# Does anyone have this combination of fish?



## Gaina (13 Feb 2018)

I'm now starting to tnink about the long term stocking of my community and I've decided I want lots of small, colourful fish as well as more Amano shrimp.  I've been using a really good online stocking calculator and I've made the following selections:

10 x Trigonostigma Hengeli
10 x Microdevario Kubotai
6 x Amano Shrimp
10 x Neon Tetra
10 x Pygmy Cory (Corydoras Pygmaeus)

Filters:  Fluval U2, Fluval U3

Aquarium dimensions (L x D x H) : 80 x 35 x 50cm

According to the calculator this puts my stocking at 71% which I'm happy with as I like to understock.  I think this combination should prove to be very interesting and colourful, but I've never kept Tetras before, so I'd welcome any thoughts on thus combination of fish.


----------



## alto (14 Feb 2018)

I'd suggest stocking slowly as that seems a lot of fish to add at one time - unless the individuals are all very small juveniles 
- though this is the advantage of fishless cycling I suppose, ie filter will be populated with sufficient bacteria to transform 1-2ppm ammonia to nitrites to nitrates within 24h (or less)

(Though Darrel will rightly state that this is an oversimplification )

Your first two rasbora shoals will likely be very compatible - they seem to actively shoal together at any time I've seen/kept this grouping

Neons - well most South American tetras (in my experience) - can be a whole other level of vociferous eater, so you'll need to watch that they aren't looking explosive after feeding while the kubotai look barely changed ... fish should apear slightly rounded after feeding but not near bursting 

Presently I have ~equal numbers of Sawbwa resplendens & Sundadanio sp. in one tank, regardless of what I feed, some of the Sawbwa look explosive afterwards, while the Sundadanio are getting just enough - they have a naturally slower rhythm to their eating and are much more particular about what they'll actually consume
ex, if frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp
The Sundadanio will investigate, then reject several "pieces" before finding one that is acceptable, slowly "chew", pause, then look about for the next palatable bit
Meanwhile the Sawbwa are rapidly investigating & quickly consuming, and then will scout every cm of the tank for any remaining morsels ... further, the dominant Sawbwa male & female have outgrown their shoal mates by at least half again

In terms of color, I'd likely choose cardinals or green neons over the less defined neons (occasionally I'll see very good quality neons but but these are generally wild caught fish)

I'd also suggest fish in odd numbers rather than evens but this is just esthetics 

Shrimp are really more comfortable in larger groups, I'd suggest a minimum of 10

Try to find a fish shop that will allow returns (expect a modest credit rather than the amount you paid originally) on incompatible fish, some shops do trade-ins, some don't; if you purchased the fish elsewhere, just be grateful a shop will accept trade-in fish 


Is the tank 50cm tall or 35?


----------



## Gaina (14 Feb 2018)

alto said:


> I'd suggest stocking slowly as that seems a lot of fish to add at one time - unless the individuals are all very small juveniles
> - though this is the advantage of fishless cycling I suppose, ie filter will be populated with sufficient bacteria to transform 1-2ppm ammonia to nitrites to nitrates within 24h (or less)
> 
> (Though Darrel will rightly state that this is an oversimplification )



Fear not, I have no intention of putting it all in at once, like I said these are long-term plans. 



> Your first two rasbora shoals will likely be very compatible - they seem to actively shoal together at any time I've seen/kept this grouping



Thanks, they do look lovely together when I've seen them share an aquarium, it's really the Tetra that are an unknown quantity to me. 



> Neons - well most South American tetras (in my experience) - can be a whole other level of vociferous eater, so you'll need to watch that they aren't looking explosive after feeding while the kubotai look barely changed ... fish should apear slightly rounded after feeding but not near bursting



  This exactly the kind of difference in behaviour I needed to know about, thank you!



> Presently I have ~equal numbers of Sawbwa resplendens & Sundadanio sp. in one tank, regardless of what I feed, some of the Sawbwa look explosive afterwards, while the Sundadanio are getting just enough - they have a naturally slower rhythm to their eating and are much more particular about what they'll actually consume
> ex, if frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp
> The Sundadanio will investigate, then reject several "pieces" before finding one that is acceptable, slowly "chew", pause, then look about for the next palatable bit
> Meanwhile the Sawbwa are rapidly investigating & quickly consuming, and then will scout every cm of the tank for any remaining morsels ... further, the dominant Sawbwa male & female have outgrown their shoal mates by at least half again



Sounds like you've got for the Asian theme? That's what I had planned initially as I've already got a few Hengel's Rasbora and I love this group of fish.  I think I'll stick with that original plan. 



