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i used to keep this 2ft (approx 12 gallons or so) for raising baby cichlid fry before selling them off but now my brother has sold all our cichlids in the 75 gallon. now ive got this spare left over tank in my room with no fishes.
anyone have stocking ideas?
prefer:
1. small fishes
2. long living (over 1 year)
3. arent pooping machines

i was thinking of going for a female betta tank, 4-5 maybe? but they arent the prettiest of fishes and i wanted to use this tank as a show tank for my room.

1)small, fancy guppies!! probably 6 make sure there male though. You could make a really pretty tank or you might want a school of tetras diamond perhaps? Anyway Im not an expert at stocking tanks so you better make sure you get some other replies agreeing whith what I have just said(typed)
Good luck with the tank

2) Platies!! Cute livebearers,

LifeSpan: 2 years

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/guppies.xml

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/platies.xml

sorry dunno about poop machines

Last edited by dude_dude at 26-Mar-2005 23:37

Last edited by dude_dude at 26-Mar-2005 23:37

i dont find platies all that pretty but fancy guppies look really nice! x]
hmmm i forgot to mention the filter for the 2ft tank is 800 litres an hour, i wonder if the guppies will be able to handle the current.
i just threw in my male betta and he would get pushed to one end of the tank whenever he swam near the surface, he wouldnt come out hiding from behind the heater so i put the poor little guy back into his own bowl.
cousin just told me to get 50 neons! not a bad idea for a show tank XD but they'd probably get sucked up by the filter or thrown around by the current.. THEN eventually die and get sucked up by the filter T_T

ive just went to look up tetra profiles and saw that neons and cardinal tetras look almost identical? -_o
and which of the two species would better to keep?

Last edited by likemyfishiesfried at 27-Mar-2005 00:12

Cardinals IMO, http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Tetra%20Talk/51847.html?200502251438

Last edited by dude_dude at 27-Mar-2005 01:19

The guppies would not get blown around, they actually love current, when I had 3 they spent day and night swimming up and down the tank next to the bubbler, and loved the current. They didn't love it when the intake tube came of my AquaClear 150 hang on back filter and suckedd them up and killed them though.]:|]:|]:|]:|]:|]:|]:|]:|

Male guppies are really pretty but make sure you don't have a hang on back filter with a tube that can come of easily.Or you will be sorry!]:| If you only had male guppies you could get like:
12 male guppies-pretty and really colourful and extremely active.
2-3 otos-tiny bio-load and will eat algae

If you wanted tetras you could have like:
12 tetras-any type like neons, cardinals, glo-lights, lemon, diamond, pristella, rummy-nose, black neon, hockey stick, or any smallish types.
2-3 otos-for algae

Or
6 male guppies or smallish tetras-for colour
6 corys of any type-small bio-load and very cute and active
2-3 otos-for algae

Or 14 of either small tetras or male guppies or corys

Or
2 small gouramis like dwarf or sparkling or croaking-centerpeice
8 tetras or male guppies or corys-colour
2-3 otos-algae and cute

See if you like any of these ideas, and let me know!a

P.S. Tetras can live for a while, maybe about 3-7 years, some longer than others.

Guppies only live for about 1-3 years so keep that in mind and they are very upsectable to parasites. Lost about 5 guppies due to gill flukes and oodinium.

Corys can live for ages like 5-15 years and they are pretty hardy thought eh smaller types are more delicate.

Sparkling and croaking gouramis only live about 1-2 1/2 years though dwarf live for longer. The sparklings are supsectable to dropsy though.

Otos I am not to good wiht not much experience with them though they need good care aclimatizing. Not sure how long htey live. sorry:%)

All of the fish listed are tiny bio-load, do not much poo at all.

Good Luck!

Last edited by labrakitty at 27-Mar-2005 01:51

Last edited by labrakitty at 27-Mar-2005 01:52

thnx for that link dude_dude, that thread was quite intresting lmAO

labrakitty nice tips, ill probably go for:
12 tetras of the same species probably being neons, cardinals, rummynoses or white moutain clouds
1-2 ottos
and maybe another small fish as a centrepiece fish.
i would love a sparkling gourami but i havnt seen any around sydney :/

