# Help Picking a Topwater Fish?



## badfish714 (Nov 14, 2009)

Hello All!
I am relatively new to fishkeeping. I say relatively new because I have been a fish freak since I was little, worked in aquarium stores in the past and currently spend most of my time at work in the aquatics section, but this is my first serious tank of my own. I have wanted a setup for years, but could never afford a good one- until a few months ago when everything I needed fell into my lap in gently used but working condition. Yay for networking at the LFS! It seems like the fish gods have finally favored me! 
The Specs:
75 G Freshwater tank
Hang on the Back Filter rated at 150 G + Sponge Filter rated at 125 G placed at opposite ends
200W Heater
Plenty of Mopani Wood, caves, Java Moss, Java Fern, some anubias (not sure which), and another type of plant I am still trying to identify
Substrate is currently playground sand but I would like to upgrade to black sand (3m Colorquartz if I can but that’s looking harder and harder these days) 
>1 Watt per Gallon Fluorescent Lighting (I know I will need to upgrade this eventually but for now it seems to do well with the plants I have)
Weekly 1/3 water changes 
KH: ~30 ppm
GH: ~30 ppm
PH: 7
Temp: 79 (but may slowly lower this soon to around 76)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <20
I currently have 6 Corydoras Julii, 6 Otocinclus, 2 Bamboo Filter Shrimp, and one Amano Shrimp. Everyone seems to be eating well and looks healthy and happy. I plan on adding 6-8 Corydoras Panda, 12-15 Rummy Nose Tetra, a trio of either apistos or rams, and 1 or 2 more Amanos. (Maybe Malaysian Sand Sifting Snails- any comments on them? I am currently trying to get rid of Ramshorns.) I know this is pushing the limit in terms of stocking. I am a water change fanatic and have been told that with the 75 I will have a little more wiggle room due to larger footprint, small fish, etc.
What I have been going for is a peaceful South American community aquarium (the shrimp being the Asian exception). I want to try to bring as much balance to the aquarium both in terms of aesthetics as well as species compatibility and requirements. 

The Questions:
I need a top water fish! I was originally looking at black neon tetras, but now I am leaning strongly towards platies and would love some outside opinions. Even though I know they are Central American fish, I like the platies for a variety of reasons. The fry would add variety to my other fishes’ diets, they are colorful and readily available, and are supposedly hardy. Also, I am trying to get my girlfriend interested in my fish (if this tank goes well then I can expand! Muahahaha!) and it would be great if I could have pretty fish she could pick out at the store and tell apart from the others in the tank. I would like a 1 male to 4 or 5 females ratio.
Do platies spend the majority of their time in the top level? I have read they inhabit all levels but I am wondering if they will stay mostly near the top if the middle and bottom are already occupied.
Are they good dither fish?
Is it true that platies will interact/school with color varieties other than their own since they are basically the same species?
Do you see any problems arising with my current setup and my stocking scheme?
I have read that Platies prefer slower water. One end of my tank does have a stronger current to accommodate the filter shrimp, but all the other fish can swim through it and the other end is pretty calm. Do you think this will work for them? 
How sensitive are platys when it comes to water hardness? I know hardness is important for buffering, but my hardness and ph seem to stay stable, so should I be worrying about hardness and compatibility at all?
Can you suggest a more suitable topwater fish?

Thank you so much for yer time and for tolerating my long-windedness!!!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I don't think you are pushing the stocking. You could even add a pair of discus or other peaceful S. American cichlid. I've seen a large school of hatchets in with discus and they look neat and hang near the top. I also like congo and emperor tetras. I don't recommend them for little tanks, but a school of either would be awesome in a 75. IME platys (and guppies and mollies) don't thrive in really soft water. Then tend to develop an illness "out of nowhere" and succumb. Personally, I would not mess with your water, just choose "blackwater" type fish from S. America. If you keep the tetra happy, they will scatter eggs for the other fish to snack on.


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## DavidAl (Nov 17, 2009)

Hi badfish714,

I can certainly understand your interest in platies. They are active, colorful, and conveniently available, but IMO, there are other choices that are worth considering, and may even prove to be more of what you are looking for. IME, they don't have a particular preference as to where they swim in the water column. At times you may find them hovering at the top waiting for an "insect" to fall from above, chasing a mate around the entire tank, or "running" from the more dominant fish that tried to take a nip at him (or her). They like their water to be basic, somewhere in the 7.2 to 7.8 range, but they are a forgiving fish. What's more important is stability, and with a KH as low as 30ppm, things can go south rather quickly. Make sure to always keep up with the water changes so you can continuously rebuffer the water. The current produced by your HOB filter will not disturb platies. In fact, I would go with, at the very minimum, 5x the turnover rate. In other words, for your 75g, I would go with a filter rated at 375 gph. The sponge filters will help with the biological filtering, but if you ever decide to change filters, look into a canister filter.

I've never considered platies to be dither fish, but I guess you can use them as such. They're not timid, swim out in the open, and will be amongst the first to feed - all characteristics of a good dither fish. They will interact with other color varieties, but they're not really a schooling fish. In other words, where one goes, the other(s) doesn't necessarily follow. By the way, you have named one of the tightest schoolers from South America, the rummynose tetras. I have a large school of them and I can vouch for their schooling behavior. Sometimes I think they have a bungee chord connecting each other! Now, with all that said, I would take advantage of the large tank and leave the platies for that future 20-gallon tank that'll look good in the corner of the room somewhere.

Have you looked into the bloodfin tetra as a possible fish for the top layer? Some other fishes for the top, some of which are not South American: pearl danios, hatchet fish, African butterflyfish (requires live food), scissortail rasbora and clown killifish. I'll mention one more fish since you are currently considering a Central American fish, the knife livebearer, _Alfaro cutratis_. This livebearer likes some current as well.

For the substrate, the 3M Colorquarts you mentioned would be great, especially for the cories. There are two grades: the S grade and the T grade. The "S" is finer, which is what I have. They come in several colors and can be found at pool supply shops. Their website has a store locater if you need help finding the stuff, which is not cheap, by the way. I paid $24 for a 50-pound bag. One more thing on the Colorquarts, you will need root tabs if you're going to go planted later on down the road.

Is there any particular reason why you're thinking about lowering the temp to 76F? The rams you're looking into will not approve of that, nor will some Apistos. The panda cories, however, will like the lower temp, as will the bloodfin tetras I mentioned earlier. Gosh, some more stuff to think about. Oh, one more thing, make sure you're providing your otos with algae tabs and vegetables. They may not be getting enough to eat if this is a relatively new setup.

And you thought your post was long... Now if I can only get a 75g to fall on my lap!

David


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

badfish714 said:


> I plan on adding
> 
> 1) 6-8 Corydoras Panda,
> 
> ...


bf:

1) It is my understanding that Panda's are one of the least hardy Cory's.
Additional selections:
http://www.corysrus.com/

2) Have you considered Red Phantom Tetra's?

3) Whatever you do please do not consider Hatchets (I speak from hard earned experience)

TR


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## adrianng1996 (Nov 23, 2009)

You should definitely consider Harlequin or Golden Harlequin Rasboras..they are very beautiful and cheap and make a fine addition to your tank...and they are top water fishes


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