Starting to wonder about hatchets

[BirdOfPray]

Y'all are going to get sick of my questions before I even have any fish, but here goes!

Because of my weirdly-shaped tank (tall hex) I've been thinking it would be best to choose fish species that are spread out along the height of the tank. I've been planning on hatchetfish for the top layer. However, reading some other posts about them, I'm starting to wonder if I'm up for the challenge. Are they really that hard to keep alive and happy? I know about keeping a tight lid on the tank, and I intend to do my best to keep the water parameters stable and all that... but am I just setting myself up for failure? I'm willing to take on a challenge, but only if I'm being reasonable about it. Our house is pretty quiet and low-key -- no bright lights, not much TV watching, no blaring music -- but I do have a 13-month-old and he and I are home during the day. He's well-behaved and not the noisy type, but he does like to do things like drum on the doors and make other reasonable noises. I'm already teaching him not to touch the fish tank and stand and he's learning quickly, so he won't be banging on the glass or anything like that.

My previous fishkeeping experience has been guppies, cories, black skirt tetras, and bolivian rams. Those all seemed to do well, but I know they're mostly pretty easygoing (the rams being the exception). If hatchets are out of my league, is there something else that would fill in that top level of the tank? It's 30 gallons and I hope to put in an angelfish, a cockatoo cichlid, and some sort of bottomdweller (BN, corys... still trying to work out what will fit). I just want to optimize space and fill out the tank nicely so there aren't big gaps in the water column.

[jaysee]

I have a 30 hex and must say I've had the hardest time deciding what to put in it. My concern with hatchets in that tank is there's just not enough surface area to keep enough of them to maintain a happy school.

[BirdOfPray]

If you wouldn't mind sharing what you decide on yours, I'd love to know. I really want to stick with the angelfish and the cockatoo cichlid if possible (or at least one of the two), but I'm trying to figure out the top and bottom levels... and who knows, I may just have to rework the whole thing. My husband likes colorful fish, so he wouldn't be too disappointed if I changed up my original plan. He kept getting distracted by the neons and cardinals while I was trying to show him corys and hatchets. ;)

[jaysee]

I'm moving my kuhlis to it and will add some pygmy corys for the bottom, that much is for certain. I'm also going to get sparkling gouramis for the middle/top. I'm still deciding on the centerpiece fish. Initially I wanted an angel, but it may eat the corys. I like the dwarf cichlid idea and would do that it I didn't have them in another tank. I like the neon/cardinal idea as well and think they would look great with a cichlid with blues and reds.

A golden wonder killie would add some color and pretty much stays at the surface exclusively.

[BirdOfPray]

Just thinking out loud... if I were to forget about the angelfish, would the bottom levels of the tank be crowded with kuhlis, pygmy corys and a cockatoo? I'm thinking just the one cockatoo because I don't want to breed them or anything. There's a strict one-tank limit. ;) I'd have to do some more reading on kuhlis, but they sound like pretty neat fish at first glance. And heck, I've got time for reading... the tank is still cycling slowly but surely. How many neons or cardinals would you think would do well in a set-up like that? Also kind of liked the look of harlequin rasboras or rummy-nosed tetras...

Thanks for the feedback -- I appreciate having some different ideas to look into. My research on any of the larger fish is a little lacking since I started with the 10-gallon in my previous experience and tried to avoid reminding myself of all the fish that wouldn't live happily there. Trying to expand my horizons. :)

[jaysee]

Corys and kuhlis stay on the bottom, where the cichlid is more free swimming, so I don't think that'll be too much. One cichlid is probably enough though :ssmile:

I think you can easily do 10 neons, but they occupy the same space as the cichlid. I would choose a few different schhols of small tetras/rasboras that occupy different levels. Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do:19:

After observing the danios in the hex it is quite evident that small fish are the way to go.

You're helping me to decide on my tank! Okay, a dwarf gourami will be the centerpiece, with a few small schools of small fish occupying different levels.

[BirdOfPray]

Glad I've helped -- I've certainly been helped! How many kuhlis and corys would you recommend if I did go with those? Looks like kuhlis like groups of 3 or more, and I'd want to have good numbers for them and the corys without overcrowding either.