I think 12 tetras in a 12gallon is pushing it a bit,especially once you add the ottos.
I think you would be better off to go with 8 Tetras, and 2 ottos. Also, remember Ottos are very sensitive and absolutely require a stable existing growth of Algae to survive in a small tank. I dont think you will need ottos at this point unless you have a back pane of glass that is completely green for them.
Labrakittys advice is a little bit on the way too overstocked end. I would never put 12 guppies in a 12g tank, not even males!!! They would probably kill each other!
Also, Platies get way to big for a 12g tank, I wouldnt recommend platys for any tank smaller than 20g long.
Heres some other options for you that I like:
10 Threadfin Rainbows
------
10 Harlequin Rasbora
----
8 White Cloud Mountain Minnow
----
8 Neons or Cardinal Tetras or Glowlight Tetras
----
12 Pencilfish of the threelined or 1 lined variety (beautiful fish that look and swim like little submarines, espescially nice in a planted tank!)
----
A Pair of Dwarf Gourami
----
A Pair of Blue or Bolivian Rams (m/f)
----
A Pair of Kribs (m/f)
----
8 Lemon Tetras
----
A breeding Colony of Hasbrosus Corys (6 or 8)
----
And instead of Ottos, I would suggest a BN pleco. He wont always need just algae to survive, as they will eat flake and pellets, whatever.
Good Luck!


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Ok, so maybe they were a little overstocked, but I wouldn't put a bristle nose in a 12 gallon as they are poo machines and he didn't want pooping machines remember.
You could have like:
10 MALE guppies
Or
10 tetras
Or
8 tetras
2 sparkling gouramis
You should be able to get sparklings in Sydney as I can get them in Melbourne very easily.
10 pencilfish
OR
pair of any dwarf cichlid or dwarf gourami
Or
8 cherry barbs

Any of these?
You could cut down to
8-10 tetras or male guppies
2 otos-if you have algae

Labrakitty-
I keep a full grown BN In a 10g, and he is just fine. It only requires regular water changes- but eh, they are needed anyway!
I know some people who keep breeding pairs of BN in 10g tanks, so I dont think a 12g would be too small for one.
Besides, I believe Ottos are very sensitive, and was just trying to point out that a BN would be a better choice for a tank that doesnt have Algae, than Ottos. Too often people think they need an Algae eater, even when they have no algae. A BN is an omnivore, and will eat pretty much anything, whereas Ottos are primarily Vegetarians, and therefore much more difficult to take care of.
I still think 10 Guppies is too much in a 12g tank, and I think my 2 years of experience with Guppies has proven that to me. Its better to understock a small tank that overstock. Save your overstocking for the big tanks you will have in the future! (55g+)


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
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Guppies are very active you could only probably keep 6, with bottom feeders or a pleco?

6-8 harlequin rasboras
a pair of cherry barbs
3 kuhli loaches

Nice Asian biotope

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

ive just came back from a few fish shops looking for the fishes mentioned above. well, none of the shops had the correct full name of the fish, most of them didnt even look like the profiles i saw on here and the shop assistants didnt even know what type of fish they were to start off with -__-'.
not to mention that im new tetras, i dont wanna buy the wrong fishes. so im most probably gonna go for:

6 tetras (dont know what type yet, still gotta see what are available at the shops)
2 sparkling gouramis (as a centrepiece of the tank coz theyre so cute! although i havnt seen ANY around here yet )
1 bn pleco (1inch long x] if he gets too big for the tank ill chuck him into my brother's 75 gallon)

if i cant find any sparkling gouramis ill get:
8 tetras
1 bn pleco x]

Your idea sounds good. The BN will get 4-5" but you have a backup for when it gets larger

You could still have some sort of centerpiece fish; the sparkling gouramis you mentioned, a dwarf gourami, female betta (many do have coloring as nice as the males), 1 ram or krib.

Good luck

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

You can still go with Otocinclus as a smaller algae eater option.

Here's the trick. Get some small bits of aquarium bogwood or small rounded stones.

Put them in jars where they will receive lots of sunlight or naturla daylight.

When they are covered in green fur, voila! Otocinclus food. The infamous Otocinclus Pet Rock™ method of keeping your Otocinclus fed with algae.

I've been doing this for quite a while now.

Oh, and if you acclimatise them carefully, Otocinclus can live up to 10 years. Time for the obligatory link:

Otocinclus Article

My recommendation for your aquarium is this. Let it grow some algae before putting any fish in, so that there is food for any Otocinclus you do buy. Also, leave the aquarium running with some live plants in for a week or so before getting any fish. Then, on the day you pick up your fish, do a water change before picking up the fish. Acclimatising your fish to an aqaurium with fresh clean water will be a good deal less stressful than acclimatising them to one with 'hangove' nitrates from the cycling period.

Then, stock as follows:

2 Otocinclus
6 Pandas or habrosus

For your upper water layers, may I recommend a Tetra with a difference? Hyphessobrycon georgettae, if you can get it, is a dwarf Tetra that is even smaller than a Neon. And a very pretty fish indeed. You could add 6 of those to the above stocking without too much trouble.

Oh, and if you can get one, fit your undergravel filter uplift tube with a powerhead. That'll make your filter perform very efficiently indeed, and the fish I've suggested will like the current.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002