30 litre (8 gallon) stocking for my aquarium

[Watersplasher909]

So I have a 30L (8 gallon) tank (Superfish Quibiq 30 pro) with nothing but fluval stratum, drift wood and lots & lots of plant. It has nothing in it and is fully cycled, I have some fish that I like but I have no idea what goes with what. Please give some suggestions. Thanks and ask any Qs you have.

the fish & invertebrates stocking

- Fish:

Betta fish plakat
Ember tetra
Sparkling gourami
Chili rasboras


- Clean up crew:

Zebra nerite snail
Amano shrimo
Otocinclus
Neocaridina shrimp

 

[jackywacky]

From what I’ve heard the betta and sparking gourami won’t do good because they are both antabatoids. I would also do either 1 school or no school. Personally I would chose chilis over embers for an 8 gallon. Also I would either do all amanos, all neos, or some neos and one amano. Remember that otos are kinda finicky. And you could probably do 3 sparking gouramis if you do do the gouramis

 

[GouramiGirl100]

I would not do betta with sparkling gourami because sparkling gourami are a bit shy and the betta may be too aggressive for them. I agree with the above to choose one schooling fish. I would not add otos into an 8 gallon newish tank, they require a very established tank and a big school number (6+). You can do neos with amano shrimp or choose one or the other depending on your goal. If you want to have a large neo shrimp colony I would choose chili rasboras as the schooling fish as they are less likely to eat all the shrimp babies. Ember tetras are more likely to eat shrimplets. If you don’t care about breeding it doesn’t really matter but I would only do 2-3 amanos in an 8 gallon they can get kind of big and the tank might start to feel cramped.
My opinion these are some options:
A school of chili rasboras with a RCS colony
A group of 4 sparkling gourami with some amano shrimp
A betta tank with shrimp- it’s a gamble though and whether or not the betta will eat your shrimp- I have a betta and shrimp tank that’s doing well and one that no longer has shrimp in it (if you catch my drift)

 

[Watersplasher909]

I would not do betta with sparkling gourami because sparkling gourami are a bit shy and the betta may be too aggressive for them. I agree with the above to choose one schooling fish. I would not add otos into an 8 gallon newish tank, they require a very established tank and a big school number (6+). You can do neos with amano shrimp or choose one or the other depending on your goal. If you want to have a large neo shrimp colony I would choose chili rasboras as the schooling fish as they are less likely to eat all the shrimp babies. Ember tetras are more likely to eat shrimplets. If you don’t care about breeding it doesn’t really matter but I would only do 2-3 amanos in an 8 gallon they can get kind of big and the tank might start to feel cramped.
My opinion these are some options:
A school of chili rasboras with a RCS colony
A group of 4 sparkling gourami with some amano shrimp
A betta tank with shrimp- it’s a gamble though and whether or not the betta will eat your shrimp- I have a betta and shrimp tank that’s doing well and one that no longer has shrimp in it (if you catch my drift)

How would a group of 7 ember tetras along with 4 low grade cherry shrimp & 1 Amano shrimp + 1 nerite snail? OR 1 sparkling gourami with 1 Amano shrimo & 1 nerite snail? OR 15 chili rasboras, 2 amano shrimp & 1 nerite snail? Thanks

 

[jackywacky]

My combo would be 2 sparking gouramis, 5-7 chilis, 1 nerite, and 1 amano

 

[Watersplasher909]

So I have a 30L tank (32x32x43cm) with nothing but fluval stratum, drift wood and lots of plant. It has nothing in it and is fully cycled, I have some fish that I like but I have no idea what goes with what. Please give some suggestions. Thanks and ask any Qs you have. These are the fish I like NOT the stocking, I would like suggestions of stocking ideas (slightly under stocked) that could go into my aquarium using the fish below. THANKS

the fish & invertebrates stocking

- Fish:
Betta fish plakat
Ember tetra
Sparkling gourami
Chili rasboras

- Clean up crew:
Zebra nerite snail
Amano shrimo
Otocinclus
Neocaridina shrimp

 

[GouramiGirl100]

How would a group of 7 ember tetras along with 4 low grade cherry shrimp & 1 Amano shrimp + 1 nerite snail? OR 1 sparkling gourami with 1 Amano shrimo & 1 nerite snail? OR 15 chili rasboras, 2 amano shrimp & 1 nerite snail? Thanks

All sound good but the sparkling gourami needs some other sparkling gouramis, you could do 4 with 2 amanos and a nerite if you wanted. Other options you listed sound good too

 

[FinalFins]

- All shrimp tank. Easy, colorful and you can sell any excess you breed.
- A single betta with some invertebrates
- 3 sparkling gouramis, although I would argue it could be pushing the limits of a cube of this size.
- 7 chili rasboras (or exclamation point rasboras, as they are even smaller) with some invertebrates.

I would hold off on any sort of tetra or otocinclus, simply due to the size restraint.

 

[Watersplasher909]

All sound good but the sparkling gourami needs some other sparkling gouramis, you could do 4 with 2 amanos and a nerite if you wanted. Other options you listed sound good too

I heard that sparkling gouramis should be kept in singles? Is that not true

 

[Coradee]

Sparkling gouramis are very social so should be kept in groups, they’re very entertaining. If your tank is anywhere near where you sit you you’ll hear them ‘talking’ to each other, that always made me smile.

Edit: just an fyi if you do have sparkling gourami don’t have shrimp with them, they decimated my colony, I called them….
Sparkling (velociraptors) Gourami | Sparkling Gourami Forum

 

[GouramiGirl100]

I heard that sparkling gouramis should be kept in singles? Is that not true

As said, groups are best and I agree about them eating shrimp which is why I suggested amano shrimp with them. I find most fish are less likely to eat amano shrimp due to size

 

[Watersplasher909]

As said, groups are best and I agree about them eating shrimp which is why I suggested amano shrimp with them. I find most fish are less likely to eat amano shrimp due to size

This may sound bad but would it be enriching for them to hunt baby shrimp (cherry shrimp) because the adults could clean and have babies and the babies could be eaten to keep population control. I would also have 1 amano shrimp so I could feed them and they could eat algae?

 

[Coradee]

This may sound bad but would it be enriching for them to hunt baby shrimp (cherry shrimp) because the adults could clean and have babies and the babies could be eaten to keep population control. I would also have 1 amano shrimp so I could feed them and they could eat algae?

I was quite prepared for them to cull a few baby shrimp but they go after the adults too, that’s what surprised me about them, you could try it but personally I wouldn’t.

 

[GouramiGirl100]

This may sound bad but would it be enriching for them to hunt baby shrimp (cherry shrimp) because the adults could clean and have babies and the babies could be eaten to keep population control. I would also have 1 amano shrimp so I could feed them and they could eat algae?

Like above, that’s really a personal choice. Just know they could go after your adults