notes to self: population planning

[serenissima]

the short list:
mollies - dalmatian (black and white spotted) and cremesicle (mottled yellow)
red/orange platies, with or without black tail
black neon tetras
1 male Betta splendens
cardinal tetras
cherry or rosy barbs
ghost shrimp

tank size = 24"x12"x12" = 15 gal.
How many fish can this support?
If each schooling species prefers groups of at least 5 or 6, may be limited to just two schooling species?
Would omit the barbs & cardinals first

Comments

[403.livejournal.com]

In general, the idea is to have a gallon of water per inch of fish length. Agressive fish need more space (at times quite a bit more), and relatively docile fish can make do with a bit less, but it's generally not a good idea to push the latter too far.

[rhynyx.livejournal.com]

Mollies: I think 2" each? But they're brackish fish, too.
Platies: 1" each
black neon tetras: schooling, 6+ (1" each)
1 male Betta splendens: 2" of fish
cardinal tetras: schooling (don't know a lot about them)
cherry or rosy barbs
ghost shrimp: very little bioload

Platies & Mollies are both livebearers, so prepare for little 'uns. The Betta should help with that. Of course, the social level of the betta will depend on personality. The ones with more finage tend to be more docile (hauling all that fin around, you probably wouldn't be interested in chasing after others either!), but you should also investigate which fish would be okay with each other. Many tetras are fin nippers, and that's just no good with bettas.

tank size = 24"x12"x12" = 15 gal.
How many fish can this support? 15" of fish
If each schooling species prefers groups of at least 5 or 6, may be limited to just two schooling species?
Would omit the barbs & cardinals first

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

Cardinal tetras are similar to neon tetras, but the red color covers the whole belly instead of just the rear half. From what I've read, the care is the same as for neons.

I've looked at http://www.aquariumfish.net , http://www.bestfish.com/articles.html , and http://honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/ . I think at this point I should just go ahead and set up my hardware, pick one species for cycling the tank, and review my plans with the pet shop fish person.

[rhynyx.livejournal.com]

Have you looked into fishless cycling? It's easier on the fish, since there's none in there. On the other hand, it's annoying to be staring at an empty tank. But it is nice to know your fish will be nice and healthy. There's a few articles around about it. If you choose to go the fish cycling way, I hear danios are great for cycling (and they're cute, too). Of the ones you're picking, I'd suggest maybe some of the tetras? But I'm not sure on that one.