Bright Community 30 Gal Build

I am working on putting together a 30 gal tank with brighter fish for my 1 yr old daughter to watch. I could use some input/ideas. I was thinking something along the lines of the following build:

Neon Tetra x8
Cherry Barb x6
Dwarf Gourami x1
Oto Catfish x3

 

I would up the number of Otos to at least 6, and I'd exchange the neons for cardinals

 

So long as all the species are temperature compatible I see no problems with the stocking. The main thing I will note is add the neons and otos last. They need fully established aquariums right off the bat or they may very well keel over before things get going. Neons are fragile fish and otos need the algae/bio film to feed on or they will starve to death.

Also, up the numbers of otos, they are schooling fish and should be kept as such.

 

Thanks for the input!

If I increase to 6 Otos, will that overload the tank?

 

No it won't, the otos will just be much happier with a proper amount of friends!

 

This is just my two cents, but I would replace the DG with a honey gourami or two. DG’s almost always end up dying from dwarf gourami disease, and they can be a little aggressive. Honeys can’t get the disease and are much friendlier. I think they’re a lot brighter as well.

 

I agree with WondrousEchelon, I've found honey gouramis to be much more enjoyable than dg's

 

I am working on putting together a 30 gal tank with brighter fish for my 1 yr old daughter to watch. I could use some input/ideas. I was thinking something along the lines of the following build:

Neon Tetra x8
Cherry Barb x6
Dwarf Gourami x1
Oto Catfish x3

Barbs are a great choice. Very active fish. Sometimes aggressive. They swarm like piranhas. One drawback for you... they will attack and/or eat any thing that moves and can fit into their mouth. Might be unsightly for a small child.

I would up the number of Otos to at least 6, and I'd exchange the neons for cardinals

Only up the Otos if you have sufficient algae for them to eat or are willing to feed them vegetables, e.g Zuccini. Otherwise they will die, very quickly. I have had 3 in a 30G for nearly a year and they are thriving. I don't have a lot of algae in my tank but I feed zucchinI slices 2-3 times per week.

 

Albifrons WondrousEchelon I will look into the Honey Gourami. Thanks for the tip!

Barbs are a great choice. Very active fish. Sometimes aggressive. They swarm like piranhas. One drawback for you... they will attack and/or eat any thing that moves and can fit into their mouth. Might be unsightly for a small child.

Will the Cherry’s mouths get big enough to suck up the otos, or the tetras? When I was doing my research I was looking at these, due to them all being roughly the same adult size.

Only up the Otos if you have sufficient algae for them to eat or are willing to feed them vegetables, e.g Zuccini. Otherwise they will die, very quickly. I have had 3 in a 30G for nearly a year and they are thriving. I don't have a lot of algae in my tank but I feed zucchinI slices 2-3 times per week.

I definitely do not have an issue with putting a piece of zucchinI in. I’ve seen a few videos and I think it looks cool watching the fish nibble off of it.

 

Albifrons WondrousEchelon I will look into the Honey Gourami. Thanks for the tip!



Will the Cherry’s mouths get big enough to suck up the otos, or the tetras? When I was doing my research I was looking at these, due to them all being roughly the same adult size.



I definitely do not have an issue with putting a piece of zucchinI in. I’ve seen a few videos and I think it looks cool watching the fish nibble off of it.

That should be fine as a mix. My tiger barbs and Otos don’t seem to notice each other.

 

Cherry barbs don’t get larger than 2” and are peaceful. I keep mine with all of the species you mentioned and they’re even more placid than my neons.