plant crab

Ok - I'm probably asking for trouble - but I need help stocking my 55G tank.

Right now there are:
6 very new, very small zebra danios
1 large (possibly fully grown) male opaline gourami
1 large, fully grown tetra (unsure of type - he has one blue stipe and no red, i have never seen any like him - even went back to the same LFS- anyone know what he is?)
(The latter two are from my 10-gallon - just transferred them in last week.)

My original plan:
3 gourami (2 dwarf females with my existing male), school of tetras, school of danios, 3 oto cats, and maybe a bristlenose pleco and possibly angelfish
(I have also recently been interested in glass cats... But this is too many fish, so I will have to kick something out)

My current problem:
The more research I do the more confused I get about compatibility. I've gotten a little advice in a previous post - much appreciated - but it's all starting to get conflicting - so maybe I'm asking for trouble here... but I'm open to suggestions. (I have just been finding the whole world of aquariums so interesting I think I'd be happy keeping anything!)

A few things before you reply:
1.) I have wanted to get a school for the tetra for awhile - he's very neurotic. I put him into the community tank to see what he would do with the danios, at first he was schooling - so cute - but now he's been chasing them away from his area. He's at least twice thier size, and/or the size of other tetras. So I'm not sure what to do with him. Should I still get a school of tetras and will he even fit in with them?

2.) I had wanted to get two female gouramis along with my current male, but I know there can still be compatibility issues and the females can be hard to find. I really like the dwarf blue gouramis, but the males are much nicer looking than the females.

3.) I've now seen somewhere that plecos and otos are incompatible. Is this true?

4.) Angels and gouramis are or are not compatible? I've seen conflicting info on this too!

P.S.: I am not going to add any other fish for about a month. The tank needs to catch up, I think. I may get some otos next - if there are no objections - and put them into my quarantine tank for 4 weeks.

Ok - suggest away!

angelfish220

the biggest problem with compatiblity is personalities. All fish have personalities and some grumpy fish dont get along with things you would assume it would be fine with. Like right now I will tell you that angelfish eat neons, but probably not your danios. Some will say that angels will get along with neons and danios, some will say they dont get allong with eather.

The best I can say is get the small peaceful fish first, then introduce the bigger stuff. that way seems to be the best way to get large fish to like the littlies. Also get the big fish young and they seem to be nicer when they grow.

Blub

capekate

Your unknown tetra with the blue stripe sounds like a 'blue tetra'. Coelurichthys microlepis Ive added a photo below..
they grow to about 2.25 inches. A mostly active, but peaceful shoaler.
hope that helps to ID this fish.

~ kate

Attached Images

i_kerri_03 blue tetra.jpg (44.2 KB, 3 views)

capekate

IMO your original plan for stocking the 55 sounds good, except for adding the angel fish with the gourami as was mentioned by HatchetHaven. Tho I did have my blue gourami in the 55 with one angel fish and saw no aggression. I think it was due to that it was not very stocked and that there are alot of room for them to move around and stay away from each other. My angel fish is huge and the blue gourami is small and young, I havent seen any problems with them together. But... for the most part, yes, its not a good idea to have them together. They are not together anymore I moved the gourami back to the 29g to keep that tank cycled w/ plans for future fish there.

~ kate

plant crab

Thank you for the advice everyone - and capekate - thank you for helping me to identify the tetra.
I'm trying to figure out, though, if he will get along with other blue tetras or if he is just too big at this point.. he is still chasing the danios (quite agressively), so would a school of tetras of the same species be any good for him? anyone have any experience with this?

angelfish220

I school for him would be great! When I started my first tank I bought 1 white skirt tetra and he was mean to all of my tank but then someone suggested that I buy him a school I bought 2 more ( I realize now that that is not a school of tetras) and all the sudden he became my favorite fish! all the agression suddenly became playfulness and it was so neat to see him flutter around the tank. I think a school would do your tetra good.

capekate

Blue tetras are a peaceful group, so you shouldnt have any problems adding more. The adult size gets to close to 2.25 inches.
Danios are little instigators lol.. and could be annoying your blue tetra!

~ kate

Blub

plant crab

Well, although they might be instigators, the tetra is definately going after them!

I, however, did just do my first water change with the fish in the tank and the danios were insane - interested in the vacuum, trying to get into the vacuum, trying to eat my arm, and one of them almost got scrubbed into my algae brush! I think I might get a tank separator so I can clean half my tank every week in peace! Anyone else have luck with doing this?

I also just set up my quarantine tank so I can go get some oto cats tomorrow, but I think I might go get some tetras instead, because I'm definately going to have to remove the blue tetra for the time being. There is fin nipping going on now. I'm just having problems finding that species of tetra.. so I might have to settle for neons? I'll call around first to some LFS's though.

Thanks for the help guys!

Blub

plant crab

Oh I absolutely agree - I wasn't scared for my life or anything . I'm sure he was just seeing what I was - but holy cow! I couldn't watch what I was doing because every five seconds here's another coming to see what I'm doing!
Anyway, thanks for the otos article.

Blub

angelfish220

In my house, gravel vacuming is always an event! There are fish trying to eat little bits of food stuck in the gravel, the Rapheal catfish goes crazy cause I have to disturb the rock caves, then the dog comes around because, for some reason, he finds active fish extremely entertaining and this is all happening while mom is yelling at me for getting her floor wet! If gravel vacuming wasnt fun I wouldnt do it as often!

Blub

plant crab

My husband has been quite understanding about the whole thing.. although he's not entirely happy about the wet floor.. I can't blame him because neither am I. The funny part is that a few months ago, before I got into this, I was cleaning out closets and found a whole bunch of old towels that I don't use anymore.. and put them aside in the basement for no reason at the time... but now I have a use for them!

All three of my cats come out and sit.. watching... waiting...