My friend got a 30 gallon for chistmas and i get to help stock it! Right now it has 7 albino cories and 1 chinese algae eater. The filter is an aquaclear 30 and we will be adding in 1 platy and 1 cherry barb soon. When the chinese algae eater gets bigger and possibly more aggresive we are relocating him and replacing him with 2 ottos. We also decided to get maybe 3-4 more cories, we were thinking something like leopard. We are going to have a total of 2 male cherry barbs and 3-4 females. And for the top i was thinking a pair of angels would look good(its a tall bow front) What type of cories would be good? something around 2 inches. Should i do anything else besides angels? I know angels will work but if we go with something like a pair of rams we could add a tetra school for the middle.

Just an idea, I don't know if you get bumble bee fish over there ( they are little black & yellow striped bottom feeders & cleaners & very peaceful ) they always look really good & also a small school of zebra fish look good & get on well with everything you've put in so far... I'll try & find the scientific names if you don't know what I mean... These can survive without a heater but is better if you have one... How many Angels are you planning on getting, big ones or small ones ???

I dont know what fish you are talking about, maybe they are called differntly in your area. We decieded we only want 2 ottos, 7 albino cories, and about 3-4 of a 2 inch cory(havent figured out which species) for the bottom. Hes probably going to get 1 pair of adults. If he goes with a smaller type of cichlids pair hes probably going to get a school of tetras. What cories would be good? (around 2 inches)

Leopard Cories look really kool, I was just looking at some at www.vickisaquaticplace.com... She has a mad tank set up which has made me want to out & get a huge tank, heater, lights, filter the whole shebazzle... I think I'm think thats going to be my belated Chrissy present to myself !!!. She has Angels & Tetra's in with hers...

there are 2 types of bumblebee catfish, one is bigger but both can be predatory to small fish like the slender-bodied tetras. scientific name would be very useful in this case.

These are the new Pearl Gourami...

These are the young blue & orange paradise fish...

This is Monkey - my 16 yr old cat...

I did a GOOGLE search & typed in bumble bee catfish to get the scientific name & did see that they are sometimes predatory & thought to myself you find out something new every day... Out of the corner of my eye I read max size 20 cms & I almost died because the things I was talking about are pretty damn small & are always in a communal tank, I'm talking about bumble bee goby's...

Check out this site: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_bumble.php

The bumble bee goby is an attractive little fish and one of the few freshwater gobies available on the market. It's small size and pretty coloring makes it excellent for a smaller tank. However it is advisable not to buy more than one for a small tank for they seem to be territorial between their own kind and constantly will pick on the other one. However they are peaceful towards other species and happily cruise (or rather appear to hop) around the tank resting on rocks and other objects on their way. An interesting thing about this fish is that it does not have a swim bladder. This may contribute to the appearance of the fish hopping around. I recently lost my gobies and sorely miss them but there will always be a place in my heart for these cute little guys.

Contributed by Amber
My experience is that the bumble bee gobies are a nice addition to any aquarium. I do not recommend for beginners nor small tanks. In a 45G etc they tend to do the best because everyone i had in a small tank died. Nonetheless, they are wonderful for the more experienced hobbyist.

Contributed by Robert Hinkson
I really like my gobies. I have four in a 20 gallon biotope of Southeast Asia. They don't seem to be aggressive towards anything but possibly a little timid. I would strongly suggest this fish for the beginner because it is very hardy and doesn't need a large tank. The post above this one states that they aren't good for the beginner and I am not sure why he said that but different fish of the same species often differ in temperament and ability to stay alive in various conditions.

Contributed by Dino
One comment about what Amber said: I have never noticed any fighting, fin nipping, chasing, etc, done between any of the gobies I have kept. I usually keep up to 5 in my 10 gallon tank and they were quite happy and thriving until a freaky pH mishap partly my fault for forgetting the fluctuations of our towns water! Unfortunately I lost all the fish in my tank :-(. I have been keeping fish for the past 4 years now and I have always loved gobies and they have always done fine in my tanks.

Contributed by J. Moores
I have 2 bumblebee gobies, and highly recommend them! They refuse to eat anything except live foods. Mine prefer brine shrimp. I have not noticed that they are territorial with each other. Not at all. Mine do not fight. They don't "hang out" together in the tank, but they do not fight or pick on each other. They're very peaceful, and like to stick themselves to the walls of the tank, or the sides of the glass or wherever seems appealing at the moment. They're normally a brackish water fish, but I have mine in a freshwater tank, and they've been in the tank since July of 1999. They're doing WONDERFULLY. In fact, I'm really impressed by their hardiness. When I set up my 29 gallon tank, I was overzealous and put too many fish in too soon. A severe case of New Tank Syndrome killed every single fish I had - EXCEPT the gobies! They've been through it all in this tank! They should be moved to a more peaceful environment (they live with a red tailed shark and a Brichardi cichlid), but they get along fine with their tankmates! They do not get picked on by anyone in the tank at all, which is surprising.

Contributed by Shawna McGregor-King
I just got my gobies a couple weeks ago. They are sooo cute. They hop around the tank. They are not mean to each other nor any other fish. They are very hardy fish. I have 2 gobies in my smaller tank. They do well with my fancy guppy. I highly recommend these cute, and unique fish.

It also has a cute photo of one on there !!!.

i didnt read all the contributed bys, but the bumblebee gobies are supposed to be brackish, at least thats where they thrive. they may do okay in pure freshwater, at least for a while, but they are usually listed as brackish and that tells me thats where they will do best.

