank, here is the thread where he introduces his maculates and talks about them in a nature aquarium. That whole thread is awesome for advice and knowledge

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1826911#post1826911

Kworker

· #14 · Jul 20, 2012

Aqadvisor is good as guideline but ultimately you need to plan and research.

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 20, 2012

Ozydego said:
here is the thread where he introduces his maculates and talks about them in a nature aquarium. That whole thread is awesome for advice and knowledge

Thanks for the link. That thread is awesome. I read the entire thing a week or two ago, and I've been following along ever since. I like the look of those, as well. Also, I liked your emerald eye rasboras, too. Decisions, Decisions.

Kworker said:
Aqadvisor is good as guideline but ultimately you need to plan and research.

Thanks, Kworker. It is a handy tool, even if it isn't 100% accurate. I had an ethics professor in college years ago say, "When in doubt, you must follow the safer course." I think that's the approach Aqadvisor follows. It's the absolute safest course...and then, it probably just gets it wrong sometime, too.

xenxes said:
I understand CPDs aren't truly schooling fish, and keeping a pair is doable in a 5g. They get to about 1" fully grown, very vibrant and a little less shy than the mosquito rasboras.

I have 4 in my 9 and 4 in my 20 right now. Thinking about getting a couple more to keep pairs in my 5g tanks, need something to eat the worms to float out of the substrate.

Corydoras require a school to exhibit their natural behavior (10+). You can keep a few, but they would panic and hide all the time. In terms of shyness, habrosus is more active/outgoing than pygmaeus and hastatus.

Xenxes, you're not supposed to have worms in your substrate. :icon_wink Beautiful fish when they get their colors on. I appreciate the info on the corys.

xenxes

· #16 · Jul 20, 2012

I like worms, they compost down waste for the plants. No different than my compost bin outside. Decaying matter + worms = organic ferts! Live food too for when I upset the dirt.

SaltyNC

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 21, 2012

xenxes said:
I like worms, they compost down waste for the plants. No different than my compost bin outside. Decaying matter + worms = organic ferts! Live food too for when I upset the dirt.

I saw your balcony via the link in your sig and your comment about fish food. Is that one clear container green water for daphnia?

xenxes

· #18 · Jul 21, 2012

Yea but I haven't use the daphnia in a while, haven't fed or did water changes in those green jars, but there's still a small colony in each. Pretty hardy.

Complexity

· #19 · Jul 22, 2012

SaltyNC said:
Do you recall what you fed them? I was reading somewhere that they really thrive with a live diet. They also prefer cooler water.

Well, that may be why I can't keep pygmy cories alive very well. I do not feed live food, and my tank tend to be on the warm side.

jemminnifener

· #20 · Jul 23, 2012

xenxes, I didn't realize female CPDs looked different from male CPDs. I've only ever seen males. The female has great colors and patterns as well!

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