# 30 gallon tank stocking ideas?



## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

I like micro tetras. I have ember tetras in a 20 long (soon to be 33 long) with Corys. And reed tetras (Hyphessobrycon elachys) with black phantom tetras with Corys in a 40 breeder. I think I may get a group of checkerboard cichlids in the 40 breeder eventually. I haven't decided for sure yet. But the 33 long will stay just ember tetras and Corys. 

Also love lambchop rasboras and dwarf neon rainbows too if you want something a bit bigger and don't mind mixing continents. 

For a mixed community you could do 10 lambchop rasboras (will hang out at the top) 10 cardinal tetras (will hang out mid) plus your Corys and also add a pair of rams or some other dwarf cichlid.


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## Nubster (Aug 9, 2011)

I'm not worried about mixing biotopes. I was definitely thinking a school of tetras of some sort, something smaller so I can do a larger school...some cories are another big want...and maybe some blue rams. Not sure how many I can have in the tank...a few females and one male? Or are they better in a pair or as singles if I'm not trying to breed? 

Or possibly Killifish? I don't know much about them though so I need to look into them but they are pretty nice looking fish. But I do read they are shrimp killers for sure...I'd like to have some amano shrimp at least and possibly some neos...I do know that mixing any fish and shrimp is a risk...but some fish seem to do better with shrimp than others. Not sure how rams would be...I'd think they'd probably be pretty unsafe too. At least for the neos. But I definitely want some fish. I have a shrimp tank so this one will be fish and plants first...if I can work in some inverts great. If now...oh well.

So many options...but at least I have time. I probably won't even get the tank setup until sometime in January. Then 4-6 weeks of cycling. Then making sure the plants are well established. So...looking at a few months at least.


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## SueD (Nov 20, 2010)

When you don't have one "must have" fish to build a community around, your options are wide open - this can be very, very good or frustrating (too many options lol). 

So here's just one suggestion, which is one of my own favorite tanks ( mine is a 20g long): a school of dwarf pencilfish, White cloud Mountain Minnows (I have the Vietnamese WCMM - Tanichthys micagemmae), and habrosus cories. There are also tons of RCS and 2 amano shrimp. This is a little cooler tank which I run at about 74F and everyone has done fine at that temp. You can find larger cories than my dwarfs that will work too, like the cute little panda cories among others.


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## Linder25 (Nov 12, 2017)

I say drop the plecos and go with a hillstream loach I love those little guys!
Killifish while great looking can be pretty aggressive at times from what I can read believe inverts and smaller fish seem to get the worst of it.i was thinking about those for a tank but love my shrimp

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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Lots of good ideas and I have been breeding Sterbai and love them. I think it is important to know that you need your plants established first before you throw in Corydoras and if you have carpet plants, Corydoras, those cute little fish they can be frustrating to watch as they stir up an area where you’ve just planted. If you plan to do a lot of replanting Corydoras can also be a nuisance in a newly Planted Tank so it’s good to know which plants you will be growing. In my Corydoras tank I have two Clown plecos and I setup a nice piece of wood as they love and live in the wood. On the underside I turned the log over and drilled out a nice 1” entrance and made a pocket inside the wood for them. I set up the log so not too much light hits this spot in the tank. Now I can see my little clown plecos which are both 3 years plus old. Sometimes the Corycats will hang out in there with them. I mention this as otherwise, I would Never see my Plecos. If you want to see your Clown Plecos, you normally cannot have a lot of fish as they are shy. Another nice small Pleco is the Zebra if your budget permits but I don’t know if they come out much. Sure look nice. . harlequin rasboras are a nice looking schooling species in my opinion. With the schooling fish as your dither fish, you could for the show piece, consider Appistogramma Cocatoides Triple Red, apistogramma cacatuoides orange flash, or Bolivian Rams of course, you might want to see how compatible they are with other fish. They will get along with your Corydoras but dwarf cichlids can get nasty if you get a pair and you have to get a male and female if you truly want to see these Dwarfs show their colors. 



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## SueD (Nov 20, 2010)

I agree with what's been said about the plecos and rarely seeing them. I had bristle nose plecos in a couple of tanks with bamboo caves in there along with driftwood. The males in particular spent most of their time in the caves; the female I had was out a bit more but startled a lot when I was near the tank. And when I put the female in with one of the males, breeding was almost non-stop for a while.

I finally sold all of the fry, 2 adult males and one female, some privately and some to my LFS. I was left with one fry that I missed when catching the others and that is now my only adult pleco. While there are some really beautiful species, for me their added bio-load is not really worth it for fish you rarely see. And the fry take a long time to get to a decent size for sale.


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Linder25 said:


> I say drop the plecos and go with a hillstream loach I love those little guys!


I missed this one. Good call out in my opinion. I have *Golden Zebra Loaches* in one tank and like them a lot too. Loaches will eat snails and shrimp, so take that into mind if it applies. I think they're fun to watch especially when you get a bunch of them in the same tank and they do have a pecking order. I have one 15Gal with about 8 of the GZL's. Although Loaches have not torn up my plants too much, they too will burrow up your carpet plants, e.g. Monte Carlo if it's not well established, or if a piece of food or a snail is in the middle of a nice carpet plant, the loaches will get that piece of food with no regard for your plants HAHA.


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