New 25 gal tank

[homersdaman]

Hey all -

New to the hobby, but excited to get started. Have done quite a bit of research on here and other places. Got the tank, setting up and cycling etc is next, but on to the real issue: WHAT FISH TO START WITH???

Lots of the articles here talk about breeding etc., but that is not where I want to go as a beginner. I don't really want dozens to hundreds of extra fry right away...

I want a peaceful, freshwater tank with variety. Some of my thoughts from reading are:

Bettas, neon tetras, golden sailfin molly(s), harlequin rasboras, dwarf or blue gourami, gold barb, zebra danios and a pleco of some variety

I know I won't get all of that in there and will not exceed space issues, but can someone give me some ideas of good grouping sizes and m/f ratios and of things within (or without) that group that will work well together and not have them all messing with each other etc.

ANY IDEAS/OPINIONS WELCOME

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS.....

 

[Newman]

Welcome to the forums !

Well if you dont want any babies to take care of, then you could stay away from livebearers all together, including the mollies. now its true you can just buy females, but those are bound to be pregnant from the store. also ture that even if they are pregnant, the babies might no survive if the tank is full of other fish that will help keep their numbers down to 0.

unless the 25 gal is a long type, and you can keep the water level under 10" then bettas wouldnt be really happy in there. you could wing with gourami, but they might have issues with their swim bladders just like the bettas.
A school of neons or rasbora will work great in your tank. maybe you could throw one BN pleco in there (bristlenose) Neon and harlequin rasbora can be your two schools of colorful fish if you'd like. also in terms of algae control you can add a few nerite nails (olive, zebra, or red-spotted) in addition to your BN pleco. If you got money to spend you can get a more exotic gold nugget pleco but research those first as they are omnivorous.

also instead of your tetra and rasbora idea you can have around 5 golden barbs and some 7-8 zebra danios, but only if your tank is the long, not the tall type. danios like surface area to zip around in.

 

[homersdaman]

Thanks....

for the welcome...plan to be here often, as it beats the hell out of actually working when I'm at work.

It is the long type tank, so does that offer some more options, such as bettas?

Can I interchange the suggested "school" matches? ie. neons w/ danios, neons w/ barbs, rasboras w/ barbs or rasboras w/ danios

Or should I stick with one of the two suggestions?

I do like the bristlenose pleco for sure.

What types or how many other species would go well with the two larger schools to fill it up nicely, but fairly (top to bottom species etc.)?

 

[paperdog9]

I don't have much experience, but gouramis are pretty good. remmember to star out with only a few fish while cycling the tank

 

[Newman]

do betta/ gourami in your long tank if you can fill it around 10" of water (would that be half way? go check) they do better in shallow water, since thats the way they live in the wild. gourami / betta go all over the tank but keep to middle and top levels.
I think you shouldnt interchange between tetra/rasbora and barb/danio. danio and barb can get agressive and thats why they should be a separate choice for their own setup.

there are other tetra and rasbora choices so be ware of them. some i can suggest are pinguin tetra, black tetra, chili rabora, rummynose tetra...bleeding heart, glowlight tetras. serpae tetras could do good but they are agressive and should be kept with either danios or barbs. come to think of it serpae tetra and tiger barbs can work as two schools...

 

[tropicalcrazy]

Welcome to the Tank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you want a peaceful tank dont get barbs because they can be nippy. dont mix a betta and gourami unless you know what you are doing because more than likely they will fight to the death just like 2 bettas will (but i only think that is if you have certain sexes in there but i dont know much about bettas other than they are pretty much like gourami's) for peaceful i would suggest tetras, rasboras (though i dont know much about) mollies (dont know much about but they are peaceful) danios (dont know much about but they are peaceful and school) and for a pleco dont get a common pleco or hifin (they will get WAY to big for your tank and when they are grown you will end up giving away) get a BN pleco like newman said (they are good for planted tanks and dont get big).

my best suggestion/ peace of advice is start SLOW. dont go out and buy fish crazy. you WILL waste A LOT of money that way. many of us here can tell you that as most have been down that road ecspecially when starting out brand new to the hobby. also take it step by step and use lots of patience. that is your key to saving money and getting what you want. also never stop reading and doing research and ALWAYS ask questions. even if you think it is dumb ask. it will be the one way you learn. it also comes with trial and error. thats how i learned then i finally found this site and my tank has been going great now. hope this can help out a little.

do you want live plants or fake? live there are some certain things you need to do for a planted tank setup (but they are beautiful and great to look at) but dont get me wrong there are a lot of low maintence plants out there that dont require much work. ORANGECONES has a low maintence tank that doesnt require much work at all for his plants.

remember ask questions, do research, ask more questions about what you read and do more research. its how we all learned and it saves you more money in the long run and PATIENCE

 

[actiondave13]

Betta's r cool but you don't want any barbs or platy's in there, they will destroy their fins. Betta's like any fish can be tempermental and 2 males will fight till death. I had3 now 2 and one does fine in a community tank with no "nippers" the other one doesn't play well with others at all. Platys and mollies will breed..i'm a new hobbist with 3 tanks now due to this ..good luck and enjoy!

 

[OrangeCones]

do you want live plants or fake? live there are some certain things you need to do for a planted tank setup (but they are beautiful and great to look at) but dont get me wrong there are a lot of low maintence plants out there that dont require much work. ORANGECONES has a low maintence tank that doesnt require much work at all for his plants.

LOL, I'm not a 'him'!!

 

[tropicalcrazy]

LOL, I'm not a 'him'!!

LMFAO sorry i didnt know. i apologize.

 

[OrangeCones]

LMFAO sorry i didnt know. i apologize.

Tis ok, hubby and I both got a laff outa that!

 

[bassbonediva]

Betta's r cool but you don't want any barbs or platy's in there, they will destroy their fins. Betta's like any fish can be tempermental and 2 males will fight till death. I had3 now 2 and one does fine in a community tank with no "nippers" the other one doesn't play well with others at all. Platys and mollies will breed..i'm a new hobbist with 3 tanks now due to this ..good luck and enjoy!

I'm gonna have to disagree with putting bettas and platies together. I have six platies in my 46gal (four sunset coral dwarfs, one dawn and one marigold variatus) along with a female betta and a male betta, and they all get along just fine. I'm having some minor issues with the male and female betta together, but it's VERY temporary (as in the male is getting moved this afternoon). Anyway, when it was just the platies and the female betta in there, they all got along just fine. In fact, the female betta was hanging with the platies because she just lost all of her friends (I had eight female bettas in there, but lost all of them except her to ick in one fell swoop).

 

[homersdaman]

Ok, mostly set - but a later addition would be???

So, Methinks I am going to start with a BN pleco and a school of tetras (neon or similar) and then try to add a school of rasboras from there.

Any ideas of a smaller group that could be added later to that colony?

Could I add a single male or 2-3 female bettas in with tetras and rasboras? Would the male be lonely? Will the smaller fish nip at the bettas?

Could I add some platys in with tetras and rasboras without problems?

I don't want another large school, but 1-3 more fish, maybe slightly larger, just to have another personality in the tank....

Any ideas would help.

Tank currently cycling, adding first group of fish on the weekend.....