# Help with stocking a 30 G



## Robbieg (Feb 25, 2012)

Hi fellow aquarists, just need a little help with stocking my aquarium. I have a 30g its finished its cycling a week ago. It has 5 live plants (1 amazon sword, 1 small java fern, 1 large, narrow leaf java fern, 1 moss ball and 1 unidentified plant thats mid sized moved from a previous tank), 3 pc of driftwood, some slate as hiding areas and a bubble wand. I have a aqua clear 50 on there and a coral life bulb thats on approx 8 hrs and I added neon tetra's (5) on sunday, everything is going well so far. Im planning on adding new stock to the tank at a 7-10 day interval. Is this too quickly? I plan on checking my parameters before and after adding the new stock to see if its ok to proceed.

here is my basic stock list :

5 neon tetras
5 zebra danois
3 dalmatian mollies (all three female, i dont want to deal with fry)
3 red red wag platties ( all three female, idont want to deal with fry)

Is there anything else that I can add or am I at my limit? keeping in mind no fry, I was looking for something kind of cool medium sized fish. Thank you in advance for an advice


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Robbieg said:


> Im planning on adding new stock to the tank at a 7-10 day interval. Is this too quickly? I plan on checking my parameters before and after adding the new stock to see if its ok to proceed.
> 
> here is my basic stock list :
> 
> ...


I really like that stock list for a community tank - Were you planning on quarantining them before adding them? If so that will slow down your addition rate, but cost to replace vs hassle of quarantining etc. is a decision you need to make.

A thought you might want to consider - neon tetra's are a shoaling fish, you might want to up the number of neons, it'll make them feel more secure, and will look *really* cool when they move in unison.

Another thing to consider is where the fish you're suggesting will spend their time in the tank - top/mid/bottom, the danios, mollies, and platy's are all mid/top, the neons are mid-tank, you dont have any 'bottom' fish.

I'd consider adding another 7 neons, and maybe adding a group of corydora(4-5 panda or sterbai perhaps? as your bottom fish), but with your current stock list and setup, that would be quite a full tank, and require frequent tank/filter maintenance.

To help remedy that - as the molly and platy are very similar in shape/behavior etc - I'd not get the dalmation mollies - and instead get a group of the sterbai cory's, that way you still get the black/white coloration.

suggested max stock list in order of addition:

12-15 neons (added in two groups giving time for the biological filtration to catch up)
4-5 sterbai/panda cory
6-8 zebra danio's
3 platy

hope that helps.


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## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

I agree, you should add some bottom feeders, like a group of corydoras, but I wouldnt suggest sterbai because they can get rather large. 
look into some panda corys or even the pygmy ones, the pygmy ones are adorable and you can have a larger group because they are smaller.


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Kerohime said:


> I agree, you should add some bottom feeders, like a group of corydoras, but I wouldnt suggest sterbai because they can get rather large.


Last time i kept them, they stayed at 2-3" which was my understanding of their max size...


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## Robbieg (Feb 25, 2012)

df001, Kerohime:

Thank you guys so much for youre helpful ideas. I dont have a quarantine tank so right into the tank they will go. I was researching and came across the harlequin raspbora what if i were to revise the stock list as follows would I be at my max? Im very responsible with keeping the aquarium water clean and am on top of the filter changes. 

stock list:

8-10 neon tetras
5 harlequin raspbora
3 red wag platties
3 cory cats
6 zebra danois

any thoughts would be welcome, also out of interest you had mentioned that neons would have a nicer effect if there were more, would cardinal tetras shoal with the neons or will they hang out on there own?

Im pretty new to tropicals I used to keep fancy goldfish for many years. What exactly is the role of the corys, are they in the stock list for cisiual interest mostly ? I understand that they are there to eat left over food so is the" community tank " set up to be its own functional environment? as opposed to goldfish that very few things can live with them?
hope thats not a dumb question just trying to understand the concept of the community tank. 

Looking forward to youre replys


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Robbieg said:


> df001, Kerohime:
> 
> Thank you guys so much for youre helpful ideas. I dont have a quarantine tank so right into the tank they will go. I was researching and came across the harlequin raspbora what if i were to revise the stock list as follows would I be at my max? Im very responsible with keeping the aquarium water clean and am on top of the filter changes.
> 
> ...


Stocking is always so subjective - everyone has their own opinion... I tend to err on the side of less is more, that said as long as your filtration is adequate, you could probably stick with a larger group of the neons, and add another cory or two. How heavily planted your tank is would also play a role, more fish = faster nitrate buildup = larger/frequent waterchanges.

The cardinals and neons likely wont, IMHO you'd be better off staying with the neons since you've already got them.

part of role of the cory's is cleanup crew, although that's a minor one - the majority of cory species are really fun and playful together - another reason to have a group - so they can interact! The top/mid/bottom is more a territory thing, if you pick a tank that only has top species, they'll all be competing for the same space, and the bottom/mid will be very boring,

IMHO the community tank is a show-case of different (compatible) species, each with specific behavior traits, visual traits etc for our enjoyment.

What it really comes down to is: 
What do you want your tank be?
What type of aquarist do you want to be?


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## Robbieg (Feb 25, 2012)

appreciate the comments, and I understand a little better the role of the different layers of the tank. I will look around toronto find the cory, I found ones called albino corys they seem small and a lot easier to manage. 

In terms of stocking the tank I want to go on the side of less than more, so i just want to be making sure that I dont have to upgrade to a new tank any time soon Im pretty content with the one 30 gallon. Just want to make sure that the fish are having a good time also. Ill keep you updated with the additions and thank you again for all of the advice.


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