my two small aquariums

Question
I have a few questions. First off I have a five gallon tank with two zebra danios in it because two died after having them for about 2 years and I still have two in the tank. I would like to add a few more zebra danios and some corydoras catfish so I would end up with 4 zebra danios and 2 peppered corydoras or something along those lines. Would that be too many fish in that tank? The tank is well oxygenated with plenty of live plants. Also if I got those catfish and the danios then when I fed them would I have to get special algae pellets for the corydoras to eat of would they swim to  the surface to eat the tropical flakes?

I also have a ten gallon tank with One goldfish in it. I am planning to get 2 or 3 more and I would like to put a catfish in the tank larger than a corydoras. Any suggestions?

thanks for your time, luke

Answer
Hi Luke!

4 zebra danios and 2 corys should be fine. Although the rules of the tank is no more than 1 inch of fish per gallon, if you do water changes more frequently (once a week, perhaps?), I think your danios will be happy to have more company. Remember though, when you add your fish, only add one fish at a time. Your tank is small and by adding more than one fish, it can ruin the cycle. You also mentioned that you have plenty of live plants, make sure the front of the tank has only short plants, or none because danios like to swim in open water. I love zebra danios and I have 12 of them in my 55 gallon tank! They are lovely :]

You do not need to buy any sinking food for the corys, although they would surely appreciate it. If you soak the flake food, they will sink to the bottom, but just make sure your danios don't eat them all. What would be a better choice, however, would be to buy sinking wafers. I think the best ones are he ones from Hikari. You can buy the smallest in zipper bag. (the picture in the front of the bag is a cory :]) Feed them once per day, or even every other day. It is a small tank so I wouldn't want to produce too much waste. You can also cut them in half and feed half a day. I have siamese algae eaters and many loache, and that sinking wafers is exactly what I feed them.

About your goldfish, you can get 2 or 3 more of them for now. A bad thing about goldfish is that they are really big and they will outgrow your tank. Some say they need 55 gallons tank minimum, but that is for common goldfish, and goldfish don't grow that rapidly. Catfish might or might not do well in your tank. Some of the catfish can grow very large, and can be fragile, depending on the breed. Also, Goldfish produce lots of waste, and will pollute the water. Many catfish need very clean water, and tropical community fish should not be kept with goldfish. They need different temperatures. If you keep them at 68 degrees or lower, the catfish will die, and if you keep them at 70 or higher, the goldfish won't be happy. If you would like some bottom fish, why don't you consider cool water fish such as dojo loaches? They grow bigger, and goldfish do too. By the time your dojo/weather loach has outgrown your tank, your goldfish would have, too. Dojo loach are very interesting, and they can be tamed.

I hope I gave you some good ideas. Good luck! If you have any further question, feel free to ask me any time.

Barb