# center piece fish for a 25g



## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

I am trying to convince my mom to get me a 25g for my birthday in september and I want to try a different tropical fish than a betta. I really want a center piece fish that just makes your mouth drop so this is what I was think stocking wise in the aqueon 25g premium aquarium kit 

1 dwarf gouramis (center piece fish)
6 pygmy cories 
8 tetras (I'm still thinking about what kind) 
6 ghost or RCS shrimp 

also I'm planning on it being a heavily planted tank.
would this be overstocked? do you have any suggestions on the tank or the fish?


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

I thought I would suggest this, I saw it in store and it is so cool!
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752241&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo

Plus, it has a bubbler!



Driftwood is beautiful also, real or fake
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3202479&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

I really love the look of driftwood I am about to put some natural driftwood in both my bettas tanks


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

Awesome, I want some also. I'm waiting until my mother goes to Put-In-Bay this summer. It is an "island" here by ohio. I'm hoping she can find me some neat pieces!


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I'd pick RCS over ghosts. Ghosts are almost impossible to breed in captivity (they have a larval stage), and they don't live longer than a year or so, IF they're not on death's door because pet stores think they're disposable.

RCS will keep replenishing the population as they go, they're also brightly colored, and "conventionally attractive".

Don't get me wrong, if I had the perfect setup for them to breed, I'd be keeping and breeding ghosts, they're my favorite. They're just a little more care intensive from the getgo, because you have to rehab them, just like bettas.


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

are plecos a better match for this tank?? or should I just stick with cories??


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

our pygmy cories are awesome, but they tend to be scarce.
We also have a bristlenose pleco, and an otocinclus. The only one of that group that we ever see is the oto.

If you go with a pleco, do your research, and make sure you buy from a reputable store, don't buy a "common" pleco and throw it in your tank, they're capable of getting over a foot long, and they become meat eaters and will attack your fish as they get older.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Are you planning on planting your tank?

Anyways, first on your plans..
Dwarf gourami tend to have a fatal virus that can transfer on to other fish (1 out of every 5 has it, though I personally think I'm seeing more cases of sick dwarf gourami lately). If you are still interested in small gourami, you could try a small group of honey gourami.

You pygmy cories and your tetras, I would have at least 10 of each. (Of course depends on the tetra, some I like are flame tetra, lemon tetra, black neon tetra, rummynose tetra). Tetras look good in bigger groups, if you plant your tank well you can have many more than if you don't plant it. 

Another centerpiece fish would be a group of 3-4 apistogramma species (cockatoo cichild specifically). But you wouldn't be able to have shrimp with them. Then again, I think the gourami may eat the shrimp too.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Anything will go after shrimp if they're hungry enough. Our guppies wiped out a majority of ours.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

jesssan2442 said:


> I am trying to convince my mom to get me a 25g for my birthday in september and I want to try a different tropical fish than a betta. I really want a center piece fish that just makes your mouth drop so this is what I was think stocking wise in the aqueon 25g premium aquarium kit
> 
> 1 dwarf gouramis (center piece fish)
> 6 pygmy cories
> ...


It's refreshing to see someone come up with a sensible stock list - it gets reeeeeeally old telling people no all the time. Good job!


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## Crowntails (Feb 12, 2013)

You could do more like 10-15 Pygmy Cories. They only reach half an inch! And they will come out more if they have more friends.


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

olympia- yes the tank will be planted and I'll have to look in to cockatoo cichlids.

I'm gonna stick with pygmy cories.

I read on a different website that all tetras will schoal togather like cardinals will schoal with black tetras is that true cause I think that would be kinda cool to have a couple of different colors???


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

I have a 30 tall tetra tank. My neons and my glowlight tetras school together. They don't really hangout with my skirted tetras though.

Tetras are my favorite period. I have never had a problem with mine.


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

oh ok I'll propably just get tetras then


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I've kept several species of tetras together is various sized tanks. In a large tank, they did not school together. In a smaller tank, one might think that they schooled together. In my experience, the smaller the tank, the more it seems like different species are "schooling" - because they are being forced to share the same water. Just an observation I've made keeping the same fish in different size tanks.


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## Aoicat (Nov 30, 2012)

I love my tetras. I've currently got a group of 8 pristellas in the tank with my betta. If you have a choice, the cardinal and red minor tetras are really good looking. I always like something red in my tanks.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

maybe check into some of the species of rainbow fish, I have them as my main attraction in my 46 gal tank some of them are really pretty it just depends on what you can get in your area.


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## Crowntails (Feb 12, 2013)

I love pencilfish. I'd do them instead of tetras!


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## jesssan2442 (Feb 19, 2013)

what about rainbow endlers I think they look cool.. have any of you ever had them?


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