What Are Your Favorite Fish Combos

[KaitieG]

47 minutes ago, Jennifer V said:

@Ben_RF I love the idea of adding a beta. Have you ever had any trouble with aggression or is it fine because the loaches stay to the bottom? 

I did tons of reading/worrying before introducing mine and it has been 100% a non-issue.  He's beautiful and interactive, and I'm so glad we gave it a try.  I realize that each fish is different, but at the LFS where we bought him, they regularly keep some of their bettas in with community fish, and they said that the vast majority of the time it works fine.  They also assured me I could bring him back if I needed to.  They did have 2 options who had been in a community tank successfully.  We didn't end up choosing one of them, but it would have been a "proven" deal if we did--if you can find a store that has proven community bettas that might be another option for you.  No guarantees, but it seems to work for a lot of people, depending on the fish they're mixed in with.

[KaitieG]

1 hour ago, Ben_RF said:

My favorite 10-gallon pairing is:  1 betta and 6 - 8 african dwarf frogs (I know not a fish but its aquatic!)  Typically in the same tank I also like to do 1 or 3 hillstream loaches.  If only 1 hillstream loach, then I also like to add 2 nerite or mystery snails to help with algae.

What do you feed your frogs? We tried a few but they'd only eat live food and even then had to be hand-fed and it just became a really big chore.  We decided they'd do better living with someone else, and the LFS agreed to take them.  They were my least favorite experiment so far--just because of the feeding.  

[lefty o]

1 hour ago, Jennifer V said:

@lefty o I've read that I can only have about 10 schooling fish max in my 10g. Can I extend that provided that I stay up on water testing and water changes? 

stocking is a whole big subject. the old school thought is 1" of fish per gallon, not counting fins. that is for a tank with no filtration, no nothing in it. when you add filtration, and plants you can over stock your tank. with plants and filtration, you can double or more the stocking level, however you have to be cautious as things like power outages or filter/air pump breaking can happen, in which case you dont want to be way over stocked or your water quality will deteriorate rapidly. my own  choice for a 10gal would be 1.5" of fish, that way you arent overly stocked if something did happen. you can also figure in stuff like shrimp or snails dont add very much to the bio load, so you could have 10 or 15 fish, and a dozen shrimp, and still be good. its all what you are comfortable with. first tank, dont go  crazy. sneak up on your stocking level.

[Art Vandelay]

RIght now I'm kind of digging Honey Guramis, ember tetras, amono shrimp, and nerite snaials. I haven't tried these together, but want to.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Art Vandelay

[JettsPapa]

4 hours ago, Jennifer V said:

@JettsPapa I just love my surprise bladder snail. How do you keep your snail population under control? What kind of shrimp do you have? 

• I keep the bladder snails under control (sort of) by crushing them and feeding them to the shrimp.  I don't know that I'd consider the rams horns and MTS "under control", but I don't mind them.
• I have a 10 gallon tank with red neocaridinas, a 5.5 gallon with dark blue neos, and another 5.5 with culls from both tanks (at least for the time being; it will also be a quarantine tank if I can ever find some panda corys, and after that I'm not sure).

[Marc]

Otos and shrimp in one. I stick fry in here to grow out.

CPDs, dwarf cories, and Shrimp in another.

Dwarf emerald rasboras and shrimp in another. A few endlers growing out in here for now.

[Ken]

2 hours ago, JettsPapa said:

if I can ever find some panda corys, and after that I'm not sure).

I got my Pandas from Aqua Huna. They were a lot less expensive than local, shipping and all, about 6 months ago and they are all doing great. There is a discount code on the CoOp site under "Live Fish"  on the menu.

[Ben_RF]

4 hours ago, Jennifer V said:

@Ben_RF I love the idea of adding a beta. Have you ever had any trouble with aggression or is it fine because the loaches stay to the bottom? 

So with bettas I find they each are different.  In general, fish that are not right up in their faces in my own experience have done fairly well.  I have heard of bettas that are mean and go after everything, but so far in my experience that has not been the case.  

