tropical aquariums

[kwak zzr]

I'm quite clued up on aquariums but whats a good choice of fish for a community tank? Ive just upgraded to one of those curvey glass tanks with modern lighting bridge and no hood, at mo Ive only got glow light tetras and a couple of platys so I'm off today to spend a bl@@dy fortune on fishes :) i was thinking neons, head and tail lights, lemon tetra, albino cats, silver shark perhaps a Siamese fighter?
so whats your favorite and what looks good and lives in harmony with others? :)

[fizzwheel]

How many litres is your tank ?

Tetra's are normally a good choice for a community tank. So are some Barb's, but watch with Tiger barbs as they like to fight but are OK if you keep them in a decent size group. i.e 6 - 8 or more. If you have a small tank then dont get Tin Foil barbs as they get massive.

Neons are nice, but I found them quite fragile and they have a reputation for going to the big fish tank in the sky quite easily, but other people have got on OK with them, If you like the Neon look, but want something a bit more hardy, then Cardinal Tetra's look the same, but are tougher.

Silver sharks are nice, but they get huge and you they like it better if you keep them in a group of 3.

I really like Clown loaches and Red Tailed Black sharks to.

If you've got no hood, dont get Gourami's as they like to jump, I discovered this after I found ours dead behind the tank after it had jumped out.

Platys are nice, but you may well end up with loads of them as they breed easily and quickly.

I've never liked Siamese fighters, but if you only get one and dont have anything in your tank like likes to nip fins or anything that looks like a figher, i.e. guppies you'll probably be OK I think.

Dont get anything from the chiclid family of fish, they work better in a species only tank.

Watch for Pleco's and some cat fish as although they'll look small in the fish shop, some of them can get enourmous and might outgrow your tank.

[kwak zzr]

thanks fizz, ive had plec's before and yea they got to about 12" long then they went back to the shop lol, ive keps chiclids before too i really like those but this time its community only, thats a good call about the gourami's my daughter wanted a few of the kissing ones, as for the clown loach that was on my list of what to get too.

[kwak zzr]

mmm litres in tank? dunno its a B shaped tank about 24inches wide and 24inches deep? bout 16" wide.

[fizzwheel]

Oh I forgot to mention, according the blurb I've read, Clown Loaches like to be kept in a group of 3 or more. We did have 3 but got white spot in our tank and we lost one, the two we have seem happy enough though. I'd like to get a third one though.

If you get a Red Black Tailed shark only get one as they're territorial and will fight with another one when they get a bit older...

[kwak zzr]

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/kwak-zzr/11022009076.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/kwak-zzr/11022009077.jpg

[kwak zzr]

forget spongebobs house and the crusty crab thats the kids doing :(

[Viney]

In our tank we have....

1 Sail Fin plec
2 Clown Loaches (Who are quite frankly mad)
8 Blue neons (longest running fish in the tank, over 6 months now)
4 Guppies (Did have 6, but 2 have died)
2 Platys (1 thin and 1 fat)
1 Koi Angel (Called spike)
2 Harlequins
1 Siver Shark (Who do have a habit of jumping so an open tank might not be the best)

Dont get a Siamese fighter with any long tail fish as they will nip them (Even guppies). Dont get silver dollars, they grow and grow and eat all your neons (As verna found out years ago!)

There is a fresh water puffer in our local shop, but its £90, but hes sooooooooo cute (Yes i am a man and used to word cute ok, deal with it ) ;)

[fizzwheel]

Kwak do you want a lot of smaller fish, or several bigger ones.

I'd be inclined to stick to Tetra's and the more peaceful barbs, I dont know if thats big enough for Silver Sharks or Clown Loaches as they'll get quite large and its bad for the fish if they dont have enough room to grow into...

[kwak zzr]

hows about angels? any experiences? they nip too dont they?

[kwak zzr]

i prefer lots of smaller fish me thinks.

[fizzwheel]

Go for Tetra's then, you can mix and match and they may well shoal together so you'll get lots of movement. Platy's should be OK as well nice and inquisative and playful so good for your kids to watch.

Urgh Angels nasty, I dont like them, they can also be aggressive I think. I'm sure somebody on the tropical fish forum I was using whilst I was setting up our tank, said that they'd got an Angel and it had eaten all their Neons.

[the_lone_wolf]

Kwak do you want a lot of smaller fish, or several bigger ones.

I'd be inclined to stick to Tetra's and the more peaceful barbs, I dont know if thats big enough for Silver Sharks or Clown Loaches as they'll get quite large and its bad for the fish if they dont have enough room to grow into...

most fish will grow to fit the size of the tank, not continue indefinitely

but i wouldn't keep silver sharks in there, they are shoaling fish, 3 is really a minimum, 6 is ideal, 20+ looks amazing in a big tank, plus they mopve so fast they'll smack the glass continually if another fish spooks them

the problem you'll have with a tall tank kwak is that the only interface where water can absorb oxygen is the surface, so you should calculate stock capacity by saying one inch of fish for every 12sq inches of surface area

agree with everything else that's been said, and i'd say don't buy angels, in my experience they're nasty beggars:mrgreen:

[kwak zzr]

mmm neons are expensive fish food!

[speedplay]

Dont get anything from the chiclid family of fish, they work better in a species only tank.


