55 gallon aquarium will be my first. i think i have decided on 6 cardinal tetras, 6 glo-light tetras, 6 corydoras julii or aldolfoi or trilineatus (but likely the julii), 6 dwarf neon rainbow fish (melanotaenia praecox), and finally one of the smaller species of pleco (like a bristlenose). how does this sound?
2007-06-19 10:53:54 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
That sounds like a great combo of fish. Since you have adequate tank space you might consider adding a few top water fish to the tank, but I think it will be awesome as is.
The only thing you might have to be careful about will be feeding time. Like all other rainbows, neon rainbows are food pigs and will out compete the smaller tetras if you don't alter your feeding strategies a bit from time to time. You have to keep them off guard to prevent them from getting all the food as you put it in the tank. Other than they the neons rainbows are a great community fish and won't pester any of the other fish at all. I bred them and just couldn't let them go. I put them in a community tank and kept them for years.
MM
2007-06-19 11:39:38 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That sounds like a great combination of color and water space. I would make a few changes. I don't think you should have that many cory's. I would say that three would be an effective school, but that is really up to you. The other suggestion is that you not plan on adding all of these fish at once! I would add them maybe about a week apart at the very least! I would start with the glo-lights as they are the hardiest. Next the rainbows, then the corys(maybe buy 3 then see how you like it, if not buy three more), then the cardinals(make sure you ask the dealer if they are eating, if they are not, don't buy them) Then the pleco. If you don't' have algae in your tank (which you probably won't have at this point) make sure to have some kind of algae wafers for your pleco to feed on. Often if any of the algae eaters don't have algae to feed on(and that's green slime algae) they start to go for the slime coats of your other fish! Good Luck!
2007-06-19 18:11:47 · answer #2 · answered by midraj 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No experience, but it sounds like a terrific mix. You might even be able to go with up to a dozen each of the tetras. Their waste output is minimal, IMO. I'm not sure if cardinals over neons is a good idea. They won't be inbred like neons can be, but they are more delicate. I only have neons, so I can't speak to the difficulty of cardinals. The juliis are a bit smaller, so I'd go the way you were leaning with them.
Anyway, it sounds like a great tank. Just don't add it all at once - sounds like you probably know about cycling and all that. It'll require regular maintenance, but nothing too bad.
2007-06-19 18:10:22 · answer #3 · answered by Wendy M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds great and very colorful.....might wanna up the count to at least 12 per type---these fish don't get very big!
and how about throwing in a cat-fish and an algae eater--to help keep the tank clean!
2007-06-19 18:04:02 · answer #4 · answered by f4fanactic 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