What should I add?

[Tarah]

Well, I won't add anything until I'm sure my cycle is over....which I won't be until I can get more tests this weekend. My nitrite was still pretty high two days ago. I have slowly lost all 4 of my neons and cardinals. I don't know if it was the nitrites or the ick. I started treating for ick, and the spots all went away, but right before my last cardinal died....he had another spot on his tail. They didn't die suddenly, but would stop eating for two days, and then die overnight.

SO, I have one left.....my dwarf gourami. He seems healthy. When I came down the morning the last cardinal died and looked in the tank...the gourami swam over and sat by the dead cardinal like he wanted to show me where it was. Also the cardinal's eyes were gone. GROSS....did the gourami EAT them?

I am wondering what I should add now that will not offend my gourami. Once my tank is balanced, I mean. I want an Otto, but am not sure if the tank is still too new. Will that be a good option? I'm not sure I want to do cardinals or neons again even though I really liked the cardinals. It's hard to get them home alive. Some of the bigger tetras seemed to have issues with the gourami. (tried long-finned red minors and rummy noses) When I got more plants though, and divided the tank up a bit that seemed to help everyone get along better. I'd love to get another gourami.....the store insists they'd be fine (they don't have any females), but I read here that my old one would probably kill any new males. What do you all think?

 

[Grymatta]

heh Tarah..I have the same situation as you. My fish load is down to one dwarf gourami after a heatwave hit our area. Tank is still cycling. I wouldnt put another male dwarf in tho..my 2 males would constantly chase each other.

what about a pleco catfish? are they good tankmates? they eat algae too.

 

[twoluvcats]

plecos get HUGE!!! like 120gallon tank huge...you can find some smaller ones, but they are usually difficult to find and expensive.

Otos are great, but they do need an established tank.

Tarah, how big is your tank? 3 gouramis 'might' work, but you've got to have enough room, and places where they can all establish thier own territory.

 

[dawhits]

You can buy plecos at petco often for 99cents and it takes along time for them to get big like that. I have two in my 29g and their just fine as long as you have algae or lots of places for them to sit on. Zebra danios are a good option to becuase they are very hardy and are cheap.
-Erik

 

[Grymatta]

yeah..I see lots of little plecos at petco for about 2 bucks. I guess they are baby ones?

 

[derajer]

Neons, Cardinals, and Otos tend to die if they so much as see a new tank. As for plecos, you can usually find Rubberlip or Bristelnose for not too much money. It's probably way to early for them though, you would have to "feed" your pleco and that is usually a good way to kill them. The next time your at the pets store look at the ingredients of all of the "algae wafers" usually the main ingredient is fishmeal! This causes vegan animals to become bloated and often die. The best way to feed Plecos is to leave some rocks in a shallow bucket of tank water out in the sun and give them to the plecos when they are covered in algae.

 

[FroggyFox]

Yes they're little babies...kinda cute. I found my rubbernose pleco at a petsmart for less than 5 dollars...so sometimes you just need to look around and see whats available. You can spend BIG money on some types of plecos...but not all of them. I wouldn't suggest getting a common pleco unless you're pretty sure about what you'll do with it when it gets too big...because it WILL get too big If you have a small tank waiting and adding an otto in a few months would be your best bet.

I don't remember what size tank you have so (like twoluvcats said)...knowing that size would help us give you some more suggestions.

 

[Tarah]

Sorry all....it's only a 10 gallon. Probably too small for 3 gouramis to have their own space. I wish it would work, though, b/c I really like the gouramis. Ok, so I should wait on the Otto. What about the danios? Didn't I read about someone having problems with a zebra danio that was aggressive and fin-nipping? Would they bother my gourami? How many do you have to have for them to feel comfortable? Could I do two or is that not a big enough school? I don't even know what they look like....I'll have to go look them up.

 

[Davy]

Sometimes the danios will nip fins but it usually won't happen if they are kept in a big enough school (4-5 is probably good). Any of the small (2 inches full grown) would also work well. I personally like neon and glolight tetras. They are best kept in the same size school as the danios.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

My danios caused no problem with only 3 as a school, but they seem more comfortable now that I added another pair. You should be able to find them at any store that sells fish... they're really common. They'll add a lot of activity to a tank; they're much more energetic than tetras.

Platies would work, too. They'll also make a colorful tank, and are good in little tanks like a 10.

And I'd say it's a safe bet the gourami ate the eyes of the tetra.