FishProfiles.com Message Forums

My 29 gallon which had been giving me fits a few weeks ago is back to normal. The readings are all good now:
PH 7, Nitrates 0, Ammonia 0
I am now down from nine, to seven long finned danios, one died of old and and the other jumped out and the dog squished him. I had tried keeping a dwarf gourami, but the danios stressed him out and he is now in my ten. I tried a female betta, she loved the extra room, but the danios shreaded her fins and she is now back in a bowl. I had always wanted a Paradise fish, and now have one, in hopes it can hold its own with the danios. I believe it is a female, a pale cream color with faint red and blue markings. I also, have five cories.
I previously had ottos in this tank (live plants) but they all died except one (now in the ten) when the water went cloudy on me last month. Would it be safe to add maybe three ottos to this tank with the new paradise fish (have heard they can be aggressive, but so far she has been good)? Would it be overstocked? Is it now overstocked with the Paradise fish?
I don't want anymore problems with this tank as it took me what seemed like forever to get it back to normal.
Thanks for any and all advice.

so..u have 7 long finned danios, an otto and soon a paradise fish??

for a 29g tank...adding more ottos will just be fine...just make sure u acclimate them longer than usual...well...ur single otto will no longer be lonely after that..and ull see again..how much fun this fish is.
gud luck

Yeah, these Zebra Danios….

I have 6 of them in my 29 as well, although I have only the plain version.

They can drive everybody else in the tank nuts with their need for speed. The only fish I have who seems not to mind them is a fully grown Platy, the Platy juveniles and my neon tetras get a little stressed with them.

I would think that you risk a problem with the Paradise Fish, as it has a similar size and habits of the Gourami that didn’t get along with your Danios in the first place. The Otos might be ok, given you have enough plants that they can safely hide.

To be brutally honest with you, once in a while (about once a week) I wish that I did not have my Danios. But then again, they helped me cycle that tank and made it through some very basic beginner mistakes with me.

If you should not be too attached to them, return them to the LFS (hope I don’t cause a riot with this statement).

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Just be careful with your water parameters in the ten gallon tank. It is very easy to spike nitrates and the dwarf gourami is a sensitive fish. I had two in mine (had to move them due to compatibility issues) and they caught dropsy, fin rot and were just not happy. Today they are back in the 29 (after a month of meds) and are very happy. good luck

I thank both of you for your fast replys. Yes, sometimes I also, wish I has gotten into some other type of fish than the danios, but I have a couple of blues and a pearl (short fin) that are very pretty -- but still, they are an aggravation. Once these have pass on, in a few years, I will be getting something different.
I have an extra tank, built it myself out of some spare sheets of plexaglass (so far it works) for the Paradise Fish. I have five gallons in it, but don't have it filled completely. She has been good, but I don't fully trust her with the cories (?) and I would really like to have some more ottos.