Archived message board.
Fish selection
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center: archive:
Fish selection
|
katieN.
|
Saturday,
September 08, 2001 - 10:38 am
Hey everyone! I have 5 harlequin rasboras, 1 female betta,
2 platys, 1 cory, and one pleco in my 29 gallon tank. I
am going to get 2 0r 3 more cories today, so my one won't
be lonely. My corie is a julli cory, so will I need to get
more jullis so he'll be happy, or will cories just school
regardless of kind? Also, in the future I would like to
get some more fairly easy to care for fish. I was thinking
about getting one or two dwarf gourami, but I heard that
they can be aggressive. So, any suggestions for a kind of
fish I can add to my tank would would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You!
|
|
G
|
Saturday,
September 08, 2001 - 10:40 pm
Its best to get corys of the same type, they'll probably
be much happier that way.
As for the dwarf gourami, they're usually pretty peaceful
in my experiences. Just be sure you have a gourami of the
genus Colisa, and everything should be just fine. I've
seen dwarf gouramis of the genus mentioned in with Harlequin
rasboras and cardinal tetras to name a few, and everthing
was just swell and dandy.
Other fish that may work out well might include dwarf cichlids
such as rams or apistogrammas, although they may get a little
territoral should you happen to get a pair that decides
to spawn. This is also dependent on your tank set up, most
dwarf cichlids prefer a well-planted/well-decorated aquarium.
Smaller barbs such as cherry barbs should work.
If you find any white cloud mountain minnows (or the
stunning gold variety) those should work. Many of the
tetras should also work.
The dwarf gouramis should work though, find a picture of
a gourami of the Colisa genus, and make sure those are the
type you'll be buying.
|
|
joycedonley
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 12:04 pm
Katie many members on our board had bad experiences with
dwarf gourami. I personally had two honey's that killed
each other(only fish I had in five years that really
fought). I think actually the larger gourami are less
aggressive. Also blue rams are extermely hard to keep and
tend to die if the water does not precisely meet their requirements.
Suggest you go with Bolivian Rams if you do go with them.
I have two angels in a 29 gallon and they do very well.
They arue a little with each other, but neither one is dominant
and they tend to work it out in a minor squabble.Angels
are pretty resistant to disease for the most part although
the longer fin type may occasionally get fin rot(mine
are about five years old). When I first started fishkeeping
I found green swordtails to be a nice addition in the 29
gallon. They were quite active and went well with the platys.Most
livebearers don't live as long as cichlids though. Mountain
minnows are a poor suggestion as they prefer much cooler
water than tropicals. Aquarium Fish had a great article
on them for a 10 gallon with no heater a few months back...I
also keep cherry barb and they are very attractive pleasant
fish. The males are really bright red and so very easy to
sex. I have never kept zebra danios, but many board members
find them an attractive fish. They are best kept in groups
and tend to stay near the top of your tank.
|
|
joycedonley
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 01:05 pm
Per Sept 2000 A fish magazine 'white clouds do very
well at normal room temperatures. If kept with tropicals
care should be taken to avoid those that need warm water'.
Great fish for a 10gallon no heater species tank.
|
|
Lorna
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 01:40 pm
Hi, I wouldn't recommend dwarf gouramis, I had a male
and 2 females and the male was very aggressive, chased all
the other fish in the tank and even killed my hatchets.
The male picked on the females and the 2 females picked
on each other. I returned the two females and put my male
in a 10 gallon tank with some zebra danios. He is doing
ok on his own, but mine sure caused a lot of problems. I
have 5 penguin tetras and they are very peaceful.
|
|
Shan
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 05:14 pm
Katie, I was going to definitely suggest more cory's
but see that you are already getting them. They say that
7 is a good number for harlequins (I have 7), so
you might want to add a couple more of them. I have harlequins
and corys, I have been contemplating adding another fish
or two so will be interested to find out what you decide
on and how it works out. Suggestions that people made to
me that I am considering are a couple penguin tetras, rosy
barbs, cherry barbs, or congo tetras (which apparently
aren't so picky about acidic water as are many tetras).
