Advice on 13 Gallon tropical

[Huugs]

I have a 13 US Gallon coldwater tank at the moment with a couple of goldies in and I have just got a 26Gallon from a friend. I need to cycle the 26Gallon now and once that is done I will put the goldies in there and the 13 Gallon will become a tropical tank.

1. Now my question is what would be some good fish for the 13Gallon?

I like the look of these
Tetras
Chiclids
Barbs
Plecos
Corys
Gouramis
Danios and Minnows
Convicts
And I think my LFS calls them Cardinals (dunno if this is their real names)

My guess is I couldnt fit most of those in the tank but Im not sure. Id like to end up with a few small fish and I would like an algae eater aswell. I prefer the more common fish shape rather than the sort of ballon molly sort of shape.


2. And out of those would any be good to cycle the 26Gallon with?

Thanks. And btw this will be my first tropical tank so I need the fish to be good beginner fish

[Pac-Man]

if they are common goldfish that tank might get a bit full.... about your 13 gallon, many of the smaller fish would be great. As for tetras, you could keep neons, cardinals, serpaes, lemons, blackskirts, whiteskirts (make sure they're not dyed, unless you want that), diamond, pristilla and many other tetras. oh and cardinal tetras are the fish's real name. I wouldnt advisse you keep any pleco species in that tank, they get too large for a 13 gallon and are BIG waste producers. You could do a group of corydoras catfish, as most of their species stay under 3 in. I dont think you could keep that many cichlids...(convicts are cichlids) maybe a few shelldwellers??? As for gouramis, they get more agressive as they age, so it may not do well in a community set-up. You could do a dwarf or honey gourami in there though. Maybe a coulple of zebra danios if you want danios, but they are actually pretty active, so some people might disagree with me.

[Huugs]

The fate of the goldies will either be my pond or if I can afford then a bigger tank but they are small at the mo so once they outgrow that then ill move them.

I thought most of those would be too big. Do corys need to be in groups or can you keep just one? If I went with a Cory and some Tetras how many tetras would be a good number?

Would they be able to survive cycling the bigger tank?

[Pac-Man]

cories need to be kept in groups and so do tetras. some tetras can cycle tanks, but why dont u just get some bio-spira or stability to help you with the process. in your 13 you could probably do like 5 pygmy cories (you could do other species, just an example) and 5 tetras (depending on the species) or something. some good hardy tetra species are: NOT NEONS (lol), serpaes, lemons, cardinals are pretty hardy, diamonds.....blackskirts(and whiteskirts) etc I wouldnt use cories to cycle

[Gracie6363]

my 10 gallon holds 4 skirt tetras and 2 danios. A lot think that the schooling fish need minimum of 6 in a group but I have done well with pairs and triples just the same.

So in the 13 gallon... you could get 3 skirt tetra, 4 cardinals, 2-3 danios, 2 leopard cories. I'd skip the dwarf gourami unless you want to cut out one of these gropus. they are bigger than any of these even as dwarf and have a little aggression. They are really pretty though, mine is very active and enjoys his entire 40 gallon. So i'd say too big for the 13.

The cichilids and convits require different water than the rest and they will kill the rest as well!

The danios and the skirt tetra are fairly hardy... you could start with one of those groups (I'd say danio) and cycle with them and biospira.

[Huugs]

Cheers. I do like the look of the corys but im still not sure whether to go for tetras or danios.

Are corys algae eaters? Would they be ok in the medium gravel already in the tank?

I like the Zebra danios so I mite go for those and try and get some biospira to cycle the bigger tank.

[MyraVan]

Danios have lots of things going for them. They are very active, continually darting about the tank. They are inexpensive and easy to find in shops. They are very tough and could be used for cycling if you really needed to (although since I have gotten into plants I would never cycle a tank without some floating hornwort to absorb excess ammonia and thus help protect the fish during the cycle). They come in a variety of forms (the zebra is plain stripy, the leopard has spots instead of stripes, the gold danio is an albino zebra, and the pearl is kind of pearly colored) which are closely enough related that they school together. So you could have a bunch of danios that although they look different, will play together just fine.

Most of the barbs are too big for your tank, but the cherry barb would work well, and they are very pretty to boot.

If you wanted to treat them well, cories really wouldn't work. They like to have a sandy bottom, and they do best in groups. While you could easily keep a half dozen danios or cherry bars, cories are generally larger, and having a half dozen of them would use up alot of your available bioload. Also, they aren't algae eaters.

For algae eaters, I recommend shrimp (eg amano), nerite snails (for info on them, go to http://applesnail.net/, click on Various in the left hand menu,
click on "Other freshwater snails", and go to the bottom of the page), or otocinclus (see http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/1996_12.php).

[Huugs]

Right OK well I dont want to be mean to the fish so I spose the corys are out of the question then.

Ive read a few places that the cardinals are a not really that easy to hang on o when you first get them. Is this true or is this just bad fish keeping?

How about 2 cherry barbs, 4 danios (either zebra or lemon) and 4 tetras (either neons, white skirts or maybe cardinals if Im brave!)? Would 26*C be a good temp for them to all live happy?

Thank you all for your replies and patience with my questions I want to get it right though for the fishes sakes.

[TheOldSalt]

Cardinals are very fragile when things are not perfect for them, at least when moving from tank to tank.

Choprae danios are still very rare here in the USA, but you can get them over there a lot easier. Much prettier than zebras, I think, and maybe you can raise them for money. ( or not, depending on how common they are over there; over here a half dozen can sell for nearly 30 dollars US. )

26 would be okay, but 25 would be better.

