Upgrading my tank, want advice..

Question
QUESTION: Hello April,

I got my first fish a couple years ago (a betta) and it sat in a bowl for a couple of months and I felt sorry for it and bought a 10 gallon tank and really enjoyed watching him swim around in it.  I added some plants, a few harlequins and some ghost shrimp and they all got along great and I really liked the tank.  Anyways, the betta just recently died, and I am just left with 4 harlequins and a shrimp, and I would like to upgrade to a larger tank because I want more fish.  So I thought I'd ask for advice about tank options and fish for them.

First off, I was considering a 29 gallon because they have a pretty good deal at Petco with the complete setup for $89.  I know some kits seemed to have cheap components, but this looked pretty nice (all glass hood, flour light, whisper filter, heater), and when I priced all that stuff separately, it came to about $170.  Anyways, looking on the web the most common thing I see is "get the biggest tank you have room for".  Well, I can't get a 55 gal because that 48" length is too big for the room.  The only other thing that might be doable is something like a 40 breeder which is 36" long, because that would fit, but I don't want to go any longer than that.  I don't want it to take over the room.  But then something like that would cost probably around $200 because I didn't see a package deal for that, so I'm trying to see if it is worth double the cost.

Anyways, besides the 4 harlequins I have that I would put in there, other fish I saw that I liked are tiger barbs, zebra danios, some tetras, gouramis, and maybe some kind of catfish or algae eater.  Basically maybe a couple groups of schooling fish, and one or two larger more noticeable fish.  I also thought about putting in black gravel, some wood and/or rocks, and plants, so if you can think of fish that would look good with that substrate let me know.  I just want an idea of what I could do with either of these tanks, and the amounts of some of the fish I mentioned that would work in there.  I want to upgrade the 10 gal so I can have more fish, but I don't want the tank to take over the room.  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.  Thank you.


120 G   ANSWER: Hi Dan,

It is very good advice to get the largest tank that you can afford and have space for.  This is because many times people often upgrade soon after they set up a tank because they want more fish or different fish or they are beginners and tend to overstock.  Larger tanks are also easier to take care of and have less problems in the long run.  There is simply more water to dilute potential problems in larger tanks.

If you are comfortable with the 29 gallon and feel it's a good deal, go for it.  It's not up to me to tell you that's not good enough, only you know your space allowance and budget.  You could also consider a 'tall' tank set up.  I once had a tall 47 gallon in my family room and I liked that it took up the normal width of a 10-15 gallon but it was tall enough and large enough to house a fair number of fish.  If you do go with a tall set up steer away from keeping labyrinth fish like bettas and gouramis as they tend to not do well when they have to far to go to get to the surface.  I can tell you I only had that tank for a year before I sold it on craigslist and bought a 120 gallon.  The gal that bought my 47 gallon was upgrading from a 29 gallon.  It's just very normal to constantly upgrade so keep this in mind when choosing a tank.

My 120 gallon has black gravel, a black background a loads of colorful plants and ornaments.  I have attached a picture of what it looks like to give you an idea since this is similar to the set up you have described for yourself.  I also have lots of the same fish you like in that tank.  I have german gold and german blue rams, angels, neon tetras, red eye tetras, neon blue dwarf gouramis, long finned zebra danios, harlequins, platies, mollies, clown loaches, and cory catfish.  It makes for a beautiful, active tank and everyone gets along.  There used to be a betta in there as well but he passed on.

I would beef up your school of harlequins to at least 6-8.  When you get them in a larger tank they will certainly wither away and die without the security of a larger school, especially when exposed to other kinds of fish.  You'll have to be careful with your ghost shrimp because many other fish will tend to, well, eat them.  You could get 2 dwarf gouramis, I would avoid larger gouramis unless you only get one because they will account for about 25% of your tank space and it doesn't leave you much room for anything else with 29 gallons!  Always keep barbs, danios and tetras in schools of at least 6+, if you don't they tend to nip fins of each other and tank mates and they can also stress and die without the security of a school.  I would pick one group of these, either a school of tetras, danios, or barbs because you already have schooling rasboras and you'll have too many middle swimming fish in your tank.  Cory cats are always a great addition, very peaceful, very active bottom feeders and do best in shoals of at least 4.  

My recommendation would be to go to www.liveaquaria.com where you can view pics of different fish and plan out your tank.  I would recommend the following:

6 harlequin rasboras
2 neon blue dwarf gouramis
6 tiger barbs
4 albino cory catfish

This will give you active swimming in all levels and some variance of color.

You will need to lace your new tank with the old tank's gravel, water, and filter media so that it does not re-cycle and kill your fish.  I would even suggest letting the old filter run side by side the new filter for at least the first month to avoid any ammonia or nitrite spikes.  You will also need to add your new fish slowly, only 1-2 new fish per week, letting the bioload adjust and build up.

Good luck : ) April M.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice.  Your tank looks beautiful.  Are those live plants or silk plants in there?  Anyways, since I wrote you this originally, I have decided to get the 40 gallon breeder (or 50 if I can find one).  It's better for the fish to have a larger length and width as opposed to a tall tank, isn't it?  I figure I will have to upgrade the lights anyways to grow plants, and I think I like that wide footprint.  I imagine with all that surface area, that fish would have all kinds of room to swim around in.  And I don't imagine that there would be a huge difference between the stocking levels of the 40 or 50 (36x18x16 vs 36x18x18) with just that two inches difference in height.  Sorry to make you write that long explanation, but if you don't mind giving stocking suggestions for this tank, feel free.  Thank you again.

Answer
Hi Dan,

I think getting the bigger tank is the way to go.  I only keep silk and plastic plants.  I have found that live plants can be more work than fish and some of the fish I keep like to destroy live plants so it would just make a large, expensive mess.

It is usually better to have a longer length than a higher tank unless you keep angels, they prefer taller tanks.  There will not be a huge difference in stocking in a 40 versus a 50 gallon tank.  Again, it's all in the size of the tank, the filtration, aeration and venting in what you can stock in that tank.  I would go with:

1 angelfish
8 rasboras
2 neon blue dwarf gouramis
6 tiger barbs
4 albino cories
2 upside down catfish

This will make for a nice, active tank with swimming on all levels.

Good luck : ) April M.