[Agent13]

I have my 1 and only "nice fish" tank the cory tank with of course the famous Bettadora. it's 20 gallons and 12 corys, 1 "bettadora", and now 4 very tiny what I feel are yoyo loaches( but I could be wrong, they were labeled Angelicus Botia but from every google search the look doesn't match..they look more like the yoyo loaches my bichir ate). Anyway I put them in the 20g for them to grow out in but I have decided I really like them and how they interact with the cory's and after long thought I really think at full grown they will still be easy food for the bichir so I now plan to move them all to my unused 55g. I will transfer over soon but feel that with that tank it'll look bare and wondering does anyone have ideas for middle or top swimming fish I could add to the tank? Or should I just add a few other groups of different loaches? What would you guys do?

 

[Jeffrey]

Bare 55g!? Wants stocking ideas!? What fun! I personally have a thing for tetras. So many species, all are beautiful. Even the plainer looking ones color up SO nicely once you get them safely into a well kept aquarium. I bought some flame tetras for my 15g the other day and they were almost a completely different creature in the morning. Strong red, and a really flashy orange glimmer on the fins, beautiful. I always get excited when I get a new tank because it means I get to try a new tetra species :-D

Don't know if tetras are your thing, but thats my .02

 

[pennyls9332]

i like barbs and dwarf gouramis. maybe add some angelfish if you like something bigger. i would stay away from most cichlids besides the few calmer south american types

 

[Agent13]

I'm not usually a tetra person but this is my "nice fish" tank and will not rule them out. I want an interesting mix, as of now I have 4 albino cory's 3 greens, 5 Juliis 1 PK "bettadora" and 4 baby yoyo loaches. Fairly lowstocked once in the 55g...I'm kinda tempted to set it up tonight. We will see how tired I am after cleaning up after the kids. I guess if I did tetras I would do a really nice sized school of them of some pretty variety that isn't in every tank around. Honestly for the first time I feel wide open with what I want to stock with this tank...aside from current residents and also need to be OK to stock with current stock. I'm used to stocking aggressive tanks so to some degree I feel this is new ground for me.

Yes, a few angels have crossed my mind... already love the 5 I have in my 75(soon to be much larger!) community. And good point penny. I really have been into the idea of rams.. a pair or whatever is suggested. This is yet another fish I'm not 100% familiar with the needs of.

 

[pennyls9332]

the fish i suggested are all semi aggresive. nice fish would be considered tropical fish. there is a large range of fish in this group but most of them are smaller. you could how ever get a nice school of neon tetras. theyre pretty small (about 1 inch) but are brightly colored. mollies or platys come in a lot of colors but are still about 2 inches in size.

 

[Agent13]

the fish i suggested are all semi aggresive. nice fish would be considered tropical fish. there is a large range of fish in this group but most of them are smaller. you could how ever get a nice school of neon tetras. theyre pretty small (about 1 inch) but are brightly colored. mollies or platys come in a lot of colors but are still about 2 inches in size.

Funny though..I actually have all you mentioned in your first response throughout my tanks. I however do not like neon tetras.
For a good idea..it's a calm yet actively feeding tank. and the corydoras will the the smallest when all full grown. The yoyo's or Angelicus botia both grow to about 5 inches I believe and are sweet non aggressive fish. I guess my main concern is something that will not harm them or stress them. as far as the betta goes..well I have plenty hospital tanks and othher tanks it can go nto if the best stocking idea rules him out. he isn't a must in this stock.

 

[Jeffrey]

Rams would love this tank. I love rams lol. Have you considered hatchets? Thy are a really unique option imo. Tough to find anything else that will cling to the surface that well, not anything I can think of shares that behavior. And you can find them small enough that they don't take too large a portion of your bioload.
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[Agent13]

yay..Rams!!.. I'll google the crizznappy out of them soon but you sure they are good tank mates? No haven't though of hatchets. I'll work on rams first then go from there. Not worried about bioload. Have supreme filtration

Anyone else have advice on rams and how to keep them and if thats a good choice. My "top shelf" LFS keeps many types so I'd lonve to try if this will work in that tank.