Thats not strictly true, Its all dependent on which cichlids you choose, obviously oscars and jack dempsey ect will not work but if you have a pair of cribs, a small keyhole cicklid or something else fairly tame you wont have any problems.

I have a breeding pair of severums (both over 9 inches) in a community tank, they have been there for the past 6 years and I have never had any problems at all.

Fish have the same social issues as people, some are good and some are just antisocial!

[speedplay]

And throw an airstone in there too, works wonders for the oxygen levels in the water.

[kwak zzr]

yea just sorted a pump out with an airstone.

[the_lone_wolf]

yea just sorted a pump out with an airstone.

that'll help, but remember a fully stocked tank will require more cleaning out and water changes than one that's running at say 50% capacity

little fish = little poops

[BoltonSte]

We have:

Cardials (much prettier than neons and mine are hardy)
Swords
Guppies
Pearl/lace gouramis (can never spell that)
Yellow honey Gouramis
Red tailed shark (5")
Plec (~6" now)
Cory catfish (a mixed bag, but basically, peppered, panda, of that ilk. Stay small)

Tankmates are happy for the most part. Plec and shark are growing pretty well, and kick off with each other now and then (couple of times a day)

Other fish I've had over the years:
Platys (fine)
Angels (fine until breeding then v. territorial although both were female and will eat smaller tetras)
Fighters (females are a bit territorial, males will go for guppies etc. useful if you've got live bearers though to keep numbers down)
Kribs (will breed, young are terrible fin nippers, worse that tigerbarbs)
Tiger barbs (already covered)
Gold/threespot/opaline guramis (all the same fish, can be bousterous when maturing)
Silver sharks (need to be in shoals)
Red fin/rainbow sharks (as retailed blacks)
There are some smaller algae eaters such as the sucking loaches, or there are a small type of algae eater Otocinclus macrospilus only grow to inch and a half or so if plecs are too big.
Dwarf blue rainbows (finicky)
Any number of danios (OK, good variety these days will shoal but don't get giants. Zebras don't seem to be as hardy)

Big list, but I've been doing it for years.

One thing worth doing though is getting fish that live at different levels.

Surface feeders, such as gupppies/platys (mouth turned up)
Mid water fish, tetras/danios/barbs (mouth pointed/facing forward)
Bottom feeders, cats/loaches etc (down turned mouth)

Means that the tank will look fuller with fewer fish.

Re-reading that, it's a fair post, not trying to put it across that you don't know anything about fish. Just sort of braindumped.

HTH

Ste

[zsv650]

i used to have a community tank before i got my malawi tank and i found tetras and danio's were brilliant to keep together and ram's good maybe a clown loach and some corydora's to clean up i wouldnt bother with gourami's their a pain in the ass for scrapping nuisance.

[kwak zzr]

cokey dokey i been to garden center and Mr fish man recommended i only buy a few and go for the hardy variety as been as the tanks new, i got 5 red eye tetras and 2 sword tails for now and they recommend i add more each week instead of stocking it from scratch.

[speedplay]

Have you got any friends with a tank already set up?
If so, when they do a water change, grab some of their water, the bacteria in the tank water will speed up the maturing time.
I took about 100 litres out of my community tank and put this into my malawi set up. topped it up with tap water and added fish 3 days later.

[fizzwheel]

We've got red eye tetras in our tank, I really like them.

Yep stocking it slowly is the best way to go that way you are leaving time for the filter to mature properly. If you put to many fish in to soon, your filter wont cope and it wont remove the amonia from the water ( fish pee is amonia ) and basically your fish suffocate and die as they cant get enough oxygen.

[kwak zzr]

i just looked at the aquarium box and its 100litres.

[kwak zzr]

i empty'd my old aquarium water down the pan because alto it was mature it didnt look very nice.

[fizzwheel]

What about the filter from the old aquarium ? If you still have it and its still wet, it might still have its bacteria colony on it, if so drop the old filter in the tank with the new one and you might get the bacteria transfer onto your new filter and it'll jump start the cycle.

[kwak zzr]

arr good idea i'll do that now.

[speedplay]

i empty'd my old aquarium water down the pan because alto it was mature it didnt look very nice.

What sort of filters were you using on the old tank?
The filter media will contain bacteria that you can still transfer to the new tank to aid maturity.
If you listen to shops and read all the books they will tell you to wait about 6 weeks before you put fish it ( dependent on local water ph ect ) but I have never had any problems with this method.
I never use chemicals of any sort in my tank and have never used "tap safe" either.
I have had my fish breeding now for about 10 years with no real problems.
Everyone has their different views on tanks so if you ask 10 people, the chances are that you will get 10 different answers:rolleyes:

Most good shops will do a free water test for you before you add fish if you take a sample into them.

[zsv650]

i'd just use a bacteria booster for maturing the filter don't take long anyway.

[kwak zzr]

What about the filter from the old aquarium ?

it's a fluvel thingy with sponge in the bottom.

[fizzwheel]

it's a fluvel thingy with sponge in the bottom.

OK has the sponge dried out, if not drop the sponge into your new tank, if the sponge has dried out, the bacteria will have died so its no use to you.

I've never used a bacteria aid or filter booster, I've always got on OK with letting my bacteria colony build up naturally over the space of a few weeks, adding more fish as and when my water stats are OK.

I've got my own test kit so I can check the water regularly, remember to do regular water changes whilst your are cycling or setting up a new tank as it will help to keep your fish healthy.