Now I have room in my tank....

[Glasstapper]

and I'm itching to fill it. As some of you know, I recently lost my two dwarf gouramis. Now I have some free space in my tank, but I can't decided on what I want.

Now I was medicating this tank because of the gouramis, and as always, I won't be introducing a new fish in there until long after all of that medication is gone and everyone looks healthy. (well, everyone is healthy now, but I'm waiting for all of that medicine to get out).

Ok, so AFTER my tank is ready, what are some suggestions? I roughly have about 8 inches left before I reach the general rule of one inch of fish per gallon. My filtration is for a much larger tank, and I give 20% water changes with gravel siphoning once a week, so going slightly over 45 inches will be ok. Only slightly, though. (see my sig for stock and photo of setup).

I keep my pH at 7.0, and as always, my ammonia is 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 10.

No dwarf gouramis, no sensitive fish, no fish that look like snakes, and no plecos due to their messy nature, and I never have algae in my tank for their proper nutrition. And no more bottom feeders.

What do you think? more guppies? tetras? something else? none at all?

[kimmers318]

Tetras are a favorite of mine when looking to fill "gaps" in stocking to liven up a tank. Neons are still a popular one....I also have golds that are a vivid yellow with orange accent....the glolites are pretty striking. Some of the danios other than the striped ones have very pretty colors and the way they zip around a tank certainly livens things up. Just be careful that you aren't buying dyed ones. I am not sure of the different color variations names etc. but I have seen pearl and one other locally. With being overfiltered you could probably easily handle a school of 6. My bolivian ram, Sissy, is very peaceful...although I don't think I would attempt a pair just to avoid any issues like you had with gourami :). He is quite striking in coloration when he is happy, but it did seem like it took forever before he matured enough to show his colors. Sparkling gourami are cute little buggers, and with your lower ph you would probably get better color out of yours than I do mine. I have not seen any aggression out of mine...mostly just their curious nature annoys slow fish.
Hope that helps.

[Lady Hobbs]

One inch per fish is the general rule for small fish that are full grown. 2 inches per fish would make them happier. No more bottom feeders! What about those darling cory's. I only have two and can't wait to get more. I love those little guys.

I still have one remaining moonlight gourami that has remained behind the plants since the day I got rid of the others. He doesn't hardly come out at all. I guess he misses all that aggressive behavior. I keep telling my neighbor to come get him but he hasn't done so yet.

[Glasstapper]

I really like do like tetras, too. I'll start looking around at the different colors and sizes. I might even consider the bolivian ram, as well. They sure are pretty. thanks, kimmers.

hobbs, I like the cory cats, too. It's just that I'm afraid my gravel may be too coarse for their little barbels. Even thought everywhere says to put them on sand, I had seen tons of pictures of them on gravel, so i thought it would be ok. but it wasn't. :( Poor guys have some stubby little barbels now. Also, my tetras roam around mostly on the bottom, and I'd like to get a higher swimming or all-over swimming fish.

Thanks so much, guys. Time to start my researching and deciding!

[jeffs99dime]

keyhole cichlids. that's just me. they're awesome! lol

[Glasstapper]

Actually, I was wondering about the keyhole cichlids. What's their temperament like? My tetras can get a bit zippy when they're excited about food, but they mostly only chase each other. I also have coarse gravel, so if they like to dig, they might hurt themselves.

I'm going to go read on those guys, too. Thanks!

[Ivana]

My corys had a grand old time on the river rock in the bottom of their old tank. They didn't seem to mind not having sand.

[Abbeys_Mom]

How about rasboras? They make a nice school.

[jeffs99dime]

Actually, I was wondering about the keyhole cichlids. What's their temperament like? My tetras can get a bit zippy when they're excited about food, but they mostly only chase each other. I also have coarse gravel, so if they like to dig, they might hurt themselves.

I'm going to go read on those guys, too. Thanks!

they have a very laid back temperament. my keyholes don't really dig around in the substrate and i have medium- coarse gravel. their color really comes out when i feed them frozen blood worms and daphnia. they will chase smaller tetra but i have found they aren't quick enough to catch them. (cardinals, glowlights, black neons etc.) anything else you want to know about keyholes let me know.--jeff