What tropical fish most interesting/compatible + questions
Discussion
GF had some tropical fish for years, and we very recently upgraded to a bigger aquarium.
Ignore spelling for the duration of thread!
We have: Guppies, Mollies, loaches, a Pleck and minnows.
The above are all are stunning, selected from 3 different pet shops to buy the "most interesting looking" ones we could find.
The water is fine so we are adding more. Yes we are asking questions along the way, but some breeds change over time. Id not have bought a plec if I hadnt seen a mates, which grew huge and is hideous, and therefore ticks the interesting/exotic bill.
Today we bought
- 2 congo frogs, which remain small, dont attack other small fish once fully grown
- A shrimp, which hides as much as the other fish
- A pretty angel fish, the only fish in the tank which comes when you call it (follows your finger)
- 2 Neon Tetras, no tank is complete without them
The only other interesting additions I can think of, is a fighting fish - we saw a stunning blue one yesterday. Presumably its safe/true that they do not attack other fish, only their own kind?
I was thinking about buying a big half grown bottom eater, which gets rid of crap in the tank. Any suggestions?
I was thinking about a fresh water crab, but we haven't found one yet. And GF saw a rope worm snake thingy a while back, we are going to try and find one tomorrow. Any idea what its called or whether they eat other small fish?
The only fish we want to KEEP in the tank, are the ones we buy. We have male and female mollies, and are expecting the shrimp, angel fish and frogs to eat the miniature babies (we have a couple of babies in the tank, picked up by accident)... presumably these will make good fodder for the bigger fish?
Cant really think of much else to buy, save perhaps a dwarf puffer fish. I personally dont know much about fish, and todays frogs/shrimp were a brilliant addition, so any suggestions, tips and comments welcome!
Oh, last question... the female mollies we just bought have HUGE bellies. Is this normal, or are they up the duff?
Ignore spelling for the duration of thread!
We have: Guppies, Mollies, loaches, a Pleck and minnows.
The above are all are stunning, selected from 3 different pet shops to buy the "most interesting looking" ones we could find.
The water is fine so we are adding more. Yes we are asking questions along the way, but some breeds change over time. Id not have bought a plec if I hadnt seen a mates, which grew huge and is hideous, and therefore ticks the interesting/exotic bill.
Today we bought
- 2 congo frogs, which remain small, dont attack other small fish once fully grown
- A shrimp, which hides as much as the other fish
- A pretty angel fish, the only fish in the tank which comes when you call it (follows your finger)
- 2 Neon Tetras, no tank is complete without them
The only other interesting additions I can think of, is a fighting fish - we saw a stunning blue one yesterday. Presumably its safe/true that they do not attack other fish, only their own kind?
I was thinking about buying a big half grown bottom eater, which gets rid of crap in the tank. Any suggestions?
I was thinking about a fresh water crab, but we haven't found one yet. And GF saw a rope worm snake thingy a while back, we are going to try and find one tomorrow. Any idea what its called or whether they eat other small fish?
The only fish we want to KEEP in the tank, are the ones we buy. We have male and female mollies, and are expecting the shrimp, angel fish and frogs to eat the miniature babies (we have a couple of babies in the tank, picked up by accident)... presumably these will make good fodder for the bigger fish?
Cant really think of much else to buy, save perhaps a dwarf puffer fish. I personally dont know much about fish, and todays frogs/shrimp were a brilliant addition, so any suggestions, tips and comments welcome!
Oh, last question... the female mollies we just bought have HUGE bellies. Is this normal, or are they up the duff?
The Angel fish , being a Cichlid will munch on the fighting fish's fins so that wont work out so well!
Cichlids are an ace group of fish but do get rather aggresive at times.. Most of them will prefer slightly alkaline water compared to most of your other fish. We kept discus once, tricky to get right but stunning fish.
Plecs are orsome, and doa great job of keeping things clean also.
We also had a synodontis eupterus which was ace, does a different cleaning job to the plec. (both are tough enough to stand up to anything).
IMO add fish slowly and carefully. Nothing ruins a fishtank quicker than a poorly fish, yes yuou can treat stuff but its very easy loose fish quickly.
Cichlids are an ace group of fish but do get rather aggresive at times.. Most of them will prefer slightly alkaline water compared to most of your other fish. We kept discus once, tricky to get right but stunning fish.
Plecs are orsome, and doa great job of keeping things clean also.
We also had a synodontis eupterus which was ace, does a different cleaning job to the plec. (both are tough enough to stand up to anything).
IMO add fish slowly and carefully. Nothing ruins a fishtank quicker than a poorly fish, yes yuou can treat stuff but its very easy loose fish quickly.
RobDickinson said:
The Angel fish , being a Cichlid will munch on the fighting fish's fins so that wont work out so well!
