I have an AquaOne UFO 550 corner tank – it's estimated to be between 75-100L depending on the source.
I've done some research, and I think I want:
– lots of shrimp
– snails
– panda corys
– and I'd love a dwarf gourami?
– could I also have tetras? I've read it can be risky with gouramis unless heavily planted?
I thought I'd hop onto Reddit to see if anyone would give me inspiration for what other fish to get, what to plant it with and any other general recommendations – it's been a while since I kept fish.
My tank is currently full of Lego to keep them away from my cats 😂
Posted by Gaymer_Duck
3 Comments
Add a lor of easy plants like anubia and vallisnerias and moss, a lot of moss do research on how to set these plants propperly
Id look into pearl gourami or another fish entirely. Dwarf gourami are horrendously over bred and one of the most sickly and weak fish out there currently. Its rare to get a uear of life from them and usually its not a year of good life. They are so prone to illness and early death its not worth supporting the breeders that do this until they can figure out a way to fix or reverse the damage done (which is unlikely)
Tetras are another similar fish being super popular and highly inbred making them prone to illness and stress related disease.
I found Rummynose tetra to be a good choice, they school well, arent super nippy, have a good splash of colour and are a grest indicator about tank health (if their red head is pale that’s a sign of poor water quality usually) but theres lots of other interesting tetra types.
Shrimps are great. Amano are easy and hardy.
Neocaridina are very easy to breed and come in lots of basic colours.
Caridina bee shrimp are some of the prettiest and most interesting freshwater shrimps but require more refined apftwster parameters so dont always fit community style setups.
[AQ Advisor](https://aqadvisor.com) is a helpful tool for stocking ideas. I wouldn’t try to aim for 100% capacity but it should give you some idea of where you’re at. Also, do your own research on the individual fish. AQ Advisor is just a place to start but some fish might need larger groups, more swimming areas, different parameters, or be harmful to their tank mates.
Dwarf gouramis aren’t very healthy and might go after your shrimp but you could get a honey gourami or two. They’re healthier and have smaller mouths, so only the baby shrimp are at risk of being eaten and that can be reduced by giving them plenty of places to hide. Just make sure they’re the real honey gouramis because some other gourami species and hybrids are sold under the same name.
Tetras also might go after shrimp, depending on the species. CPDs, white cloud minnows, and chili rasboras are all popular small fish choices for shrimp tanks but check your parameters to see if they’ll thrive or just survive. For instance, chili rasboras could probably live in my high pH tank but they probably wouldn’t live as long as they would in softer water.
I don’t really have many recommendations for plants but I really like anubias and bucephalandra because they’re small, easy to manage, hardy, and can be glued to whatever you want. Epiphytic plants like them can’t have their rhizomes buried, so keep that in mind when researching. Floating plants might be a good option for your shrimp to hide under, just avoid duckweed because it will get everywhere. Also, look up what the maintenance is like for the plants you want. You might not want plants get that huge or develop tons of runners that will take over your tank if you let them. Some plants also need CO2 to really grow and show their true colors (like most red plants), so if you don’t want set up a CO2 diffuser, I’d skip those.
Cycle and scape your tank before you add any fish/shrimp. This is a great time to brainstorm and plan. When you are ready to add livestock, do it slowly. I’d start with the shrimp because even though they do better in more mature tanks, they’ll need some time to build up their population. It will also give time for your plants to grow in a little better and give the shrimp places to explore/hide.