something different

[wijnands]

I wouldn't consider myself a real beginner since I'm about to start my third aquarium. However, I just don't have the time, money or resources to spend on it like the people who take the hobby more seriously do have so I figured I might as well post here.

I've always had a community aquarium and liked that. Now I'm considering doing something just a bit different.

I've been considering getting just a single species such as a tetra. I was also thinking of setting up an aquarium with mainly bottom dwellers but since I have a small tank that may not be such a good idea.

So... what I guess I'm trying to say is that I want something different but do want the hardiness and robustness of the typical beginners species. Any thoughts?

[Chrona]

I wouldn't consider myself a real beginner since I'm about to start my third aquarium. However, I just don't have the time, money or resources to spend on it like the people who take the hobby more seriously do have so I figured I might as well post here.

I've always had a community aquarium and liked that. Now I'm considering doing something just a bit different.

I've been considering getting just a single species such as a tetra. I was also thinking of setting up an aquarium with mainly bottom dwellers but since I have a small tank that may not be such a good idea.

So... what I guess I'm trying to say is that I want something different but do want the hardiness and robustness of the typical beginners species. Any thoughts?

I would highly recommend Cardinal Tetras. A big shoal of them look really cool. They are fairly hardy once they are adjusted to your water, but you usually want to spend a good 2-3 times longer acclimating them than normal, ie float for 25 min, pour 1/2 cup water in bag every 10 minutes for an hour.

[wijnands]

Yeah, either neon or cardinals where on my short list for a single species tannk

[Chrona]

I personally don't like neons. If you have a good source for them, then by all means go ahead, but around here, they get inbred too much and are not nearly as hardy as they once were in the wild. Plus they tend to bring that nasty Neon Tetra Disease.

[cocoa_pleco]

Neon tetra disease is BAD. it can be transferred to other fish and is 100% fatal with no cure.

Cardinal tetras are the ONLY tetra that have built up immunity to the disease

[Chrona]

I'll warn you though, if you don't have a decent sized school, the cardinals can get really rowdy with each other. I could only fit three in my tank, and after a few weeks, they were going at each other and my angelfish. This could be an isolated incident though. My whole tank is full of weirdos anyways.

[wijnands]

Only fish I've had with rowdy tendencies were tiger barbs. But my experience with all the members of the tetra family is that a school of 4 is absolute minimum.
Hmm... tiger barbs, there's an idea.

[Incredulous_Ed]

And cardinal tetras look better (in my opinion). What is the hardness and pH of your water? Cardinals need soft low pH water to thrive

[bettaboy691]

i personally like cardinals more than neons, but thats a preferd choice.both can look good and live well.black neons i like too
if your after something different what about figure 8 puffers or dwarf puffers. small, hardy and easy to keep i think. or a shrimp only tank, that would look pretty cool and be easy to look after.
if your after the begginer fish, what about small barbs, rasboras, hatchets or even livebearers
for bottom dwellers, pygmy cories will be the best choice i think, maybe a few kuhliis?

[cocoa_pleco]

i like bloodfins. Theyre faster than me to a buffet

[wijnands]

I keep having to look up the translations for all those fish names. :)

Just looked up puffins, no, I think not. They're quite expensive and, to me, also quite ugly. Bloodfin tetra looks good but I don't think I've seen 'm in local shops.

Hardness, well, I'm rebuilding the tank so I don't know yet, last was was a bit on the soft side, around 5 most of the time.

Perhaps I should just take my son to the shop and see what he points out and then check how feasible his choice is.

[wijnands]

Well... we made a partial decision. I'm going to have a small school of cardinal tetra and some shrimp, probably Caridina serrata. In addition to that possibly a small school of another tetra species.

[kimmers318]

What size tank are you looking at setting up? Please make sure what you decide on will live happily in the tank you are getting. I figure with your experience though you have already figured that.
Good choice on no puffs, they may be hardy, but they aren't really easy. The freshwater dwarf puffers can be housed in a smaller tank, but generally don't eat dried foods, frozen and live are the choices and regular snails are a must. Figure 8 puffs require brackish water, which although they aren't sensitive to swings in salinity levels being true brackish, BW is not something for someone who wants an easy tank....and again, being puffers, need a more specialized diet than your community fish.
Depending on tank size, you could have the cardinals with the shrimp (great choice BTW, I wish local stores carried more shrimp around here) along with some cories. There are smaller varieties of cory that do very well, my experience with cory is that they are hardy and enjoyable. If going 20 gal or more you can also check into some of the smaller plecos for algae control, my bristlenose is great!

[*Sarah*]

Since Hatchets are generally Top dwellers (right?), couldn't you get some Hatchets and maybe a few Corydoras?

[*Sarah*]

Oh, and I've never heard of Neon Tetra Disease...that's scary to me since I have 10 neons in my tank. How soon do you know if any of ur fish have it? Mine have been in my tank for about a month...

[freshwaterfishlover]

You did not say the size of the tank. It all depends on the size of the tank for what you can put in it?

[minabird]

Instead of doing a typical community tank with the tetras, how about a biotope aquarium. Since you're getting cardinal tetras, setup an Amazon basin biotope tank and stock it with other species that live in that region or even in the same environment that would be seen with cardinals. Here are 2 links on setting up a biotope.

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