> Shrimp are really more comfortable in larger groups, I'd suggest a minimum of 10


Thanks, I had 6 originally but now I'm down to 1.  Two died in a powercut, one died of unknown cause, one died just before Christmas due to an ammonia spike and one died this morning due to a failed moult.  The water is currently a bit soft as I had to do 50/50 tap R/O just to get my new tank filled but I'm going back to remineralised R.O. now as everyone seemed to thrive on that.



> Try to find a fish shop that will allow returns (expect a modest credit rather than the amount you paid originally) on incompatible fish, some shops do trade-ins, some don't; if you purchased the fish elsewhere, just be grateful a shop will accept trade-in fish



I've been using the same shop for 3 years, they're good as gold.  They looked after my livestock while this tank cycled and didn't quibble when I couldn't take my Nerite snails back because the water was too soft. 



> Is the tank 50cm tall or 35?



50cm tall - it's a Fluval Roma 125


----------



## mort (14 Feb 2018)

I've kept them all apart from kubotai but not at the same time. The hengeli are a lovely peaceful species that stay smaller than other similar rasbora but really shine. The pygmy cats are amazing little fish as well but make sure they have been settled in the shop for a while before you get them and that they get enough food.
If I had to be picky and find a fault it would be that sometimes neon tetra can nip but this tends to only be with slow moving, long finned species, and I doubt you will see any issue with them at all. I do agree with alto above in saying that they can become misshapen if continuously overfed (little but more often helps reduce this) and you'll often see older ones with bent spines because of this. It wouldn't stop me from getting them though.

So I think all those species should be fine together and you have a decent mix of activity levels but I would consider upping the levels of at least one species. Ten is a nice group size but some fish display much better behaviour with increased groupings. Since the microdevario are so small I would up their number to 15 or more, or consider taking out the neons and going for 20+, or possible upping the numbers of the 3 species you like the most. You could add the groups of ten and then up the numbers of your favourite species later or go for the other species you originally had if you think the fish look good already.


----------



## sparkyweasel (14 Feb 2018)

If you want to stick with an Asian theme, you could replace the Neons with _Rasbora borapetensis_, they are slightly similar and one of my favourites.


----------



## Gaina (14 Feb 2018)

mort said:


> I've kept them all apart from kubotai but not at the same time. The hengeli are a lovely peaceful species that stay smaller than other similar rasbora but really shine. The pygmy cats are amazing little fish as well but make sure they have been settled in the shop for a while before you get them and that they get enough food.
> If I had to be picky and find a fault it would be that sometimes neon tetra can nip but this tends to only be with slow moving, long finned species, and I doubt you will see any issue with them at all. I do agree with alto above in saying that they can become misshapen if continuously overfed (little but more often helps reduce this) and you'll often see older ones with bent spines because of this. It wouldn't stop me from getting them though.
> 
> So I think all those species should be fine together and you have a decent mix of activity levels but I would consider upping the levels of at least one species. Ten is a nice group size but some fish display much better behaviour with increased groupings. Since the microdevario are so small I would up their number to 15 or more, or consider taking out the neons and going for 20+, or possible upping the numbers of the 3 species you like the most. You could add the groups of ten and then up the numbers of your favourite species later or go for the other species you originally had if you think the fish look good already.



Thank you, I think I'll drop the Neons and increase the numbers of hengeli and kubotai.


----------



## Gaina (14 Feb 2018)

sparkyweasel said:


> If you want to stick with an Asian theme, you could replace the Neons with _Rasbora borapetensis_, they are slightly similar and one of my favourites.


That's a pretty fish! I shall do a bit more research on them.  Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## Jessica sergeant (28 May 2018)

I have neons, rasboras, amano shrimp, serpae and black widow tetra and 2 albino corys and they all get on fine. X


----------



## Gaina (30 May 2018)

I'd forgotten I started this thread until I got an email just now! 

Thank you for all your suggestions and input, it's much appreciated. 

I've decided to stick with a larger group of t.hengeli for now, and I've added more Amano shrimp.


----------

