We’ve currently got: 8 CPDs, 6 emerald dwarf rasboras, 2 amanos (getting 2-3 more once our LFS gets their next shipment this week), 1 nerite, and a single female endler that snuck her way in to our CPD bag when she was a fry. Will be adding some more plants this week along with the amanos as well, to replace the plastic placeholder in the back lol
My husband wants rummy noses or kuhlis, but I’m not quite sold lol. I don’t want to overcrowd any levels of the tank so I’m thinking maybe a couple of fish that stay near the middle/top of the water column, since I’ve got my cleanup crew and the other nanos tend to stick to the middle/sometimes bottom? Maybe something with some color to contrast. There’s some small gravel mixed in with the aquasoil and sand, so I think that rules out a fair number of bottom dwellers. Open to any suggestions!
Posted by po-tatertot
2 Comments
I would get pygmy corys and double your cpd population
Rummy noses tend to be super active and like zooming around, and you need a decent group of them (think 10+ to get the full effect), so might be a bit of a stretch for your tank, but doable with a lot of plants.
If you are looking for a similar sized fish that would utilise more of the upper level of the tank though, emerald eye rasboras are quite striking and are very active closer to the surface.
Khulis are great, but you probably do not have enough space for a big enough group of them. In my experience if there are fewer than 8 of them, you pretty much never see them. I have probably 5 in my tank, and I maybe catch a glimpse of one or two every few months (I started with 12 about 8-9 years ago, and they were out all the time back then, but I have lost several over the years to old age and a parasite outbreak, and the fewer of them survived, the less I saw them. I say probably 5 because this was the count when I tore down the tank to move it a year ago).
Most bottom dwellers (even the most sensitive ones) are usually fine with a bit of gravel (expecially if it’s rounded/tumbled stuff usually available for aquariums), especially if an area of sand is also available. It’s not going to be a dealbreaker if there are some bottom dwellers that interest you. My aincient fat khuls never seemed to have an issue with the pea sized rounded gravel.