Off to research the smaller schooling fish!

[Red]

kuhlis should be 5+, and cories should be 4+. so maybe 5 kuhlis and 5 cories.
What is your filtration?

[jaysee]

I'm doing serpae tetras for the lower level....

[Red]

Whats the filtration, sounds like a great tank!

[jaysee]

Oh me? It's an AC50 packed with sponge, filter floss, and 2 bags of biomax. I think because the fish will be small that it will be enough. I've got a couple extra extenders on it to reach deeper.

Thank you

[jaysee]

Alllllright, here's the stocking list for the 30 hex.

dwarf gourami, harliquin rasboras (top - middle), serpae tetras (middle - bottom), pygmy corys and kuhli loaches

[BirdOfPray]

I've got an Aquaclear 30 (150gph) with a couple of sponges and a mesh bag of rings that came with it. It originally came with a carbon insert and I pulled that out and put in the second sponge instead... hopefully the right solution.

Plan to visit my LFS today to look around at what they have and get more concrete ideas. Making progress on cycling -- ammonia just dropped to 0 for the first time, so at least I know something's happening! Nitrites are way high, of course, so I've got plenty of time left to wait.

[jaysee]

You may want to think about stepping up to a larger filter as your tank becomes more stocked.

Hope you get some ideas at the LFS and let us know what you come up with!

[Alpo]

So you've totally x'ed out the hatchets? I liked that idea. I thought a couple would be pretty cool. I used to have 2 but I kept my lid open while I was at work one day and they both committed suicide by jumping out of the tank.

[BirdOfPray]

I may still consider the hatchets, but I'm wondering how practical they really are. I don't want to get in over my head at the cost of the fish, so I'm trying to come up with an alternate plan and see if it's more doable. I do really like the look of them, and I liked the feel of my first plan (angelfish, hatchets, cockatoo, and something for the bottom level), but I would definitely be open to some feedback on how hard that will be to manage. I'm willing to put work into it, of course, but given the choice between two attractive community tanks, I might lean toward the one I'd be less able to mess up. ;)

[Alpo]

I may still consider the hatchets, but I'm wondering how practical they really are. I don't want to get in over my head at the cost of the fish, so I'm trying to come up with an alternate plan and see if it's more doable. I do really like the look of them, and I liked the feel of my first plan (angelfish, hatchets, cockatoo, and something for the bottom level), but I would definitely be open to some feedback on how hard that will be to manage. I'm willing to put work into it, of course, but given the choice between two attractive community tanks, I might lean toward the one I'd be less able to mess up. ;)
understood :ssmile:

[BirdOfPray]

LFS guy didn't think hatchets would be hard to keep up with if I got the water right and kept the tank covered. This is the good LFS, where the fish always look healthy and the employees usually sound competent, so I'm inclined to trust him. However, he did say an angel might be a bit big for the tank once it's full grown. He suggested I could buy a small one and trade it in when it gets too big, but I really just want to get a nice tank going and then leave it be -- not move fish in and out all the time.

Soo... now I'm thinking I might try to merge Plans A and B. Without the angel, I could do pygmy corys -- say 5 or 6 of those. A dwarf cichlid, definitely, although I'm wavering between a ram or a cockatoo. They had German Blue Rams in today (beautiful!) but no Cockatoos so I couldn't compare in person. Then the half-dozen marbled hatchets up top, and the lack of an angelfish would leave room for a school of something small and colorful in the mid-range of the tank. They also had otos in, and those little guys are tempting, but I don't want to overcrowd things. Dreaming of a really nice filter someday, but my fish budget grows slowly and I was told the AquaClear would be a good one until I can afford something really nice.

Guess I just need to figure out what I'll have to do with the water in order to get it right for hatchets and see if it'll be too much trouble on a regular basis. I took a sample in a while back and they tested it and told me I should be ok using aged tapwater (rather than buying their RO), but now I'm trying to remember if I had mentioned keeping hatchets when I went in that time.