 

[Jeffrey]

Probably want to avoid blue rams for this tank, they have some special needs that might not jive well with all the other tank mates you've already selected. As for Bolivians, off the top of my head I think they'd be fine, just keep in mind that they are bottom dwelling as well and will be sharing space with the cories. (I personally haven't kept Bolivians before, only blues)
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[Agent13]

ughhh. grrrrr. I kinda wanted blue rams. Knowing me I'll settle for no less the my heart is set on. Curious though(don't get all worried.I have plenty other tanks and spare ones as well). Why not blue rams? Yes..Agent is having a moment of being humble..explain why they don't mix...
55 is up ad running. I swear I am not patient. lol

 

[Jeffrey]

Blue rams need warm water water than most other tropicals. I think some of the cories might not like it much (not sure what species they are, possible they would be ok, Byron would probably know). With most fish you can get away with having a couple of the parameters stray from what is ideal for that species, in my experience this just isnt the case with rams. They either get sick or just waste away if you try to keep them in water that is too cool/hard/basic.

Damn you set that up fast!

 

[jaysee]

by many accounts yoyo loaches can be fairly aggressive. And angelicus loaches are just....gregarious.

I think you've got plenty of bottom dwellers as it stands, and would look for fish to occupy the rest of the tank like I think you said. In a 55 I would look to do dwarf neon rainbows, some cherry or gold barbs and.... a group of festivums.

 

[Agent13]

Yea, I don't joke around or waste time when it comes to my tanks. Everyone is in and settled. the juliis however seem really shy at the moment in the new tank .Only upgrade taking a moment is the 75 to a 240( because that involves finding a group of men to move it and take it up stairs for me) oh well maybe ill eventually get a ram tank when one of the kids bettas die. I can play it off like its for them hahaha
Hmm dwarf neon rainbows?? I'll check that out. You think the will not bother my tiny loaches ? Those little ones are EVERYWHERE in this bigger tank. I guess they like it. I had no idea yoyos were aggressive ... But I didn't own my previous ones long enough to know them ... And compared to that tank they were sweet puppy dogs even if there was some level of aggression lol


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[Agent13]

Threadfin rainbow? You think a handful of those would work?


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[BWG]

Threadfin rainbows are really easily out competed for food. The suggested tankmates are almost always nano sized because of that.

 

[rexpepper651]

id go for a school of hatchets for some top water guys. im really diggin on my sarpae tetras beautiful red color. maybe some painted sword tails? apisto grammas? rainbows are always a wonderful choice!

 

[Agent13]

Threadfin rainbows are really easily out competed for food. The suggested tankmates are almost always nano sized because of that.

Man!! I really like those fish. I've never really looked into rainbows before and that one really is awesome looking. They did have tiny mouths but my kids have NLS small fish food..those little micro pellets that float. Everyone in the tank pretty much eat off the sand. Yes even the "bettadora" sinks his pellets to eat at the bottom with his fellow corydoras. The yoyo's( or angelicus..I really should post a pic to get an ID on them) really either eat the crumbs from the corydoras mess they make of their food or climb the plants. I haven't seen them surface eating. Do you think knowing that...this makes Threadfins possible? Are they surface feeding fish?

 

[jaysee]

Id be happy to ID your loaches ;-)

 

[Agent13]

They look so much like my yoyo's did. Sorry it's a little cloudy. I was a little hasty last night pouring the water into the tank lol. They are very active and social.

you can see they really are teeny tiny lil ones.


So whats the verdict Angelicus or Yoyo?

 

[jaysee]

Many loaches look very different when young versus old. There are several species of loach that have similar markings, and there are even variations within a species. I think they'll have to get a little bigger to know for sure.