My New Fish

Hi All

A few years ago I had four tanks on the go. As the fish died off I didn't bother replacing them until I was left with just the one live tank.

In between lockdowns last year I decided to get more fish for this tank and bought some Cherry Barbs. I was about to buy more when we went into another lockdown. Last week I went to Pets at Home (nothing else nearby) and bought three Dwarf Gouramis (one male and two females) and three Albino Corys. I still have four Cherry Barbs.

I have been looking at the CC to see what to get next. Albino Corys don't seem to feature so any ideas which is the best fish to use as a substitute on the CC? I used Panda Corys, but that says I need four of them. Also any suggestions what to get next?

My tank is 160 litres and 100cm long so there is plenty of room.

Thanks in advance.

The minimum number for all cories is 6. These fish live in shoals of hundreds in the wild so they have a hard wired need to be in a group. Albino cories could be one of two or three species, make sure you get more of the same one. You could also get non-albinos of the same species if you'd prefer.
I don't know why cories aren't in the fish database. Over 10 years ago they were - they was an entry 'cories' which represented all the 5 cm cories. Then the site had to change hosts in a hurry, the original forum was lost and cories vanished from the database.

Dwarf gouramis are very hit and miss. Most of the ones bred in the far east are already infected with dwarf gourami disease by the time they arrive at the shop. This is incurable, and commonly kills the gouramis within a few months. You may be lucky and have disease free fish, but if they do have it, don't get any more gouramis of any type for this tank.
Buying 1 male, 2 females was a good idea. For their size, dwarf gouramis are aggressive fish, and males have been known to kill females if he was "in the mood" and she wasn't. With two females to spread any aggression, they shouldn't come to harm.




You have listed 4 cherry barbs, 3 albino cories and 3 dwarf gouramis. Are there any other fish besides these?
I would get more cories to a total of at least 6, and more cherry barbs, again to at least 6. Six is the minimum for shoaling fish but more is always better. There would still be room for another species of shoaling fish.

I don't know why cories aren't in the fish database. Over 10 years ago they were - they was an entry 'cories' which represented all the 5 cm cories. Then the site had to change hosts in a hurry, the original forum was lost and cories vanished from the database.

You could input the similar-sized 'sterbas cory' into the Community Creator / database as a substitute for your albino cories.

That still leaves me lots of room. Maybe some Neons in the future. I know that they are a boring obvious choice, but they are so pretty. Any other ideas?

I love neons and cardinals, and they are particularly good choices if your water is very soft - cardinals possibly being the better option as slightly less prone to 'neon tetra disease'. Alternatively, how about lemon tetras, harlequin rasboras, dwarf rainbowfish, or pencilfish? [Argh - I'm getting another spell of fish broodiness, simply by articulating these suggestions.]

Neons' requirements are 18-215 ppm [most up-to-date and comprehensive 'bona fide' source - https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/paracheirodon-innesi/]. If you check your water supplier website, it ought to give the CaCO3/ppm for your postcode to find out if your water meets their requirements.  If not, there are ways of softening your water to meet their requirements, such as Reverse Osmosis water.

5 days would indeed be far too soon to get more fish. Have you been monitoring water quality (ammonia, nitrite and nitrates) daily since getting the new additions and, if so, what have the results been so far?

I looked at  my local water suppliers website and they give a total hardness figure of 300mg which I guess is fairly hard.

On the CC is says that all my fish are ok in hard or very hard water. It's all a bit confusing. Perhaps I might need to rethink what additional fish I should get.

I have kept quite a few different fish in the past without too many problems.