I said 2 times naughty fish that we ONLY wanted cories and ottos for the bottom level, plue bumble gobies are brackish and i dont want to put them in fresh. We alos dont want gouramis becuase we decided we will do a pair of angels or a pair of rams and some hatchet fish.

Sometimes I think there is just no pleasing you ( no offence mate... ) I wouldn't say something purposely on here if I hadn't researched it or know from past experience... The dude wanted ideas for setting up his friends tank & I was giving him some - what they end up putting in it is up to them... The bumble bee goby can live in either brackish or fresh water ( some internet sites or people might tell you different things so this is going on past experience more so than what I have read - can you really believe everything you read ??? ) - mine was fine for ages until my stupid ass ex boyfriend decided he wanted the tank, heater & filter we went halves in ( that I had looked after for around 2 years or so ) & not the fish on a long weekend when there was no place available to get the things they needed in order to live - a lot of fish died in that 3 day period which is why it took me like 4 years to want get back into them...
I too thought they were brackish, uncommunal fish until I saw some in a pet store ( in the owners private tank ) which is where I bought mine from... I wanted something a little unusual & also to add colour to my tank... I know I had a weird tank set up... It was a huge tank & I started buying locally, different types of goldfish were about all that was availabe so I had a few of those in various sizes then I hit the pet stores in other towns & cities up to about 3 & half hours drive away which lead to a lot more variety... I had 3 scatts ( one large, two small ), two silver dollars, three black widows, a female paradise fish, two clown loaches, a little shark thingy & some cleaner fish plus the bumble bee just naming them off the top of my head plus the goldfish all in the one huge tank... I should really have researched what could go with what but didn't do that just got caught up in the excitement of having fish & lots of them & knowing more than I used to I'm very very surprised none of those fish killed each other... I don't know if it was the order they went into the tank ( some kind of territorial thing ) or weather I just had a bunch of docile fish... The only fish that ended up surviving were the goldfish & the female fighting fish ( the rest either needed heating or aeration or both... ) I put them into any available container I had... Anyway I did get to buy another tank ( not as large ) & another one which I put the female paradise fish into with a male one & very very surprisingly ( for me ) after feeding them worms etc & lowering the water level they spawned that very night !!. The female ended up dying, I think she just got too pregnant - she bloated up... The male I had for probably another 2 years living on his own which he eventually died ( I accidently left his tank outside overnight in cold weather... )
This time around I have quite a few pairs of breeding fish altho they all have their own tanks for breeding & for seperating ones that need to be seperated altho I plan on getting a really huge tank & planting it all out & having it as a permanent base for fish when they are not breeding & yes I will be putting a couple of bumble bees in there...
While I was at our two aquarium stores today - one I have not been to before I was very surprised to find the people working there knew nothing about fish ( they didn't mind telling me & anyone else who was in there too !! ) We have another one opening up on the 14th which I am going to head straight down there ( am friends with one of the new owners ) & see if they'll give me some work... This forum has been really great & everyone who types in it are pretty kool, it's kind of made me realise how much I enjoyed any animals ( esp fishies ) that I've had before... If it wasn't for Robyn, I don't think I would have gotten into fish again or atleast not for a very long time...
& last but not least Mr Reptile Guy, I don't mean to be rude back up there so don't take it personally, I just wanted to give the other dude some idea's... I did find your photo's, they were great altho I have a few ideas for your turtle tank coz personally I thought your tank is big enough to play around with & set up a little differently... I thought the water a bit too deep & the basking area looks as tho it would be hard for the turtles to climb out on ( altho looks can be decieving I know ) & also looked like the basking area is too small... The guy at one of our pet shops was telling me about solasticing some perspex to one of the inside walls of a tank & seeting it up a a basking area, like putting rocks on the perspex etc... It kind of makes more space for the fish you have in there as they can swim under the perspex as well & allows you to have a bigger basking area... I'll see if I can find a photo example of it for you... It's something you can easily do yourself... You can buy water proof solastic at a hardware shop & the perspex you can probably get at your hardware shop as well & also have them cut it down to the size you want, then you sloastic it in, say in the corner of your tank as 2 sides being solasticed would be stronger than only having one side solasticed... I think it's a really good idea, the guy at the pet shop is getting do it yourself kits in - if you can't get them over there & you're interested I wouldn't mind sending them to you in the post - he said they were inexpensive so if you like you can consider it some sort of belated Chrissy present for your turtles... I'd do it myself altho the tank I have for Penny atm isn't large enough which is fine for now because she's a baby & also because I am not sure how long I am going to have her for & also because the only fish I have in with her are ones purely for her eating pleasure & they are tiny altho it is one of the options I am going to consider if I do keep her & if I decide I'd rather have her indoors or out...
Look forward to hearing from you !!
Ciao Meow

Mr Reptile Guy ;-P
Please don't take offence I just thought it was a nifty idea : )

You type alot! :lol: I cant really read all of it, it hurts my eyes. I dont want fish suggestions, more of amounts.

I talk even more then I type... LOL

So here it is

30 gallon:
7 albino cories
6 cherry barbs(2 males, 4 females)
3 leopard cories(Probably but we are still looking for other types)
2-3 ottos
2 angel fish( mated adult pair)

The other plan is no angel fish and then we will do something like a pair of rams with hatchet fish and tetras.

naughty fish, what should i not take offense to?

Naughty fish can you please stay on topic. You are showing us pics of your cat and talking about turtles.