Cichlids are an ace group of fish but do get rather aggresive at times.. Most of them will prefer slightly alkaline water compared to most of your other fish. We kept discus once, tricky to get right but stunning fish.
Plecs are orsome, and doa great job of keeping things clean also.
We also had a synodontis eupterus which was ace, does a different cleaning job to the plec. (both are tough enough to stand up to anything).
IMO add fish slowly and carefully. Nothing ruins a fishtank quicker than a poorly fish, yes yuou can treat stuff but its very easy loose fish quickly.
Cheers Rob! I googled the synodontis eupterus, looks like another cat fish, with some stunning varieties. How does its cleaning differ from the plec? And... how long do fish take to mature size wise. Say an angel fish from 1 inch to 3 inches... Cichlids are an ace group of fish but do get rather aggresive at times.. Most of them will prefer slightly alkaline water compared to most of your other fish. We kept discus once, tricky to get right but stunning fish.
Plecs are orsome, and doa great job of keeping things clean also.
We also had a synodontis eupterus which was ace, does a different cleaning job to the plec. (both are tough enough to stand up to anything).
IMO add fish slowly and carefully. Nothing ruins a fishtank quicker than a poorly fish, yes yuou can treat stuff but its very easy loose fish quickly.
Our plec is about 3cm at the moment, from nose to the tip of his tail, so still tiny!
Mobsta said:
Cheers Rob! I googled the synodontis eupterus, looks like another cat fish, with some stunning varieties. How does its cleaning differ from the plec? And... how long do fish take to mature size wise. Say an angel fish from 1 inch to 3 inches...
Our plec is about 3cm at the moment, from nose to the tip of his tail, so still tiny!
The Plec will clean algae of surfaces, whereas the synodontis will eat larger bits of food the others dont find. Our plec is about 3cm at the moment, from nose to the tip of his tail, so still tiny!
Plus there realy spectacular fish.
Our plec was about a foot long took 5-6 years and a good sized tank for that though.
The synodontis grew to 6-7 inches long or so.
Feed them all some live food at times ( or the frozen cubed stuff, blood worm) does wonders for them.
The neons are shoaling fish so are happiest in groups of at least 6 (plus they look amazing in groups of 12). I have a shoal of silvertip tetras.
Be careful with the angel fish. They have a penchant for eating slower fish/tetras.
If it's a common plec then it's probably going to need a 6 foot tank. I have a bristlenose plec which grows to around 6-8"
Just
Be careful with the angel fish. They have a penchant for eating slower fish/tetras.
If it's a common plec then it's probably going to need a 6 foot tank. I have a bristlenose plec which grows to around 6-8"
Just
I was just about to mention the clown loach. I have two and theyre a nice addition. As others have said angel fish will attack anything with long fins so fish like Siamese fighters and guppies. Tetras are safer in larger shoals, although I have a suspect fish that had taken mine out. Another fish that look nice a grow well are silver sharks. The ones I had got on with everything. Red finned and red tailed sharks didn't though. Have you looked at bottom feeders? Cory and panda bottom feeders.
Red tail shark?
Should mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
Should mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
davido140 said:
Red tail shark?
Should mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
IME that will end badlyShould mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
dxbtiger said:
davido140 said:
Red tail shark?
Should mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
IME that will end badlyShould mix with everything else in the tank with no probs (in fact I was looking at one last night co-habiting with most of the stuff on your list)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_shar...
I didn't have any problems with one of these.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.t...
Red tails are notoriously territorial and can be very aggressive.
Personally, I prefer to see a more natural looking tank, where shoaling fish are in shoals. The fish show better and are healthier kept like this as less stressed. I think a minimum of 6/7 per breed is ok.
What size is your tank ?
Personally, I prefer to see a more natural looking tank, where shoaling fish are in shoals. The fish show better and are healthier kept like this as less stressed. I think a minimum of 6/7 per breed is ok.
What size is your tank ?
Definite no no on the red tail shark. As I said, I know virtually nothing about fish but found out yesterday an addition would likely cause problems in the future.
The Silver Shark suggestion is great. Absolutely love it! Although peaceful they grow to 35cm, so this is another no. Great suggestion though, thanks! Had my heart set on one after Googling... before I read about their size
The Silver Shark suggestion is great. Absolutely love it! Although peaceful they grow to 35cm, so this is another no. Great suggestion though, thanks! Had my heart set on one after Googling... before I read about their size
bus pass said:
Personally I wouldn't get a fighting fish with the guppys in there, as the fighting fish is likely to get it's fins nipped.
Re-read that. Did you mean the fighter will have its fins nipped by the guppies? Or did you mean to mention the angel fish I mentioned?I've found that aqadvisor.com is a good website that allows you to put in the dimensions of your aquarium, filtration and what fish you have/want. It'll then show you info about how compatible they are together, what numbers they should be kept in, how well your filter will cope etc. It's a really useful tool.
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