65 gallon nano/small fish stocking ideas

[JamieDC]

Hi all,

I currently have a 65 gallon, heavily planted tank with Fluval407. The tank has been up and running for 4 years. I’m moving some of the current fish to another tank. Once this is done I’d love to stock the tank with a bunch of nano or small fish. Fish that will be staying - 1 pearl Gourami, 12 rummy nose, 5 cories, 6 emperor tetras, 5 amano shrimp and a few snails. I’d love to add a variety of nano rainbows or some small killifish. I’m looking for lots of color and activity. I would love any suggestions you all have. Thanks all and happy 4th! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/3/2022 at 11:19 AM, JamieDC said:

I currently have a 65 gallon, heavily planted tank with Fluval407. The tank has been up and running for 4 years.

Sounds just about perfect!  The only thing that would make it better is if you said it was a 65G lowboy style tank.  I found one.... One day it'll be mine!

 

On 7/3/2022 at 11:19 AM, JamieDC said:

I’m moving some of the current fish to another tank. Once this is done I’d love to stock the tank with a bunch of nano or small fish. Fish that will be staying - 1 pearl Gourami, 12 rummy nose, 5 cories, 6 emperor tetras, 5 amano shrimp and a few snails. I’d love to add a variety of nano rainbows or some small killifish.

First, I will say that you might want to consider removing the fish you're planning to, modify the scape slightly (move things around to force new territories or just change the traffic patterns in the tank) and then let things settle for a few weeks before adding anything.  This also gives you a gate/timeline of when to put things into a QT tank while the display settles due to the changes.

Ok so... rummy nose and emperor tetras seem to be the focus on this one and from what I've heard emperor's can be a bit tank-bossy compared to smaller fish.  Not detrimentally or aggressive, but they are bigger and might scare other fish or intimidate them.

I think this sort of pushes you towards a specific fish size or fish that end up in a certain area of the tank.

I would lean towards more tetras, just due to compatibility or something that is a bit reclusive.  I don't have specific answers for the second one.  Maybe a bolivian ram?  As for a tetra, these might work if you add a smaller school into the tank.

-Penquin tetra
-black emperor tetra (aquahuna has them)
-glowlight tetra (unique, very cool fish)
-cardinal/albino cardinal tetra (slightly bigger than neons)
-black neon tetra (slightly bigger than neons)

Also:

-Celestial Pearl Danios (temp, just verify it's fine)
-pencilfish (similar region of origin)
-clown plecos
-dwarf praecox rainbows (I would think these are specifically the ones that fit)

[macdaddy36]

I wonder about keeping a small group of honey gouramis with your pearl gourami...

[dan12boy]

Maybe a golden wonder killifish or some sort of cichlid like checkerboard. 

On 7/4/2022 at 10:16 PM, macdaddy36 said:

I wonder about keeping a small group of honey gouramis with your pearl gourami...

Sadly I believe the pearl would attack the honeys. Looked it up to see if I could get a pearl since I already have a honey. 

[JettsPapa]

On 7/3/2022 at 1:19 PM, JamieDC said:

Hi all,

I currently have a 65 gallon, heavily planted tank with Fluval407. The tank has been up and running for 4 years. I’m moving some of the current fish to another tank. Once this is done I’d love to stock the tank with a bunch of nano or small fish. Fish that will be staying - 1 pearl Gourami, 12 rummy nose, 5 cories, 6 emperor tetras, 5 amano shrimp and a few snails. I’d love to add a variety of nano rainbows or some small killifish. I’m looking for lots of color and activity. I would love any suggestions you all have. Thanks all and happy 4th! 

Have you considered adding about 10 more pearl gouramis?  (I have 12 in a 40 gallon breeder, and really like them.)

[AquaHobbyist123]

Pearl Gouramis are beautiful.

[JamieDC]

@JettsPapa, I do love my pearl Gourami and so glad i grabbed one from my LFS. I haven’t thought about adding more of them as I assumed (as I think I’ve this) that they can bit aggressive with each other. But perhaps with the correct gender ratio it could work. 

[Corbidorbidoodle]

I've found that my Gouramis don't get along with other kinds of Gouramis, but I have 6 pearls and they're the best of friends.

[JettsPapa]

On 7/6/2022 at 3:21 PM, JamieDC said:

@JettsPapa, I do love my pearl Gourami and so glad i grabbed one from my LFS. I haven’t thought about adding more of them as I assumed (as I think I’ve this) that they can bit aggressive with each other. But perhaps with the correct gender ratio it could work. 

I would recommend more females than males, but at one point I had a roughly 2M:1F ratio in my tank and didn't have any issues (now it's closer to 1:1).

[BradfordAquatics]

Unless the emperors are nippy, threadfin or furcata rainbows might be another nice option for you