Hillstream loaches in my experience have done fairly well because they stay either on the glass or right on the bottom.   Likewise the dwarf frogs tend to stay towards the bottom. Due to occuping different areas of the tank in general, I think this helps mitigate aggression.   

@FishyThoughtslinked an excellent video above that speaks on bettas in community tanks.

[Ben_RF]

3 hours ago, KaitieG said:

What do you feed your frogs? We tried a few but they'd only eat live food and even then had to be hand-fed and it just became a really big chore.  We decided they'd do better living with someone else, and the LFS agreed to take them.  They were my least favorite experiment so far--just because of the feeding.  

@KaitieG, this might be better on a new thread as not to distract from this one.

African Dwarf Frogs (ADF) may not eat for a number of reasons.  There are so many causes.  If they are brand new, it may be related to an infection or a parasite.  A fair amount of ADF in the trade are not well when we acquire them.  Many of these things can cause them not to eat.  Quadrating them and using proper medication is key when first acquiring them.  Personally I would recommend using erythromycin and ich-x initially with them.  Erythomycin (Maracyn) is one of the few accepted meds accepted as safe to treat ADF.  Also let them fast the first two days which under meds, unless they are emacitated.  ADF may also not eat right after acclimation if they are stressed.  

Good foods that typically work well are things that have a smell to them.  Personally I like to feed mine frozen foods that I have brought up to room temperature (cold foods sometimes will cause trouble).  Frozen foods I do like to use include mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and beaf hearts on occassion.  I avoid blood worms as I do think based on my own experience that it may lead to bloat.  Dry foods that I have found that work well include vibrabites, bug bites, freeze dried tubifex worms, and freeze dried blackworms..  Live foods I like to feed are mosquito larvae, blackworms, or banana worms if I can get my hands on them.

You may also experience luck feeding them by dimming the lights or turning off the lights.

One nice thing is that you can train ADF when it comes time to eat.  I tap the tank in a certain spot and place the food in a certain area.  As soon as I tap the tank, the little guys will come to the feeding spot.  I have found training them for food helps to make sure everyone gets fed.

Also try to only feed ADF no more than three times a week.  You want to feed them once their tummies have returned to being flat. Overfeeding ADF can cause a lot of problems.

[Machete]

When I think about stocking ideas, I try to think in terms of both bioload and space, Although I have done it in the past I wouln't keep any tetras in a 10 gallon, I don't think they have enough space to thrive in that tank size.

I also like to take into account geographic origin / water parameters and try to pair species accordingly.

 

[JettsPapa]

6 hours ago, Ken said:

I got my Pandas from Aqua Huna. They were a lot less expensive than local, shipping and all, about 6 months ago and they are all doing great. There is a discount code on the CoOp site under "Live Fish"  on the menu.

Thanks.  I looked there yesterday and saw that they have some, and I may do that since I've ordered from them before and been happy with them.  The only reason I haven't ordered them yet is that I have almost $100.00 remaining credit at two local stores from plants and shrimp I've sold them.  I keep hoping they'll get some pandas so I can use up some of that credit, but so far I've been disappointed.

[Jennifer V]

@Machete how do you feel about rasboras and danios for a 10g? Same as tetras? 

[Machete]

I've kept chilli rasboras in a 10 gallon tank and they did great. They are pretty small and can be super shy if they share the tank with bigger fish, so I would keep them by themselves.

I've never kept any danios, so I can't tell you about those.

[Maggie]

I had dwarf emerald danios (aka dwarf emerald rasboras, recently reclassified as danios and very close cousins to celestial pearl danios) in my 10 gal and they were fine. They're tiny and do not school at all. They crowd and hide together when frightened,  which is every single time there is any movement at all in or within about 6 feet of the tank, but otherwise do not. The males spend all day chasing females and other males, and they're fascinating, but you have to sit perfectly still for several minutes to see them, or watch from afar. They were fine in there along with yellow shrimp, but I moved them all to a new 20L so I could have the 10 for a quarantine tank.

I have harlequin rasboras in both my main tank and in quarantine. The 10 gallon is perfect for quarantine, but I would not have harlequins permanently in there, as they really love a lot of horizon swimming space - my 45 gallon is 36" and they use all of it and do "tricks and spins" over and under the equipment and filter waterfall.

