# Another "fish for a small tank" question



## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Hi,

I have a 6g. 
It currently contains 5 ember tetras and 1 amano shrimp.
I initially planned to add a betta.
Then I thought instead of a betta I would just add more shrimp.

Now I think I want more fish instead. 
If possible, I'd like to add a pair of a different kind of fish.
I read another thread about a 6g tank and some of the recommendations that I like are gertrude rainbowfishes and dario darios (there were other suggestions in the thread but those are the ones I like most).

Are these fish types easy to keep? Would you recommend one over the other? Why?

Thanks!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I've never kept Dario Dario, but Pseudomugil Gertrudaes are shoaling fish and so prefer to be in groups of 6 or more. They are also a bit more timid so if your ember tetras are fast voracious fish then they may outcompete the Gertrudaes. However, the Gertrudaes are very inquisitive fish, they interact with the tank swimming through plants and in and out of decorations, searching for food or playing with each other. They are definitely one of my favorite fish.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the info, Reckon! I was worried that those small ones would want to be in a bigger group.
I definitely can't fit another 6 fish in my tank, though.
I guess maybe I'll just have to be reasonable and live with my tetras... haha

[Edited because I clicked submit before I finished writing the post]


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

The blue eyes of the rainbow is so beautiful. I like the fucarta rainbow. They will interact with each other but the ones I had did not school in the same way as rummynose, they are more about snooping around the tank. 
May be you can sell off your tetra and replace them with a few rainbow?
I never had Dario Dario. But if you keep your tank in good condition with the right parameters none of these fish are that difficult to keep in theory. 
I think it may be time for a bigger tank.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks, Fish rookie.
I can't imagine selling my ember tetras - if they make it through my cycling and my trials and tribulations in learning how to keep fish, I owe them a good life. 

It'll be time for a bigger tank eventually. I have my heart set on pea puffers. But not until I'm more experienced, and have figured out the whole going away on vacation thing. That's usually when everything breaks down...


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

I've got a Dario dario in my tiny tank. Awesome little fish. They're really picky eaters though. Mine will only eat live food; although some of them can be taught to eat frozen stuff.

How's the cycling going?


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

i had a few rice fish b4. they were cute


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

UnderseaGal said:


> Thanks, Fish rookie.
> I can't imagine selling my ember tetras - if they make it through my cycling and my trials and tribulations in learning how to keep fish, I owe them a good life.
> 
> It'll be time for a bigger tank eventually. I have my heart set on pea puffers. But not until I'm more experienced, and have figured out the whole going away on vacation thing. That's usually when everything breaks down...


Get the Pea Puffers!  They are absolutely adorable and the most inquisitive things ever. Low maintenance for me. But as they have no stomachs, I have to feed at least once every two days or their tummy sinks in.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Rockman - thanks for sharing your experience about the dario darios. I love the look of them, but I don't think my schedule allows for picky eaters in my tank. Onto the next idea... 
Cycling should be close to done - just added my last dose of stability. Will do a proper water test tomorrow and see what it says.

onefishtwofish - thanks! Those are cute. 

Momobobo - I see from your signature that you master the small tank idea - glad to see I'm in good company.  I'm super keen on pea puffers! Don't want to mix with my tetras, though, so it will have to wait until I can get a new tank. Can you mix pea puffers with shrimps?


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Ok I looked it up for 2 seconds on google and I can already tell the pea puffer + shrimp combo is a bad idea.

Pea puffers alone only! Got it.


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

i have dario dario, and they have been fine. They eat frozen baby brine shrimp every couple days and nibble on flakes as long as they are floating around the tank, not just sitting at the top, and once a week i give them shaved bloodworm. They are housed in a 10 gal with pygmy cories, love em.

I had 3 pea puffers there originally, but they fought to the death.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Tazzy_toon, thanks for sharing your experience with dario darios! I heard that some will eat live food only, and others are fine with frozen. I'm just not sure I'm ready to gamble. haha


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Well! Looks like cycling is done - just did a water test and ammonia is finally at zero!


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

what are nitrates?


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

They barely register. Between zero and five?
I'm hoping it's because my live plants use them up, but that may be wishful thinking...


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

ya you want nitrate readings of some sort to know your cycle is complete


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Unless you're doing frequent water changes you'll probably have nitrates register in the 10-30 range before your cycle is complete, but it's great that the ammonia is at 0 since that's the most toxic!


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

I see. Thanks for clarifying, nigerian prince & Steve!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

UnderseaGal said:


> They barely register. Between zero and five?
> I'm hoping it's because my live plants use them up, but that may be wishful thinking...


If you want the plants to use up the nitrate you need a lot of plants and the fast growing kinds (hydro, water spirit, wisteria...etc). Slow growers cannot really do that effectively. Your stem plants can be cut off and replant but they will take a while to cover a large portion of your substrate. Java fern is relatively slow growing.
Using water change is a better way to keep the nitrate down, and water change is good for your plants as well because it replenishes the minerals (redox) and removes dissolved organic in the water column.
6 galloon is not a lot of water so you cannot really dilute the waste fast enough if you have a hugh spike (even if your tank is cycled), therefore, I would recommend to control feeding, and spend some time to vaccum the gravel and keep the tank clean with frequent water change if you want to add more schooling fish.
If you want to have extra tanks but do not have enough space, a stacker is something you might want to consider. It is basically a shelf unit for you to put more than one tank on top of each other.
If you want to have more schooling fish I would suggest to look into fish for nano tanks or shrimp tanks, such as galaxy rasbora, exclamation mark rasbora...
Smaller fish will make the tank look bigger, and bigger fish can make the tank look smaller by proportion comparison.
Enjoy your tank.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for all that valuable info, Fish rookie! 
I went to the LFS today and brought a sample of my water. In the end I couldn't add more fish or shrimp at this time because while ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all ok and indicate the cycle is near the end, my pH was at 8.2! (seems the water tests I'm using are not quite accurate) Apparently this is common towards the end of the cycle and given that the tap water in Vancouver is a bit alkaline right now due to rain. I was told to wait it out and do water changes in the meantime, so I just did one. I added some (non-living) goodies to the tank, too!









The plan is to go back next week and see if the water is ready for a fish.
Though I change my mind *all the time*, right now I'm looking at adding a single dwarf gourami. At the LFS they told me about the ones that prefer to be in groups and the ones that prefer to be alone, so long as I get the kind that is happier alone, it should be fine.

Chances are I'll change my mind a million times between now and next week, though.


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