14 gallon cube freshwater ideas

[Finthusiast]

Hey guys thanks again for all the help setting this tank up. My current setup is with
fluorite gravel
undergravel filter
Java fern on driftwood
Hornwart floating
Anacharis planted in gravel
Cryptocoryne planted in gravel
Dragonstone (for look)
6 zebra danio
4 ghost shrimps
I added some decomposing leaves from a local freshwater lake that has many types of fish living there this is where I got my ghost shrimp as well. Father fish informed that the leaves will help by adding the biological bacteria needed to jumpstart the fish tank so I can add fish sooner and provide some nitrates that my plants will need. Here are some pictures of the tank after setting it all up.

 

[BanjoCatfish]

Hope it does well have fun fishkeeping

 

[Finthusiast]

I will keep updating as it matures. Should I add more zebra fish? They chase eqch other a bit and i googled it said if there arent enough they will start doing that but dont want to make it too crowded in there how many more is acceptable and should I add other species along with more zebras?

 

[BanjoCatfish]

I don't know what to tell you about the danios, they are not something I know a lot about. However, I skimmed through a few care guides for them online and found this: "Zebra danios have hierarchical systems of dominance within their shoals, established through play-fighting and non-aggressive chasing.". Most of the articles I read said they need at least 5 fish in their school, so the 6 you have would meet that requirement, so maybe they are just play fighting to establish a hierarchical system in their group? I'm not really sure what to tell you. I think I would be careful about adding too many fish at once at the beginning of setting up a brand new tank, you want to give the good bacterial colonies time to establish themselves so they can handle the changes in ammonia and other stuff created by the fish waste (in other words let the tank get cycled). Maybe just watch them for a few weeks and see how things pan out? Or just use your best judgement and do what you think is best. Maybe someone who has actually kept danios will be able to better answer your question, I've never kept them and I'm just doing the best I can from reading care guide articles online.

 

[Finthusiast]

Ok that makes me feel better at least lol I read that as well and saw others saying they tend to do it when theres fewer numbers but havent noticed any injuries on any of them so thankfully it must be what you said. They do go after the smaller one for sure makes me think they are 5 female and 1 male cause 1 is a bit smaller than the rest. Thanks again for the input and have been binge watching father fish like you suggested I may even try to visit his shop as I live on the east coast Florida so only a few hours from me!

 

[BanjoCatfish]

Oh that's so cool that you might visit his shop!!! I would love to do that. I'm not sure that he's there anymore though, I think I read that he recently moved to Maryland, but if his shop is still operational that would still be cool. Also, I edited my last post and added some stuff and when I was done I saw you had already liked it, I was trying to quickly edit it before you read it, just FYI you can reread it if you want but the stuff I added is not necessarily important.

 

[Finthusiast]

Ahh I was lookin forward to meeting him lol but I have heard him mention a discord server that they got going maybe Ill look into that his shop is amazing I couldnt believe how big it was when i watched a video showing around. Thanks for the tip on not adding too many fish at once I want to do whats best so definitely will wait a few weeks

 

[Finthusiast]

Hey guys here is an update on how the tanks coming along Ill post a new thread concerning my next question about green water I assume is algae.