# australian tropical fish species



## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Im trying to create a palladium specific to Australia. Slowly collecting plants im onto the process of looking for fish species. there will only be about 5 to 7 gallons so i have limited space available. Im looking for small species preferably maximum size of 3 or 4 inches. I was looking towards killifish and maybe some tetra species. does anyone have any other information that could lead me towards information on species that would fit this small continental themed palladium? Thank you for any help you have to offer


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Rainbowfish are the most well known native species, but most are too big for that tank. If you make it as a palladium you reduce the tank size even more, effectively eliminating them from consideration.

Australia has no native killies.

The other interesting and appropriate sized Australian species is the desert goby, but this is a brackish fish, and brackish water probably won't do the plants much good.

You might look at this website, but I'm not aware of very many small Australian fish at all. http://www.nativefish.asn.au/


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks for the help. I will continue my search. I may have to be alittle less picky on the fish species. I still belive it would look good. My other option is making a large aquarium. Which i feel i might do so that i could possibly put rainbows in there. Are there any species that would go well with Rainbows... Are they a community species?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Rainbows aren't "community" fish as they are big, fast moving, and sometimes nippy. I have read of successful tanks with big rainbows and central american cichlid like firemouths in big (100 gallon) tanks.


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

IMO rainbows are entirely community fish. I keep a breeding group of boesemani in a community tank. I've keep this fish with tetras, rams, angels, garra, pleco, and other fish. Mine have never been nippy. They ignore most their tankmates unless their is an opportunity to get food. I've had angelfish spawn in the same tank with them so their size and activity doesn't seem to bother more peaceful fish, same with emperor tetras. 

Mine are really active right after the lights come on. This is usually when they spawn and are flying all over the tank. By the afternoon and evening they are pretty quiet and mellow most the time. Right now mine are not even swimming around they have all just been chilling together in the middle of the tank socializing amongst themselves. 

They are big and fast, so they need lots of room compared to their size. Other then that they have never caused any issues for me. They argue amongst themselves but other then that they are big pushovers when it comes to other species. My smaller male emperor tetras chase them out of certain areas occasionally. Rainbows are big food hogs, they get really excited if they think their is even the remote possibility they might get food. They are highly competitive for food and eat fast. It can be hard to get food to really shy fish if they don't warm up.

I've keep a couple different species of the much smaller rainbows. They are good nano fish, but hard to find. They should only be kept with other small peaceful tank mates.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

He's using about 3 gallons, so rainbows are out.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

i was pretty sure that there we smaller rainbows out there but not 100% ive only ever seen the boesemani. I will probly only have 6- 9 inches of water so i feel that the large species of rainbow will be out of the question. Anyone have any ideas on how to add some color to the water of my palladium? I was thinking killies but ive hard they can be difficult to care for so my simpilest solution would be fancy guppies but im not sure if they would get sucked up in the waterfall pump. lol. Im going to be using a 40 gallon breeder tank so there may be some space available from traditional tank. also i would like to add dwarf frogs but know they have no where near the appetite that thier cuz's the african clawed frog have then i should be safe... note if im provideing proper hiding place for any fry that i may ever have


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

I doubt adult guppies will be sucked in. Of course, you never just have adult guppies for long. Cover the intake with a filter bag or something similar that won't impact flow much.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I had trifasciata, very similar in size to bosemeni and they made a 55 look small. The swimming speed is amazing. There are some cute turquoise and threadfin rainbows. The smallest ones need a small live food and really clean water with good flow.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

yeh rainbows may be a problem unless i allow the water to settle for month but i think once i put them in there they would stur the water up like crazy. im going to use a various size pebble and sand substrate for the water and im going to use weed barrier instead of mesh to try and reduce the amount of peat which enters the water. im gunna have to make sure that the waterfall doesnt wash any of the peat mix into the water. i will have 1 filter and 2 pumps so hopefully it will allow for some clear water. 

