tropical aquariums

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]

Originally Posted by 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...

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

mmm neons are expensive fish food!

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

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!

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

yea just sorted a pump out with an airstone.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

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

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.