paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 20gal long tank with sand substrate, a plastic bonsai tree decoration and an assortment of live plants. Aquaclear 20 filter and a sponge filter. I’m kind of stuck on stocking because I can’t make up my mind. I thought about panda corys or khuli loaches, cherry shrimp & a betta or german blue ram ( could I do a pair? ). With the hope that the fish could keep the shrimp population in check without decimating them entirely. But….I don’t know. Which should I pick or do you guys have a better combo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 I have previously done Zebra Danios, Ricefish, BN plecos and Apistogramma together. Another combo would be guppies, white clouds, and Hillstream Loaches. Have fun with your new tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/7/2022 at 11:43 PM, TheSwissAquarist said: Another combo would be guppies, white clouds Guppies and white clouds both require different temp. White clouds are temperate fish that can't have temps go above 72 and guppies want 74 and above. On 6/7/2022 at 11:35 PM, paarkrosis said: 20gal long tank with sand substrate, a plastic bonsai tree decoration and an assortment of live plants. Aquaclear 20 filter and a sponge filter. I’m kind of stuck on stocking because I can’t make up my mind. I thought about panda corys or khuli loaches, cherry shrimp & a betta or german blue ram ( could I do a pair? ). With the hope that the fish could keep the shrimp population in check without decimating them entirely. But….I don’t know. Which should I pick or do you guys have a better combo? Tbh I don't know enough about bettas or rams with shrimp to advise there. I do think the centerpiece, schooling, cleaning combo is a great one to do. Between rams and betta that's up to you. Keep in mind what parts of the tank they use. If you go with cories, shrimp, and ram that's all fish that stick to the bottom. If you do go with rams, I would probably not do the cories but pic a schooling fish that would use mid or top. If you want with the betta, you can probably still do a small school but in addition to the cories. Just because in completely biased and in love, I want to throw snails into the mix. If you do them I would do it instead of the shrimp. The 2 most popular snails are mystery snails and nerites. Here's a quick pros cons of the 2. Tbh, you could probably add a couple of nerites in addition to shrimp. Nerites: - amazing at eating and cleaning algae - comes in pretty colors and patterns - small size and bioload - boring to watch Mystery: - eats only small amounts of algae - comes in a variety of colors - large size and considerable bioload - entertaining to watch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 6:37 AM, Cinnebuns said: Guppies and white clouds both require different temp. White clouds are temperate fish that can't have temps go above 72 and guppies want 74 and above. Tbh I don't know enough about bettas or rams with shrimp to advise there. I do think the centerpiece, schooling, cleaning combo is a great one to do. Between rams and betta that's up to you. Keep in mind what parts of the tank they use. If you go with cories, shrimp, and ram that's all fish that stick to the bottom. If you do go with rams, I would probably not do the cories but pic a schooling fish that would use mid or top. If you want with the betta, you can probably still do a small school but in addition to the cories. Just because in completely biased and in love, I want to throw snails into the mix. If you do them I would do it instead of the shrimp. The 2 most popular snails are mystery snails and nerites. Here's a quick pros cons of the 2. Tbh, you could probably add a couple of nerites in addition to shrimp. Nerites: - amazing at eating and cleaning algae - comes in pretty colors and patterns - small size and bioload - boring to watch Mystery: - eats only small amounts of algae - comes in a variety of colors - large size and considerable bioload - entertaining to watch Bettas are a gamble with any community tank….I’ve never had them with shrimp, but they can either be okay or genocidal with them from what I’ve seen/been told by other people. I have an empty 15gal & 10gal I can move the betta to if need be. I have a nemo koi plakat that can’t even be with oto cats because he took one of their eyes out. I love bettas but they are a gamble, lol. I’ve never had German rams….but I guess I could get a dwarf gourami. I have a neon blue in my 29gal with chili rasboras, panda corys & oto cats. I thought about endlers but I do like a bigger centerpiece fish and then smaller schooling/shoaling fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 german blue rams are difficult to keep and not very hardy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Pandas may be a bit to rambunctious for a betta. Mine are all over every level of the tank all the time non stop. That may stress a betta quite a bit. Also my shrimp population in the panda tank struggles where every other tank they take over. Pandas naturally dig in everything and newborn shrimp are ideal live food size hidden in nooks and crannies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 10:21 AM, Guppysnail said: Pandas may be a bit to rambunctious for a betta. Mine are all over every level of the tank all the time non stop. That may stress a betta quite a bit. Also my shrimp population in the panda tank struggles where every other tank they take over. Pandas naturally dig in everything and newborn shrimp are ideal live food size hidden in nooks and crannies. Yeah, it’s hard to tell how bettas will react to anything. I have empty ( cycled ) tanks I could always put them in. As for the shrimp, I was wanting something where their population would be kept in check but they wouldn’t be decimated, y’know? Would khuli loaches or pygmy corys be a better choice with a betta? On 6/8/2022 at 10:08 AM, Theplatymaster said: german blue rams are difficult to keep and not very hardy So probably not the best choice, huh? Are apistogrammas the same way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theplatymaster Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 apistogrammas (from what ive heard) are much easier to keep and pretty hardy, but ask people that have kept them before you only go by my word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 12:28 PM, paarkrosis said: pygmy corys be a better choice with a betta I am a snail girl so do not know anything about