26 gallon tank!! stocking ideas
- Thread starter alwaysadore
- Start date
I went back and reviewed all your posts, but was unable to determine your experience with aquariums. For one thing, you refer to "fighter fish" and I believe you are talking about a betta. Bettas are not generally as aggressive as some think, they mostly just defend their territory. Anyway, is this your first community tank and do you understand the nitrogen cycle? There are "Stickies" at the beginning of this forum that will answer many of your questions. The set up doesn't just happen all at once and you certainly don't want to stock it all at once either. You need to get the tank set up (level front to back and side to side) and do your decor and planting. You will need a liquid test kit, read and understand cycling, and then slowly add your fish. I won't go into the details about cycling - maybe you already know about it, but let us know what you don't understand or need help with. It sounds like a very nice aquarium and I am sure you will enjoy it!
yes this will be my first community tank, and ive had lots of other fish before ( easy ones) like comets, a fighter, heaps of goldfish (all but fighter lived for 5 or more years), i understand about cycling and that it can take anywhere from a month to a year. I was wondering though what fish should i introduce first ( i know if i introduced them all at the same time it would be chaos*laughingc) Also i was wondering will it be overstocked..
Try aqadvisor.com and enter what you are thinking about. It isn't absolute, but it is a guide so that you know if you are in the ball park. Am I correct that you are calling a betta a "fighter"? I have been successfully keeping one in each of my community tanks. I have had no problems with them, although I realize they all have different personalities. Usually they are pretty timid at first because they aren't use to that much room and other fish. They have all been raised in such small containers by themselves. There are some fish I wouldn't put a betta with - angels being one I can think of. I worry more about the other fish picking on the betta.
I agree, AqAdvisor is a good tool. Neons can be a bit finicky at first, so you should either replace those with danios or add them once you're sure your tank is stable. Remember to do LOTS of water tests during the cycle. Pygmy cories are a bit hard to find and are often wild-caught, meaning their water has to be pristine and they might not eat well. So, I would choose 3 bronze/albino/emerald/leapord corydoras instead of the pygmies.
Please do your research this time, alwaysadore!
Please do your research this time, alwaysadore!
Why? It bothers me a lot, because they are just trying to defend a very small territory. If you put some of them in a community tank they will stress out and die because they aren't use to that much room. It depends on their personality, of course, whether they will adapt, but they definitely don't go around looking for a fight. They got that reputation because they were called "Siamese Fighting Fish". If you put two of them in a small bowl they will definitely fight, but that is like game fighting cocks which is a very cruel sport IMO and illegal. I have one in with three mollies and he eats and swims with them like one of the boys. This is my nickels worth. lol I hope some others read this.
they may not be from the us, which is why they call them fighter fish.
they wont die in a community tank nor be stressed out. in the wild, they live in large pools until the dry season, where the large ponds turn into pools of muddy water, and so they evolved to be able to breath air to survive the seasons. they do not perfer small tanks over large.
pygmy cories do not spend a lot of time on the bottom like other cories. you can get panda corys, which are smaller than some, but larger than pygmys, and they have the interesting coloring marks also and are quite fun to watch.
i would pass on the danios also and up the school of the tetras, then have a centerpece fish, like a pretty male betta or dwarf gourami
what kind of plants are you planning?
they wont die in a community tank nor be stressed out. in the wild, they live in large pools until the dry season, where the large ponds turn into pools of muddy water, and so they evolved to be able to breath air to survive the seasons. they do not perfer small tanks over large.
pygmy cories do not spend a lot of time on the bottom like other cories. you can get panda corys, which are smaller than some, but larger than pygmys, and they have the interesting coloring marks also and are quite fun to watch.
i would pass on the danios also and up the school of the tetras, then have a centerpece fish, like a pretty male betta or dwarf gourami
what kind of plants are you planning?
In due respect, in my experience and also from what others have told me (OC for one) fish can die from stress. The colorful bettas we buy are “man-made” and have never been in the wild. I have really enjoyed having a male betta in my community tanks but they haven’t all worked out. I had one that just continuously swam from top to the bottom in the corner of a tall tank. There were no other fish around him and he simply appeared like he wanted out. After several hours I could only assume he was stressed to the limit and I needed to find him other accommodations. Another time I had one that wouldn’t leave one corner of the tank for days. No fish was bothering him. He wasn’t interested in any food. After several days I decided he wasn’t going to acclimate. I just don’t think they all have the personality for a community tank and you need to be prepared to move somebody if it doesn’t work out. When you have the “right “ one, it is a really beautiful sight to see them swimming with the other fish. I just wanted to share my experience and realize that they all don't fight and some are to the point of being very timid when exposed to the "world".
fish can easily die from stress-stress leading to immune system crashing and getting disif youve seen breeding setups of bettas, their tiny slots and bettas never know any better. instinct cant be bred from a fish. ive kept multiple males in large tanks and never had an issue and they live for many years. but i can see how being in small cup their whole life and thrown into actual swimming space can be super stressful, specially seeing their reflection so much in the sides of the tank