# Congo tetras...can I add them?



## aquasox (Sep 11, 2005)

I was thinking of adding 6 or so congo tetras to my 72 gallon bow. Concerned it my tip the balance so just a thought at this point.

current pop'n:

44 cardinal tetras
6 scissor tail rasboras
3 siamese algae eaters
8 otto cats 
10 Japonica shrimp
3(?) Malaysian rainbow shrimp.

I change 50% of water every week. Tank is heavily planted, but v-shaped composition so there is fair amount of swimming space.

Feedback appreciated.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

The stocking levels won't be overwhelming if you add them in there, especially since you do those 50% weekly water changes. I'm not sure if the addition will make the tank look "busy" in terms of fish varieties and schooling patterns. 

-John N.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

You're already pretty close to where I'd want to be stocking wise, IMO. I love congo tetras though. I have 15 in my 180g tank along with about 30 rummynose, 20 otos, 3 SAE's, 3 rams and there will soon be 12 loxozonus corries too. I was considering that to be pretty much full. I'm sure that if you're careful with maintainance you'll get away with it just fine. I've certainly kept succesful planted tanks that were much more crowded than that.

6 is a minimum number for congos. They really are more comfortable & active in groups of 8-10. I kept 6 of them in a 46g bow for over a year and it was a little too small to see 'normal' behavior from them. I think a 72g would be fine - better than the average tank that they're kept in. They really display nicely with the 6' swimming space of a 180g though.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

One thing to consider is they may make a snack of your rainbow shrimp.


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## mossymoss (Sep 22, 2006)

I have kept a small school of 8 Congo tetras with about 10 Cardinals, 2 SAEs and 5 Amano shrimps in a 60 before. The SAEs were too big (and fat), and the shrimps hided well, but a few of my Cardinals' tails always looked chewed up. Sometimes badly. The Congos were never caught in the act, but I would not keep them together again.


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## aquasox (Sep 11, 2005)

mossymoss said:


> I have kept a small school of 8 Congo tetras with about 10 Cardinals, 2 SAEs and 5 Amano shrimps in a 60 before. The SAEs were too big (and fat), and the shrimps hided well, but a few of my Cardinals' tails always looked chewed up. Sometimes badly. The Congos were never caught in the act, but I would not keep them together again.


Hmm....I can believe that because I used to keep them with neons...I caught a large male congo on more than one occasion with a neon in its mouth! I was hoping that these were sick neons, but you never know....maybe it has a bit of a bloodlust.


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## aquasox (Sep 11, 2005)

guaiac_boy said:


> 6 is a minimum number for congos. They really are more comfortable & active in groups of 8-10. I kept 6 of them in a 46g bow for over a year and it was a little too small to see 'normal' behavior from them. I think a 72g would be fine - better than the average tank that they're kept in. They really display nicely with the 6' swimming space of a 180g though.


Just curious....what is your stocking ratio of males to females? I'm so tempted to get some congos....though I think I'll wait a til my cardinals are nearly full grown and the scape is complete.

Maybe I'll have to dedicate a separate tank to congos 

John, I think the congos would look really cool, but yeah I think you might be right about it appearing too busy with the different schools. I only have 8 species of plants, so this might offset the variation in fish. I'll have to put some thought into this.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I haven't really counted for sure since some of them are still quite small - about the same size as the bigger rummynose. I had 4 males & 2 females before and I added 9 new fish. I think the new ones were 5 males & 4 females. That would make 9 males & 6 females total, but that might change when they get a bit bigger. It's always been easier for me to find males for some reason. They're probably more desirable since they color up better and have nicer fins. Still, you need a few bonnie lasses around to keep the group happy.

I've kept congos with fish as small as threadfin rainbows before. Once, I found what was left of one in a congo's mouth. They might accidentally strike at feeding time since they go completely nuts. In over a year thats the only aggressiveness they've shown. Who knows - it might have already been dead. They seem to ignore the rummynose and shrimp as far as I can tell.


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

*My 75G with Congos & stocking ideas*

I keep a school of 7 Congo Tetras (3-f/ 4-male) in my heavily planted 75g.
They're in with:
12 Lemon Tetra
3 Female guppies (the male died) 
Ottos-6?7?8?
and
6 Corydoras Adolfi

I really love the Congos...sometimes they're cool and reserved, often they stick together. Regularly they are spawning in the AM - chasing, dancing, displaying. Sometimes the tank looks busy; at other times the Lemon Tetras are chasing each other through the underbrush doing their own games that I don't really see them. I don't think I'd know what to do with a peaceful serene tank, I love all the action.

The only thing I'd want different is something with more color. While the Congo has great irridescent bands of orange and blue it's still primarily shimmering white; and the Lemon Tetras are also very pale in coloration. Unfortunately I started the tank with the Lemons and then chose the Congos as my 'primary stars' a few months later. If I were starting from scratch I'd choose a secondary player with stronger coloration. You have the Cardinals for coloration; but the Scissortails are more pastel. Of course, you know the problem if I'd decided to do a switcheroo now....? TOTAL TANK BREAKDOWN to extract the Lemon Tetras.

Hmmmm...I am setting up a new 35g??? Hmmm....I wonder if the Lemon Tetras would be offended with such a small tank???? Wow...is it worth all the work????

Anyway, my ideas for stocking are one primary star-main attraction-bigger fish and one secondary player- supporting cast - smaller schooling fish. Then they're the stage hands who are kind of non-descript and just go about their buisness: the clean up crew. In this bunch I stick the Corys, Ottos, SAE, shrimps &/or snails...and I just don't really count them much in the 'Major Theme'. (Of course I know if you've got too many SAE in a smaller tank you've definately need to consider them in the bio-load as they get much bigger than, say, Ottos.)

I think the Congos would surely be okay in a 72bow with its 4ft lenght. They'd even do fine with that large school of cardinals. But, I'm wondering if it might be too much with the Scissortail Rasboras because they are a larger and speedy rasbora.

I did have some Diamond Tetras in this same tank once because I could'nt resist aquiring some BEAUTIFUL Lake Tebera Rainbowfish. Well...that was a while ago, long story, lots of shuffling and moving of fish around. I was able to move the Diamonds out of a 46bow with just a net and some patience. But when I decided they were just too much in the 75g; they chomped the tails of the Rainbow! :evil: Those Diamonds are not as peaceful as most folks say! I did have to do a total tank break down to get them out of the densely planted 75g.

So, anyway, how does this apply? When I had one large fish (Rainbows), one medium squad (Diamonds) and one small schooler (Lemons) it was _way too busy!_ With this current incarnation of my 75g with two main groups besides the clean up crew I am much, much happier with it.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I agree with mudpie. For me, I've decided on congos as the main players, rummynose as a small, somewhat colorful, schooling fish, and loxozonus corries as a substrate schooler. Throw in a couple of rams for interesting but peaceful chiclid behavior, some SAE's, otos, and amanos for cleanup, and that's the list. Congos are only at their best if they're top dog in the tank.


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