[Cynical Fish Guy]

Let me add that for the last 4 months I've been maintaining a 1 gallon tank. My fish Sam (the betta) was quite happy in his 1 gallon tank. The tank after all was an upgrade from a pint hexagon that Sam lived in for 2 months. The hexagon was an upgrade from the cup at the store. Well I got a plant and the plants became plants, and then I was looking at tanks and then next thing I knew I was setting up a 15 gallon tank. Mind you that is a BIG freaking tank for a 3 inch fish.

Being no stranger I bought a bacteria culture 15 pounds of gravel; and transplanted the plants from the one gallon to the 15 gallon. I then dropped a dwarf Lilly bulb in the tank because I now have space for such a plant. I have also added 6 neon tetras because I didn't want Sam to declare the entire tank his. Next week I plan on adding 6 Harlequin Rasboras.... I'm not sure after that.

My question is, how much food do 6 neon tetras need? I'm used to dropping 4-5 pellets for 1 fish. The neon tetras are a blast to watch but I can tell they're hungry. SAM eats flake food, I got a Betta that eats everything! I trained him to do such things, but never intended it this well. However The tetras love his crumbs. Reminds me of Sharks and ramoras, though they, the tetras, attack food like tiny pirranahs. I just want to make sure I feed them adequately. Food usually last a little less than a minute or two.

A betta that eats flake food... go figure. I added a bacteria culture upon set up and used water from a previous tank to give the new tank a boost. It has several plants as well, and more will come in the future.

After Rasboras I'm thinking a couple of pygmy Corys.... Maybe shrimps and snails.... Any ideas????? :-?

 

[Bombalurina]

I would only do two full schools + a betta, so choose between the cories and the rasboras for a safe bioload. Personally, I'd go for the cories to have a group at each swimming level. As for the tetras, the best way to determine how much to feed is through experimentation. If the tank is becoming too dirty or the fish too fat, cut back. If they look skinny, feed more. I don't really count how many pellets I feed - I have micropellets and just throw in some generic pinches.

 

[Olympia]

^+1 to that.

 

[inareverie85]

Yeah, two schools of 6 fish each means you have 12 fish in there with your betta... After that you could maybe add 2-3 snails, but the bioload is pretty much maxed out unless you want to make lots of water changes regularly and get very high-graded filtration.

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

I have 1 school of 6 neon tetras 1 school of 5 Raspboras 2 Leapord/Gillian Corries 1 Male Betta. THIS IS A PLANTED TANK TOO 15 Gallons!

 

[Olympia]

But you need to have more cories than just two.. which would put your bioload over the top..

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

My two Cory's seem to be doing just fine. And the two guys I got, STAY SMALL It's a 15 gallon planted tank too!

 

[Olympia]

Cories will feel stressed over time if they do not have a sufficient school for security. They also need pristine water, and appropriate substrate.. or else their barbels will fall off, resulting in disease... 15 gallons is a tiny space to work with in reality..
Betta will start to feel uncomfortable with so many fish around them as well, too many schools and too much activity overwhelms them as they do not enjoy high activity...

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

The girth of my fish might be a centimeter man. Half inch for the Cory(s). I've done my research too! I wasn't asking about the bio-load. I can figure that out myself. THANKS FOR THE INPUT!!! One inch rule plays a lot on girth of fish as well as length! REMEMBER THAT!!!

 

[Olympia]

That is really irrelevant.. it is an outdated way to determine stocking capacity.. ammonia output and activity levels are more accurate ways to determine these things.. the reason a 2 inch goldfish needs 20 gallons of water not 2 gallons.. either way you asked for stocking advice and we tried to help you...

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

Thank you much too! It really did help! I'm good at maintaining and achieving the Chemistry I want and need. Thank you again.

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

I have noticed a small change in the betta's behavior. Who says there isn't high activity in a rice paddy though? You have heron's, storks, snakes, spiders, a whole list of other predators out there just waiting to gobble you up. Not to mention you have to find and catch your own bugs to eat.

Yeah yeah yeah, he's not a plakat and he is a man made species. However the dominant allehel is the one being expressed, and I have to believe that in some distant past, nature herself, through chance and mutation, created a wild BETTA, who screwed around and passed down the genes that hobbyist at first in SIAM then, the world round, developed into Betta Splendens; both for SPORT and pleasure. I hope he (betta splendens) adapts to the new environment which is now a very active place, of mostly S. American originating fish. Though some of the plants originate in SE Asia. Adaptation is key to survival. Even for humans. I still have his (betta splendens) one gallon tank on stand by too. The betta's fins are improving and he rules the tank, by SIZE alone. ALL FISH RESPECT the BETTA, and the water chemistry and temp (78) are kept to the betta's liking.

 

[Mo]

Leapord Corydoras (Corydoras trilineatus) aren't considered one of the nano species of Corydoras attaining a maximum of around two, inches on average. They are schooling fish, and will be much happier, more active, and will be out and about a lot more in groups of around 4-5+. If you have a group of this much then you will be over stocking your tank, leading to a range of possible problems that could cause death, and sickness amongst the fish. Also, another factor to as why you shouldn't have them is the fact that they don't do as well in the preferred range of a Bettas temperature, they do much much better in a temperature of around 72-75, where as a Betta is better in a range of around 78. They will not last as long in the bettas temperature. Also, what do you feed the fish? You are aware that they should be feed a range of foods like, bloodworms and other meatier live, or frozen foods, catfish pellets, a very small amount of algae wafers, omnivorous pellets, They also live up to 15 years in the right conditions so you have to make a large comitment to keep them, and right now it seems as if you arent providing the optimal conditions for them, meaning that they won't live a good, happy life

Here is a link to a profile on them
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_trilineatus

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

Thank you. I'll do that!

 

[Mo]

I made some edits to my previous post for you to read

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

The correct post would have been

which states 2 is OK, though they prefer 3!

THANK YOU THOUGH!!!

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

Thank you for the links!

 

[Mo]

2 is the minimum, I don't ow about you but I myself never go the minimum. I have my bettas in 15 gallon tanks, I have my kuhli loaches in sand, I heavily plant my oto tank. I heavily plant my corydoras tank, I give my fish what I would want, so ideally you should get 4+ to brighten there mood and make them feel more secu in there habitat

 

[Cynical Fish Guy]

Ideally...but two is okay, and they seem pretty darn happy to me. I'm happy to have a clean tank bottom. The two have a lot of character and based on size, I might even have a male and female. I'm unsure though. I do know I need to name the 2. They are the most expensive things in the tank, and they have a lot of character. I can see how women find them cute! They are trash/excess food picker-uppers for me. BTW, How do you feed these guys (corys) bloodworms. If I put bloodworms in the tank the other fishes will get to them long before the 2 cats...... I mean both schools (tetras & Raspboras) and my betta love bloodworms and brine shrimp, so I don't see the cats ever getting a chance at such delicacies.....

 

[Mo]

My cories actually beat the neons, guppies, Betta, and platies to the bloodworms