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Hello.

I think a lot of you know my friend Liana. She said she doesn't post here much because she does only saltwater now. For Christmas she set me up a very pretty 15 gallon tank.

It has an AquaClear30 (one up from the mini?) on it.

It's ready to be stocked. Right now there are 7 white skirt tetras. Liana doesn't have any good freshwater ideas so she said to post here.

I was wondering if you guys could help me out with the stocking list. I would like a dwarf gourami. Liana said I could only have one though.

I dont really want any plecos or cories.

All suggestions appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hmmm...it seems like it would be alright to add a Dwarf Gourami to that. Though then you ahve all the fish at the middle or the top of the tank.

Are you sure you don't want any Cory's? They can be fun and would spread out the activity between the top and bottom instead of dominating the top (which can be boring sometimes).

Well whatever you go with, gourami or cory's, good luck.


Oh, another suggestion. If you can get them, 2 Female bettas would be nice in that set up.

A 15 gallon is kind of small compared to other tanks, so there is not much you can put in them, except for tetras, small cories, and ottos.
I think it would be fine to add a dwarf gourami to your white skirts. The reason she said only one was because usually all you can find are males and when you put 2 males together, especially in a smaller tank, there is aggression. I had 2 males in a 10g and one tortured the other to death.
Anyways, I think a good stocking list would be:

7 white skirts
1 dwarf gourami or 1 Bolivian Ram
3-4 ottos (for algae)
3-4 Kuhli loaches for the bottom (maybe)

I would get a second opinion on that list to make sure they would all work in a 15g. Bolivian Rams are small and would probably stay more on the bottom level. I have a German Ram and she stays mostly on the bottom.
You may be able to have both a dwarf gourami and a bolivian ram, not sure if they get along though. Good luck with your new tank! :%)

Last edited by GirlieGirl8519 at 22-Dec-2005 21:43

*Kristin*

Hello - friend of Ferretfish

I would say we have to bring Liana back into the freshwater hobby as it was her idea to get you this tank. That makes her its godmother and as such she has responsibilities .

Now seriously, the suggestions of the previous posters sound good to me as well. I would only like to add some thoughts about the individual fish:

- Bolivian Rams are larger than German Rams, they get easily 4 inches. Neither nor is a good fish for a freshly set up tank (Bolivians might be slightly better) as they require excellent water conditions and a settled tank
- Otos should only be added once a food source for them has been established (aka algae), usually this is not the case in a new tank either
- White skirts: very nice, but generally speaking any kind of smaller tetra or rasbora would be an excellent school of fish in your tank, 7 is a good number.
- Loaches and Bettas: no idea, never had any of them

Just my 2 cents,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I say the one dwarf gourami, a school of cherry barbs OR harlequin rasboras, and maybe an oto or bristlenose pleco for bottom feeding (once the tank is well established of course). This would be a good stock list for a 15.

Last edited by crazyred at 23-Dec-2005 08:59

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Bolivian Rams are larger than German Rams, they get easily 4 inches

Bolvians ARE bigger than blues, but 4 inches is a little much. A particularly large specimen may reach a max of 3.5" or so. While most of them generally stay under or around 3 inches. They are larger than Blue Rams, but not by much.

I agree that 1 Bolivian will probably be fine in a 15 gallon.

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 23-Dec-2005 09:25

I have a different opinion than crazyred (no offense ):

An Oto is never a good choice, they really like each others company for security purposes. Although they don’t school together (at least not on a frequent basis) they like to know that others of their kind are around. One alone will not be a happy camper, IMHO.

A Bristlenose will most likely be too big for a 15G, maybe not by physical dimension (but maybe even that as well) but at least by appearance.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Pat (Tetra Fan)

I think you are right, I am not gonna fight with you over 0.5 inches

The main point though was that neither the Bolivian nor the German should be added to a new tank.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No problem LF....I forgot oto's need schools :%)

I've always heard the BN's stay small and would be good for a tank that size......maybe not.

I have a 10 set-up with an African Clawed Frog and a dwarf gourami and I use elbow grease to handle the algae....not a fish, so scrap the bottom dweller altogether and stick with mid & top level fishies!!

Last edited by crazyred at 23-Dec-2005 09:37

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

A BN will give you a lot of crap to deal with... literally. I'm jaded with them, I don't think they do a very good job cleaning algae, if only cause of their size. They eat pretty much the same types as Otos, only otos are nicer looking and smaller, thus they can reach nooks an crannies that BNs cant.

All the choices listed above are fine, any small schooling fish will do well there, harley rasboras are an obvious choice. Lemon tetras are also beautiful fish and may even breed for you, which is always exciting. So, a dwarf gourami with some small schoolers... Now start thinking of decorations!

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Back in the saddle!

Ah ok, LF. And your'e right a fight isn't worth .5 inches

The Bolivians would definately hold up better to a new environment than the Blue Rams though. Bolivians are MUCH (and boy do I mean much) hardier than Blue Rams.

After a while though (after the tank is "mature" ) I actually think an addition of 1 or 2 Blue Rams may be ok, as they stay relatively small. Just gotta make sure to get 1 male and 1 female...or you might have a problem. Bolivians have the problem of wanting company...and then fighting it IME.
Female Blue ram - Pink belly
Male Blue ram - Long spike on dorsal fin

[edit] meh...spelling

[edit again] stupid accidental smiley...

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 23-Dec-2005 10:48

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 23-Dec-2005 10:49