So all rainbows will probly be out of the question. besides killis and guppies what other species do you think would be able to live with dwarf frogs?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Iriatherina werneri (Threadfin rainbowfish) gets to 2 inches and Melanotaenia praecox (dwarf rainbowfish) gets to 2.5 inches. Everything else in my book gets over 4" with some as big as 6. Even the 2 inch rainbow is a bit large for what you are trying to do. The threadfins school, so you need a number of them.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

im thinking of using a 40 gallon breeder tank now i may have more room for what i want to do built i think ill just end up going with guppies... or killis even tho i would like to use some what native species. Maybe i will just have to broaden my area of interest to Australia around to Indonesia even tho Aussy have very unique characteristics in what im trying to do. ANY SUGGESTIONS?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

I will always encourage Australian desert gobies. 




<--- They are handsome fellows.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

would wouldnt mind trying them but i feel that since they need brackish water that the plants i put in wont hold up very well especially if i want to put cp's


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

all rainbow school so they certainly won't work in a nano tank. They need a lot of room, even the nano ones. The ones I have most experience with is Gertrudae's rainbow. I still would not keep it in anything below 10 gallons. 15 gallons is the lowest I have gone. Same goes for signifers and furcata which I have also kept. Along with the even more rare and harder to find small rainbows. The entire genus pseudomugil are often called the blue eyed rainbows, many max out at 2" or less. Still their behavior is much like zebra danios so they need space. Males are also somewhat territorial.

This was one of my male gertrudaes from a couple years ago. They are my favorite rainbowfish.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay so upon further indepth reading into killies I. Do think I would be able to keep them with anything else. There will be 6.5 gallons of water so adding any species besides killies seem to be chatostrphic plus the price range is amazingly high. I guess I will continue my search. Anyone know of any other species since rainbows will not seem to work either?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Honestly, in something that small that you are using as a vivarium, about the only thing to put into the water would be least killies (which are actually misnamed livebearers.) That fish is perfect for the small volume. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_Livebearer

Note that the above link will not work on January 18th due to the SOPA protest.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay so I don't have to put guppies in there. For how pricey they are I figured their care would be difficult but I guesss its not.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Can diffrent species of killies be kept 2gether?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

hazedshaman said:


> Can diffrent species of killies be kept 2gether?


It depends, but that's research that you need to do on the specific fish you have in mind. In general, bad idea. Killie males can be grumpy.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

yes i have read that they are very territorial. I know that there are 2 types that i have read so far surface and midlevel. I understand that keeping all surface and all midlevel would not be a good idea but with a slight chage in the design i have increased the gallon size of the viv. should only 1 male be kept with several females or is it okay to kepp a 1 to 3 ratio with 3 males?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Well, there are two kinds of killies, annuals and non-annuals. A lot of the smaller annuals are top-dwellers, but they tend to be quite small. A lot of the substrate fish tend to be the annuals. 

I would try just a pair. Which species depends a lot on your water parameters. A lot of killies like soft water.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Here's a good killifish resource.

http://www.killi.co.uk/


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

thanks. ill see what i can do im gunna let the water adjust for a while before i think about putting plants or animals in it. just to make sure and do periodic test to see what my results are.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

seems to have alot of helpful information but i guess it just comes down to me deciding which species i want to go with and reading more up on them... can killis be housed with a pleco atleast? or maybe a species of cory cat


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Mouth size rule applies. If you get tiny ones like clown killies, you have to worry about them being eaten. But they would suit a 6 gallon tank and you could likely buy eggs online affordably. All kilies are master jumpers, so plan on a lid, even if there is 12 inches of glass above the water line. clown aren't true annuals, despite the species name, they can live for several years. Like cichids and gouramis, killies are most aggressive toward their own kind, then similar fish (other killes) and largely ignore other fish they can't eat or be eaten by. But that is a generalization, there are some "kill everything" aggressive species, so read up before ordering any.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

Now since most killis hatch in mudpuddles could you just drop them in the water and they will hatch? I would prefer to buy juv. Or adult fish but if I have to settle for eggs then I will . Not a huge deal. Would threadfins and a killi be able to cohabitat if they grew up together?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Sometimes you have to find the answers to your questions empirically.


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## hazedshaman (Jan 13, 2012)

okay. vthanks thats what i figured but wasnt sure on a certain aspect. lol i did find the answer last night while i was talking to someone.


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