Getting just 2 barbs is never a good idea. 3 females and 1 male cherry barb would work well, though.

For a new tank, I wouldn't recommend any tetras yet.

[Jappamp]

I have a ten gallon, with 5 german blue rams, 1 male and 4 females, and they are SUPER colorful and fun to look at. They are pretty sociable and I have had them for about 8 months and the male has gotten busy with every female at least twice, so keep German Blue Rams in mind man!

[MyraVan]

OldSalt recommends Danio choprae, the glowlight danio. I have actually seen these in my local shop, but I know very little about them. I don't know if they are super-tough, like the regular danios, or if they will school with other danios. But then, they are so pretty that if you could find them you probably wouldn't want the other danios! They have the advantage of being smaller than regular danios, so you could fit more in your tank.

Also, you wrote "4 danios (either zebra or lemon)"; you've got a bit confused here, zerbas are danios and lemon are tetras.

I'm just setting up a ten US gallon tank, and it will contain 2 apple snails, 3 white cloud mountain minnows and their babies (which currently live in a 5 gallon tank), and some small algae eaters, either nerite snails or otos. Currently (I just got it going last week) it has 2 apple snails and lots of plants, including floating hornwort to keep the snails safe from ammonia while the tank is stabilizing.

Another idea I had for a nice 10 gallon tank would be 6 or so cherry barbs, one blue betta, and either shirmps, nerite snails, or a few otos as cleaners.

[Huugs]

Its quite hard to choose when you dont know much about fish. And you can see I dont by the fact I didnt even realise its a lemon tetra not lemon danio! Ive been looking at too many pages of different fishes Ive confused myself.

I like the Blue Rams but Ive read a few things saying they are difficult. So Ive decided no cardinals or blue rams for the moment. Really nice tho so I will get some in the future when Ive got more experience and a bigger tank.

I have discounted corys and anything that needs sand. I dont want them to be unhappy.

TheOldSalt: are you saying I can have 25-26 danio choprae in one 13gallon tank? that seems a lot to me probably just because i have only had goldfish.

I could go for (in order of putting them in) 4 zebra danios, 8 glowlight danios and then possibly 2 otos in the future but not for a while. Does this seem alright? I want to have 2 different types of fish in there as Ive only ever had goldfish and you can only have goldfish in a goldfih tank.
Thanks again.

[mlefev]

Well I know for a fact that zebra danios and neon tetras go well together. I have three of each in a 10-gal and they're quite happy.

My cory is alone at the moment, and I didn't realize they needed company. That might mean I need a bigger tank after I move so I can get a couple more.

[Cichlid Man]

If I was you, I would chuck the goldies in a pond somewhere, goldfish will soon realise that a neon or similar sized community fish is a worthwile substitute for a fish flake. They're also generally not ideal for tropical tanks. Also I'd start off with just a few neons and danios to get the tank started. Cardanals are very difficult to acclimatize to a not yet fully established setup, maybe in a few months when the tank is fully mature a few cardanals can be bunged in. For now best just take it easy.

[Huugs]

The goldfish wont be in the same tank as the tropical fish. They are going in a bigger tank i aquired then either in a tank bigger than that or in the pond. So it isnt a probelm about the goldies Im just trying to work out which fish to put in the 13gallon.

Ill start with 4 zebra danios and then add 2 lots of 4 glowlight danios and then think about the future after that. The tank has a few live plants has cycled with the goldies so it shouldnt be too much of a shock for the bacteria.

Might end up with a couple of cardianals or otos but thats just an idea at the moment.

[MyraVan]

Starting with 4 zebra danios sounds like a stellar idea! They really are tough fish, and fun too.

When OldSalt said "26 would be okay, but 25 would be better" he meant temperature! In response to your question "Would 26*C be a good temp?"

[Huugs]

ok thanks I thought that was alot for that tank. cheers. that sounds like ive got that tank sorted then. thanks for all your replies and your patience.

[Gracie6363]

Starting the tank with the danios is an excellent idea. Watch your water parimeters still that first week and do a few 5-10% changes to ensure your ammonia and nitrites dont get too high.

The GloFish danio's can be found here if you look in the right stores. Petsmart doesn't carry them thats about the only one I have seen to not carry them. I have 1 of them... (had 2 but one died) I have him with a regular danio and they get along quite well. The glofish danios are just as hardy as their non genetically engineered cousin. www.glofish.com i think is the official site.

[Huugs]

is the GloFish the same as the glowlight/choprae danio that has been mentioned. Its just that it says on the GloFish website its only available in the US but Myravan has seen the glowlight danio in a lfs here in the UK. Just wondering if this is a different fish or not?

I would definately have to get me a "glow in the dark" fish if I could!

EDIT: Actually after reading a bit more into the glofish and glowlight danio Ive found they are completly different and I dont think I could buy a glofish for these reasons:
1. They are GM fish.
2. some of the money you pay fir them goes towrds the research into them and getting them to be used as pollution detectors. (cruel as they are living things)
3. The thing put in them to make them glow (according to one source) is actually toxic to the cell that it is on. This has got to hurt.

Would be great if they were natural but I cant get one now I know these things. Ill stick with the zebras and glowlights.

[Lydia]

if you get zebra danios you should see if you can get the long fin ones....i have 5 of them and they are REALLY neat...in my opinion way cooler looking than the normal ones