The problem with the dwarf danios is they are extremely shy and I cannot recommend them due to how shy they are. But they're a perfect size and swimming style for a 10 gal. I've heard pea puffers are suitable for a 10 gal, and there are lots of discussions on their care, tankmates, etc. Good luck!

[Jennifer V]

@Maggie thank you so much for your detailed response! After all my research, my wife insists on getting pea puffers for our tank so onto more research about them! 

[FishyThoughts]

11 hours ago, JettsPapa said:

The only reason I haven't ordered them yet is that I have almost $100.00 remaining credit at two local stores from plants and shrimp I've sold them.  I keep hoping they'll get some pandas so I can use up some of that credit, but so far I've been disappointed.

Have you asked them if they would order some for you? The LFS I sell some stuff to seems more than willing to order items I ask about, permitted that it’s available or not banned. They may not do special orders for everyone. But if you’ve been dealing with them there’s a good chance they would be willing to order you some.
A suggestion... If the LFS will order them for you, than make the order for all them you want from the one store. 

[Paul_Obermiller]

On 1/3/2021 at 7:27 PM, Streetwise said:

I like temperature-based pairings. White Clouds and Neocaridina Shrimp indoors and outdoors.

Do the White Clouds eat the shrimplets?

[Paul_Obermiller]

3 hours ago, Maggie said:

I had dwarf emerald danios (aka dwarf emerald rasboras, recently reclassified as danios and very close cousins to celestial pearl danios) in my 10 gal and they were fine. They're tiny and do not school at all. They crowd and hide together when frightened,  which is every single time there is any movement at all in or within about 6 feet of the tank, but otherwise do not. The males spend all day chasing females and other males, and they're fascinating, but you have to sit perfectly still for several minutes to see them, or watch from afar. They were fine in there along with yellow shrimp, but I moved them all to a new 20L so I could have the 10 for a quarantine tank.

I have harlequin rasboras in both my main tank and in quarantine. The 10 gallon is perfect for quarantine, but I would not have harlequins permanently in there, as they really love a lot of horizon swimming space - my 45 gallon is 36" and they use all of it and do "tricks and spins" over and under the equipment and filter waterfall.

The problem with the dwarf danios is they are extremely shy and I cannot recommend them due to how shy they are. But they're a perfect size and swimming style for a 10 gal. I've heard pea puffers are suitable for a 10 gal, and there are lots of discussions on their care, tankmates, etc. Good luck!

I agree on how shy the danios/rasboras are, my friend had a tank with the emerald danios/rasboras and we would sit there for like 10 minutes and they would eventually come out. I disagree that it wasn't rewarding because you actually had to sit still and look for the fish instead of them instantly coming out. I enjoy having to look for my fish or wondering what they're doing or just not getting something in a instant. Pea puffers are a great alternative because you still have to look for them in a 10g but they don't hide, so if you don't want to wait for them to come out you don't have to. My sister has a 10g with one and they are very inquisitive little animals. Jennifer you should just get whatever you like.  

[Streetwise]

It was a safe combo in outdoor tubs. Combined in one tank, I'm not as sure, but we shall see. They are together in a tank for my folks to enjoy.

I would say Ember Tetras are even safer with shrimp indoors.

[redmare]

My 10 gallon has a beautiful blue and yellow betta, 8 ember tetras, some cherry shrimp, and a nerite snail. I love it! It's my best scaped tank as well!

[FrozenFins]

One of my favorites is a betta and neon tetras. I like how the betta will sometimes "school" with the neons.

 

[JettsPapa]

1 hour ago, FishyThoughts said:

Have you asked them if they would order some for you? The LFS I sell some stuff to seems more than willing to order items I ask about, permitted that it’s available or not banned. They may not do special orders for everyone. But if you’ve been dealing with them there’s a good chance they would be willing to order you some.
A suggestion... If the LFS will order them for you, than make the order for all them you want from the one store. 

 

Thank you for the suggestion, but since panda corys are so common I assumed they were just out of them.  I will check back with them.