Rosy barbs are beautiful, but as I understand it can get
nippy, same with cherry barbs. Advantage of cherry barbs
is that they're smaller than the rosy so you could get
more of them. I am among those who had bad experiences with
dwarf gouramis--that's why I've been so slow in
introducing new tankmates to my aquarium. Is your pleco
doing a good job on the algae? I want to get one, but the
woman at the lfs told me they have a good reputation of
working at the algae, but in reality don't really deliver!
|
|
G
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 06:19 pm
Just as clarification, the experiences I've had with
dwarf gouramis have been a male or two with no females,
and in larger aquariums. This seems to have worked well
for me, but maybe I did something wrong.
Yes, white clouds are cold water fish, but from my experiences,
they appear to do quite well in water that is kept around
mid 70s ( 75-76 or lower of course). I have observed
them living in similar conditions for well over a year now
with no problems.
Bolivian Rams are, in my opinion, are a "slick"
looking fish. I tend to get "spoiled" and forget
that not everyone has access to fish of the same quality
that I do, so yes, blue rams can be hard to keep alive depending
on how well your LFS takes care of their fish.
One fish that has been totally overlooked are other rasboras.
I have honestly never kept a Rasbora only tank, but other
Rasboras such as Brilliant rasboras, and maybe scissortail
rasboras should work out well. Keep in mind though, that
scissortail rasboras get kind of large (I've heard
up to four inches).
Congo tetras are a pretty cool looking fish as well. If
you find any, you owe it to yourself to get a lot of them.
The males, after they mature, have longer fins that just
look really cool.
As for the pleco issue, some plecos work very well, but
you have to know which ones to look for. Some species are
actually more or less carnivores (for example the true
zebra pleco needs a more carnivorous diet). I have had
good luck with bristlenose plecos, Royal plecos, and particularly
my Angelicus pleco (bought it at an auction for 7 bucks)
to name a few. I have the Angelicus in a 125, and all four
inches of him manage to keep the tank reasonably algae free
for his small size. I'm sure other members will also
have other recommendations.
An "army" of otocinclus, depending on tank size,
may also work out fairly well.
Just my opinion again.
|
|
KatieN.
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 06:35 pm
Thanks for all of your suggestions everyone. I have been
thinking that a small school of congo tetras would look
very nice. Are they fairly easy to care for? Do they require
any special diet? Also, how many should I get? About the
pleco, he does a good job of getting rid of most of the
algea, but he can't seem to get the hard green algea
that shows up on the sides of the tank. Thanks again everyone!
|
|
joycedonley
|
Sunday,
September 09, 2001 - 08:23 pm
Katie I have some red eyed tetra and serpae that are five
years old. I also think congos look very nice. I have found
most tetra very easy to care for and they will eat flake
food. Tetra are schooling fish so you should get at least
six or seven and the more the better(don't add too
many fish to your tank especially all at once). The
only tetra I ever had problems with were neon and cardinal.
I recently read that neons do better in a very large school
of about 25 since they get stressed very easily.
|
|
michael
|
Monday,
September 10, 2001 - 02:35 pm
Hey everyone, I have a question about selecting some tank-mates
for my Cichlid. I have a medium to small size Blue Acara.
I also have two Cory. The Cory are fine, but every other
fish a put in the tank becomes a meal for the Acara. I have
tried Blood Fin Tetras, Buenes Aires Tetras, and Neons.
Does anyone have any suggestions. I would like to have some
more activity in the tank, just not the deadly kind...
|
|
joycedonle
|
Monday,
September 10, 2001 - 05:10 pm
BA tetra are large(I have some) if he is attacking
them you will have a problem. You don't say how large
your tank is....makes quite a difference!
|
|
michael
|
Monday,
September 10, 2001 - 06:40 pm
To add to the above, my tank is a 20 long...
|
|
joycedonley
|
Tuesday,
September 11, 2001 - 07:15 am
Mike recommended tank for an acara is about 40gallons. I
think the main problem is he just doesn't have enough
territory. Any catfish should be okay, I can't think
of anything else. Recommeded tankmate is festivum, but I
keep my festivum in a 55gallon! When I had him in a 40H
he attacked my angels. Now he is behaving in the larger
tank.
|
|
|
