tropical aquariums

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.

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.

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...

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...

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