Just A Quick Hello!

Hi, welcome to the forum 

Can I make 2 suggestions?
Get more than 4 cories because they like to be in groups of at least 6, with more being better. The same applies to the tetras.

Dwarf gouramis are very often infected with one (or both) of 2 incurable diseases by the time they get to the shop. The diseases are tb which will infect all other fish, and iridovirus which is specific to dwarf gouramis.
Honey gouramis are a better choice as they tend not to arrive at the shop with any nasty infections.

Once the tank is fully stocked, you'll need to increase your water changes to 50% a week 

Just to check - since you have fish, you are testing the tank water for ammonia and nitrite to make sure all the bacteria survived in the filter?

Hi Alannah and welcome

I think the plan for 8 tetra and 6 cories sounds good.  A source, which has an up-to-date detail of requirements of different species, suggests that the bentosi/ornate tetra (if that's what you mean by white-tipped) requires a 90x30cm footprint, so your 58x30cm footprint would be better suited to other types of tetra - is there another type that takes your fancy?  I have x-ray tetras which are lovely but there are numerous ones which are suitable for that tanksize eg ember, glowlight, cardinal, yellow phantom, flame, diamond, kitty, reed, jellybean and rosy (each less common).

As for whether rams would be an option, I'd be a bit concerned about the cories' welfare if the rams breed and become territorial in such a small tank as both tend to occupy the bottom region of the tank. I have the same size of tank footprint and, while I love rams, feel that the tank is too small for such species. An alternative option might be to have a fish occupying the top region of the tank - a few sparkling gourami might be an option (although I have read that the choice of tetra with them ought to be more calm than x-rays, but the others I suggest are possibilities).

Check your water hardness by inputting your postcode into your water/utility website, let us know the results for water hardness in terms of CaCO3 and German degrees hardness, and that might help us with some further suggestions for you.
 

Edited to add: just reading Sue's response to another post and I realise there's something I forgot to mention here. Cories fare much better with sand rather than gravel as it prevents their barbels wearing down and potentially infection setting in.

Just a quick addition to above ... I believe I may have rosy tetra, not ornate. Not sure if this makes a difference to the suitability in my tank 😊

Hi all 

Just checked the German hardness reading and it's 13dH

Matt thank you for the recommendation, I'll go check out Seriously Fish 

fcmf - honestly, don't worry about sensitive wording, it's fine!! I'm learning a lot as I go and I love to have advice from more experienced fish keepers    I'm pleased that I am able to keep these little ones as I really love them!  I'm adding another three tomorrow, so I'll have more of a shoal on the go after that.

Luckily I'm in no rush to stock my tank, I want to do it nice and slowly so that everyone is happy.  I'm also open to what fish I have, so again, will take my time research.  I love the sparkling gourami you suggested, and also the honey gourami that Sue suggested.

With regards to softening my water, as it's only one degree over, I'm thinking that I might get a nice piece of driftwood to go in there and then that'll be a natural source, rather than adding peat etc into the filter or RO water.

Thanks guys, as before, with all your help and advice, I'm very grateful