# 30 gallon tank suggestion?



## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

Hello everyone, I recently got a 30 gallon tank. Currently, I have one male Betta, one albino loach, one albino Plecostomus, and two male guppies. 
I was wondering what other fish I could put in my tank in order to fill it up. Anymore bottom feeders? 
Side note: My Betta is great! He?s never been aggressive, and loves having friends! A little surprising I know, but luckily he?s been really good.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

A school of Cardinal Tetras, some Swordtails or Platies, maybe some Corydoras. The possibilities are endless.


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

Thank you,
I?m pretty new at this, so not really sure how many of what type of fish to put. I feel like I need more bottom feeder fish, but I?m not sure what to put with the loach and pleco. I know I?ve definitely considered more guppies. How many also not sure on. Any and all advice is great!


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## kivyee (Oct 15, 2016)

Just remember if you get male and female guppies you start with two and you will end up with hundreds. What's your goal with the tank? Are you going to use live or fake plants? Do you want a high or low maintenance tank? Some fish are interesting to watch e.g. scarlet badis and pea puffers, but they only take frozen/live food so it complicates feeding...
Once you have some general parameters of what your goals are we can offer you suggestions that will be much more on point.


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

Thank you,
Right now I have fake plants in the tank, a place for them to hide and also a heater that keeps the take warm at all times...I only have two male guppies so the plan was to only keep males because of the breeding. Maintenance I guess I would prefer a low to moderate. Right now it?s pretty low but I only have 5 tiny fish in there and no real plants.
I hope that helps? I wish I could show a picture.


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

Also I?ve thought about a pea puffer. My consern would be my Betta. Like I said he hasn?t been aggressive towards the other fish, but the guppies are way smaller then him and the bottom feeders keep to thereselfs on the bottom lol. He?s like the king of the tank.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Pea puffers are biters. They should only be kept with their own kind. If you want an active, hardy fish you might try White Cloud minnows. They are illegal to sell in Canada, but I bet they are available in Texas. Another interesting fish to consider is a Dwarf Gourami.


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## Wyvc (Sep 17, 2017)

TomC said:


> Pea puffers are biters. They should only be kept with their own kind. If you want an active, hardy fish you might try White Cloud minnows. They are illegal to sell in Canada, but I bet they are available in Texas. Another interesting fish to consider is a Dwarf Gourami.


I saw some at petsmart in richmond a while ago.. still instock in toronto.. https://www.petsmart.ca/fish/live-f...d-more/white-cloud-mountain-minnow-15321.html How did you find that they were illegal to sell? Is there a list?


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Here is a link: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hra/invas...sAlerts/White_Cloud_Mountain_Minnow_alert.pdf

Apparently White Clouds cannot be imported into BC. I may have been mistaken that they are illegal to sell here. Does anyone know the exact situation? Is only importing, and not selling that is banned?


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

The pamphlet pretty much spells it out: "Do not possess, breed, release, sell or transport . . . "


Of course, this only matters - from an environmental perspective - if these minnows are released into the wild. Unfortunately, the rules apply to aquarium owners as well, as far as I can tell.


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## Mick2016 (Jun 16, 2016)

Rummy-Nose tetras. Very pretty in a school. Non-aggressive toward other fishes in the tank. Cories and Otos are good bottom feeders. Otos can be a little more fussy about water conditions and do like to hide during the daylight hours. I have four in my tank and rarely see one out in the open.


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

The bottom feeders you suggested would work well with the loach and pleco I already have? 
Someone told me loaches were aggressive and wouldn?t work well with ?others? I haven?t had an issue with mine though.


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## cammywf (Jan 9, 2015)

just a suggestion. maybe you should take the betta fish out. My betta fish was in the community tank with a school of rummynose tetras, and its fins was almost gone by being nipped. He could not even swim when I realized the problem.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

cammywf said:


> just a suggestion. maybe you should take the betta fish out. My betta fish was in the community tank with a school of rummynose tetras, and its fins was almost gone by being nipped. He could not even swim when I realized the problem.


I don't think she has rummynoses right now, so the betta is okay.


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

I don?t have rummy nose tetras, and the guppies I have don?t nip at the beta. I believe they?ve been together for about 6months now. 
I do have a back up tank Incase something like that was to ever happen though! Thank you!!


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Do you measure your water for hardness? What is Houston water like?


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Most of the loaches I've kept enjoy being in a school of their own. If you enjoy watching your loach, you may want to add several more instead of corydoras since they'll both likely play in the bottom of your tank. Do you know what kind of loach you have?


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## Samantha3 (Oct 22, 2017)

I believe it?s called a dojo loach ( its albino) the sign at petco said it only got to be 6in... I?ve posted on another thread and someone told me my tank isn?t even big enough for the one. You seem like you know a lot about them.. your thoughts?


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Dojo's are cool, I'd love a school of them but they are hard to find around here. I do think that they would be too big for your tank:

Weather Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) â€" Loaches Online

But loaches would be happiest in a school of them so if you do like loaches, stick to the smaller species of loaches like kuhli's or dwarf chain loaches, maybe zebra's if your tank isn't too crowded.


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## kivyee (Oct 15, 2016)

Just don't make the mistake I did when starting out of not adequately researching various fish before you buy them. I used to go into the LFS and just bought what looks "cool". Ended up with a scarlett badis and got dragged down the road of frozen/live foods . Then I made the mistake of getting one female guppy when I already had 3 male guppies...poor girl was harassed constantly. 
If you want schooling fish another one to consider are ember tetras. And with schooling fish more is typically better - my 4 neon tetras were chasing and bullying each other until I introduced 2 more and BAM the entire group dynamic changed - now they actually get along and school...


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