Finally upgrading to 36G Bowfront! Advice?

[jenl623]

Hello to all! So I wanted to get some advice because my new tank is coming tomorrow to get set up, and I'm so stoked about it I don't want to get carried away! After four years with my Eclipse 6, I'm finally upgrading. I had a dwarf puffer and a shrimp (started with three shrimp - only one ultimately made it) in that tank, but he died a month ago. I had always wanted a gourami, so I got a blue dwarf, and two platys and a pair of swordfish (got some bad advice at pet store I think I'm way overstocked which is the excuse I'm using to upgrade). My new tank is going to have rocks and small gravel and eventually live plants/fake plants mix after finished with cycling. So I want to move my gourami and the rest, and put in three cory cats and a crab (can't remember the name but it's red). And some algea eating shrimps. And....... ??? Am I already going to be overstocked? I should only have one gourami right? I really like how schooling fish look - neon tetras maybe? Do you think I'm covering the three levels? What would you do in there? Thanks for any help!

 

[KyleBradley]

Can a crab and cory cats co-exist peacefully? I thought that crabs eat any fish they can get their claws on??

 

[RexyTexel]

Yeah you have to watch out for the crabs. They are serious escape artists. Also if it's a red claw crab I'm pretty sure they need some sort of dock to sit on. They can't stay submerged for too long. They have to come onto a piece of land.

 

[MadridKid]

cory cats are schooling fish believe it or not... so you may need to add 2 more to your already selected 3. also, i would read up on every fish you plan to add and do the math (one inch of fish per gallon) to figure if you'd be overstocking the tank. i personally wouldn't add any crabs either..

 

[KyleBradley]

The LFS here has a crayfish at the bottom of their feeder goldfish tank, and they' won't sell that booger-he eats all their dead-loss....

 

[unwritten law]

we sell crayfish out of our feeder tank.....

 

[jenl623]

Thanks - I think definately no crabs. Too aggresive and too much worrying about escape. Cool looking but not for this tank.

 

[Scooper]

You could have more than one gourami but if you do then get two females. Cories are nice to have and the platies and swordtails will go nicely. I would suggest a school of either danios or tetras to liven the tank up more. And sorry about the puffer, I'm getting two for my ten gallon next week.