Need Advice

[Jakaris]

I'm about to come into possession of a 26 gallon bow tank+stand. Once this is properly cycled, I have absolutelly no idea what to put in there. Its definatelly going to be a freshwater tank, and most likely community, but do you guys have an ideas? Any and all would be appreciated.

[Reckless_Angel]

At first when I started, I used to walk through the aquarium center's picking out fish, thinking that's nice etc having no or little idea. Now, two years later... not much better heh,

However, I figured one thing, I (personally ) think it's a good idea to pick a theme / region to follow.
For me personally I have just decided on a South American community tanks, picked up a new cluster of SA plants, and 4 new corys.

That would be my idea anyway, pick a theme or region.

[Jakaris]

Thanks, I'll give that some serious thought :D Now, to rearange my room so a corner is open for it...

[Jakaris]

Oh, and like an idiot, I forgot to mention that I'm going to put my current tank in there: 2 black mollies, 4 female guppies (the males commited suicide with the filter), 6 Neon Tetras, and 2 Otocinclus. What would go well with those? The mollies and oto's will most likely go to a friend though, he just bought a tank.

[kimmers318]

Considering all of your existing fish like to hang out in the middle and upper regions of the tank I personally would consider some nice bottom dwellers....not as a clean up crew....as a compliment to the tank itself. Cory's are wonderful and one of my favorites....they are shy for awhile when you bring them home but soon become wonderful members to watch. Several different types of loaches stay small and would love any snails that might hitch a ride...I would stay away from Kuhli's unless you plan a sand bottom. I never saw my kuhli's in the gravel bottom, now that I have changed it to sand they are quite comical. Different types of shrimp would work well also and can be interesting. Start researching and see what you like. Just be careful to add slowly when increasing your load and make sure you don't overstock.

[Jakaris]

Well, my friend has agreed to take the Oto's and Mollies, and those Cories do look nice. So thats 6 Neon Tetras, 4 female guppies (might also give him those, he has a 10 gallon). How many cories would go in a 26 gallon, and then what else would look/do well in there? Also, would a Ghost Fish do well in there?

Sorry for the abundance of questions, I've only ever had 5 and 10 gallon tanks :D

[Severus]

Your # of corys would depend on how many tankmates you plan to put in. 30 gallons is the recommened minimum size for corys so you need to look at your bioload carefully. Also by ghost fish do you mean a ghost knife? If so, definitly not. It will soon outgrow the 29gal and by that time have eaten all the other inhabitants

[kimmers318]

Although I have to disagree with 100gw that 30 gal is considered minimum for cory's (I have seen recommendations as low as 10gal, although I personally wouldn't do that), it is necessary to consider the dimensions of the tank along with the other inhabitants. A tall 30 gal would have much less space on the floor of the tank than a long 30 gal, even though they hold the same amount of water. My 29 gal, and my 20 gal long have the same "footprint" and share a stand, but one holds more water than the other. Personally, as long as you have a decent footprint (for example, above mentioned tanks are 30 X 12 inches) you could happily house a group of 3 cories...or possibly even 5 of the smaller ones (pandas, pygmy etc) as long as you weren't looking to add too much else to the top of the tank. Possibly consider adding more tetras to the existing group, but not too much more so you don't overstock. Cory's do like to be in groups so unless you want to house 3 or more you might want to think about something else if your heart is set on adding more fish. I personally have fallen in love with corys, loaches and smaller plecos so always keep room in the back of my mind when considering adding any fish to make sure I leave space for them!
And don't fret about asking too many questions...that is what we are here for. And there is no hard and fast rules about following peoples opinions either....we are here to help lead you in the right directions to do your own research and make your own decisions. And by the way....in my opinion, a 30 gal tank is a great size for a fair amount of fish to look nice. I am really pleased with the size and appearance of my 29 and wish I had started with it instead of 5 and 10 gals!

[Jakaris]

You sure the Ghost Knife would eat them? A friend of mine has an 8" one in a community tank with 11 neons, and some mollies. The only ones that dissapear are the molly fry, which I would consider a good thing, since i would only have to buy more tanks/cull them. And thanks for the advice. My tank will be like this: http://www.nw-wolf.com/fishsite/26G/tank26g.jpg so probably not a lot of cories.

[Reckless_Angel]

You can think about putting 40 inches of fish in the tank according to normal calculations
neons don't go past 1 inch, I don't think the cories go past 1.5
with the neons and guppies, if you add 4 corys your looking at about another 15-20 inches of fish
based on
6 neons (6 inches )
4 corys (6 inches)
4 guppies ( 6 inches )
(approx sizes only for indication ;) )

[Severus]

I stand corrected in the fact that Ghost Knifes show the most aggresion towards other GK and not so much other fish. they will get very aggresive when other fish try to go into its eastablished hiding place though, but other than that they can become very tame and friendly. Although they do get very large. Up to 20"

[Jakaris]

Alright, I have the tank. It was different than she said it was though, here it is:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/Jakaris/Tank/10220003.jpg

Sorry about the crappy quality, i have a poor camera.. need to buy another one actually. The water IS cloudy atm, but it was just set up 1.5 hours ago. When I go back for the fish, im going to buy some tall plants to go behind the (fake) driftwood.

Heres the deal though, I'm going for cichlids... I kinda realised how big the Knife would get :( My friend is getting a free 10 gallon tank complete with fish, lol, since I've heard their quite aggressive. I was actually "recruited" by a person I met in petsmart who knew a LOT about them... as usual, the employees were complete dumbasses, but he knew what he was talking about. He suggested about 6-7 of them in my tank once its stable, plus one Pleco.

Anything I need to know? :D

[kimmers318]

Be careful about the type of pleco you get....most of the commonly found ones in petstores can get to 12" or larger and will soon outgrow that tank. The bristlenoses stay much smaller at 4-6", pitbulls also stay small....research some plecos and see if you can find something that will be able to live happily in that tank so you don't end up with a tankbuster!

[Lady Hobbs]

Be careful with your selection of cichlids, as well. Many get large. Your tank will do well with drawf's. Kimmers has some drawfs so check with her as to what is a good species.