loaches aside from them eating snails 🤣. My Pygmys are very zoomie but in a different way. As long as the betta is not aggressive I think they would be a good choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 I love my Harlequins, they are beautiful when healthy (so many shades of silver/red/orange and black) and they did eat my tiny baby Otos....so maybe they'll eat baby shrimp. They don't pick off substrate though like my Black Neons and Guppies will- they pick off the glass and higher up places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 You could do Panda Cory's neon tetras and a pair of apistogramma as your center piece fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 1:31 PM, Colu said: You could do Panda Cory's neon tetras and a pair of apistogramma as your center piece fish Would cardinal tetras be better? People have mentioned they aren’t as inbred and are a little hardier than neons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 I haven't kept cardinals I found neon tetra were pretty hardy with a good water quality and nutrition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 12:55 PM, paarkrosis said: Would cardinal tetras be better? People have mentioned they aren’t as inbred and are a little hardier than neons. i'll toss in another option, with the darker substrate, and green plants, give ember tetras a try. they really look good in that kind of environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 2:21 PM, lefty o said: i'll toss in another option, with the darker substrate, and green plants, give ember tetras a try. they really look good in that kind of environment. I’ve always liked the look of celestial pearl danios too….I am so indecisive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 Okay, okay — how about this: betta, CPD, pandas or pygmys, AND shrimp? Or is that too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billango Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 12:14 PM, paarkrosis said: Okay, okay — how about this: betta, CPD, pandas or pygmys, AND shrimp? Or is that too much? I like the sound of that. I might personally pick one type of cory to get larger groups of corys and CPDs, but thats just me. My two bettas that I keep (in separate tanks) have had no problem getting along with venezuelanus and pygmy corys, lampeye killifish, cherry shrimp, and chili rasboras, but I've heard other bettas can have less accommodating dispositions. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 (edited) On 6/8/2022 at 3:38 PM, billango said: I like the sound of that. I might personally pick one type of cory to get larger groups of corys and CPDs, but thats just me. My two bettas that I keep (in separate tanks) have had no problem getting along with venezuelanus and pygmy corys, lampeye killifish, cherry shrimp, and chili rasboras, but I've heard other bettas can have less accommodating dispositions. Good luck! Oh, yeah, it’ll be either pygmy or pandas. I already have pandas in a 29gal tank but then again I already have 3 bettas ( all in separate tanks ) lol. Why not have some more? I do have a 15gal I could put the pygmys in….hmmmmmmm Edited June 8, 2022 by paarkrosis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 Oooooooooooooooor could a betta, CPD, kuhli loaches, AND shrimp work? Loaches would be a change from what I already have…wiggly fish that can live up to 10yrs ( which I didn’t know! ). I could always have my corys in my empty 15gal ( has sand too ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 There’s a local-ish fish store that I’ve gotten chili rasboras from before that has khuli loaches, yellow shrimp and the CPD but the danios are out of stock rn. I could try to find the danios somewhere else ( like aqua-hana ). They have both pygmy and panda corys too ( and long-fin corys! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 What are y’alls experience with kuhli loaches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChargerstoLA Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Rams can be very finicky, but if you get them from a good breeder you should not have any issues. I love my Rams and their breeding behavior and color changes make the hobby even better. GBR are sensitive, but Bolivian Rams are a bit easier. You could also go Apistogrammas or Kribs for the same vibe as GBR but not as sensitive. Your mileage may very on keep shrimp with these fish. Your current setup does not have enough hidey holes for baby shrimp to survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paarkrosis Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 3:21 PM, ChargerstoLA said: Rams can be very finicky, but if you get them from a good breeder you should not have any issues. I love my Rams and their breeding behavior and color changes make the hobby even better. GBR are sensitive, but Bolivian Rams are a bit easier. You could also go Apistogrammas or Kribs for the same vibe as GBR but not as sensitive. Your mileage may very on keep shrimp with these fish. Your current setup does not have enough hidey holes for baby shrimp to survive. Oh, no, I’m still wanting to add plants and hide holes. I have one thing of java moss, but I definitely wanted to get more and maybe some monte carlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChargerstoLA Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 12:24 PM, paarkrosis said: Oh, no, I’m still wanting to add plants and hide holes. I have one thing of java moss, but I definitely wanted to get more and maybe some monte carlo That will help your shrimp if you are looking to go toward adding a smaller cichlid. There are no guarantees it will be fine, as they just can become an expensive dinner. However, I have seen success with adding the shrimp before the fish. If you are dead set on shrimp, going with loaches and coryies is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 I'd go with borelli apistogramma - 2 males 4 females; and 10 pymgy cory and 10 ember tetra or maybe 10 kubotai rasbora. - If you go with rams you will want to keep the tank at 82ish so keep that in mind. Also they will brutalize the shrimp. - Borelli are very passive and extremely personal - also they stay smaller but i'd add some driftwood or something on the right side. - No one asked your water condition (kh, gh, ph) so I will as if it is extreme in either direction that might shape your stocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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