raqataq

This is my first tank and I am finally done adding fish (it seemed a glacial process). I ended up with 7 glowlight tetras, 2 peppered corys, a male fire dwarf gourami and a sunset mickey mouse platy. The tetras were the last additions and they really make the tank. I have a rock cave that kinda looks like a flintstones house and 7 fake plants for them to play and hide in. I would like to post pics but my camera is broken so that will have to wait. I'm just glad they're all doing well and I look forward to being a fish fanatic for years to come.

COBettaCouple

sound like a beautiful tank.. is that platy doing alright by himself?

raqataq

The platy seems ok. It is from a friend who had some die when he had some tank issues and this was the lone survivor so I took him on since I had a little extra room. Is it bad to only have one of them, will it make him unhappy or anything because I could always trade him in to my local store or give him away and add another cory or something, i'm sure my others would love the addition. Thanks.

COBettaCouple

Platys are like other livebearers and seem to like buddies.. we just got a male platy with a 30g tank.. the lone survivor, other than 2 plecos, of a neglected tank shoved out in a garage.. he really perked up when we put him in the platy tank.. all females.. so he's a happy little guy now.

raqataq

Haha, that's great for him! I think I'll just give him away or take him to the store then and add another cory. Although, I would like another species for variety's sake. What could you suggest that might be similar to my dwarf gourami in the sense that he is a little large, colorful and most importantly can be happy as a loner?

COBettaCouple

a few platys would actually be a good fit in that tank i think, they're quite the peaceful fish generally and will give way to a dominant fish like a gourami and the sunsets can come in such a range of colors that you could get a warm color spectrum in just a few fish.. and i don't think platys would be likely to nip on a gourami (often a problem in community tanks with those long delicate feeler fins). mainly keep to the 20" (adult size) guideline to keep the gourami from feeling crowded, i'd say and look for a small & peaceful fish if you want to add a little school of another species to the tank.

raqataq

Great, thanks for the advice. I wish I had room for another little school but as it is my tank has 20.5" of fish. I would be willing to do a little more maintenance but I don't want to overcrowd any of the other fish so...I guess I'm stuck. I'll keep an eye on the little guy and if he seems like he's not doing well I'll trade him out for something else.

COBettaCouple

i'm actually being a bad, bad man. i know it's not recommended to overstock, but i've got 9 platys in a 10g tank.. the little male survivor we got with the 30g is staying.. he's happy & deserves a good home after making it in that tank.. so i clean the tank completely 2 or 3 times a week and keep just a thin layer of marbles for the only substrata to make it easier to suck up poop with the turkey baster every day or 2, if needed.

The tank has crystal clear water and 0,0,5 for the water chemistry today. 4 of the platys are tiny balloon platys though and are probably going to equal as much as 2-3" total adult size and the 5 other platys come up to about 10" so it's not too far over and the extra cleaning keeps it good.

that little guy might do fine on his own.. this guy we inherited was by himself in real bad conditions and is doing alright.. possibly internal parasites but i'll test that with red color pellets tommorrow before treating him with parasite clear if i have to.

raqataq

Well, I think I'll add another platy or 2 then. I'll just have to keep watch of the levels and clean accordingly.

COBettaCouple

cool.. i'd recommend 2 more males - they're incredible breeders.

raqataq

New buddy in the tank! I gave the platy away to a friend who has a few of them and bought an angelfish. I made sure I could bring it back to the store in like a week or so if I had any problems with it getting along with my other fish but it's been 4 days and all is well. So now my glowlight tetras, corys, guppies and gourami have a nice angel to hang out with as well!