# Need inspiration for a new tank?



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Lot's of people are stumped when it comes to choosing fish. There are so many to choose from. However, many people make the mistake of buying a completely incompatable selection of fish, as they all look so pretty it's hard to know which ones to get!
In my opinion, it's always nice to have a biotope aquarium in the house, where all the selected fish come from the same region.
Here are some of my favorites:

Asian backwaters:

tiger barbs
harelquin rasboras
zebra danios
white cloud mountain minnows
dwarf gourami(wild type)
betta(wild type)
RTB shark

South American Blackwaters:

cardinal tetras
rummy nosed tetras
hatchets
cories
shoal altum angels
pair discus
pair dwarf cichlids

Central american community tank

guppies
platies
mollies
swordtails

There are lot's of other tanks which are very pleasing to the eye, particualy the ones with fish coming all from the same family. 
I've seen a few tanks which look very pleasing to the eye, here are a few which I'd reccomend:

150g Gourami Tank:

3 (1 male 2 females) peal gouramis
3 blue/gold gouramis
3 moonlight
3 paradise fish
group of dwarf gouramis 
group of honey gourmmis
group of chocolate gouramis

Tetra Tank

This tank purely consists of one of each similarly sized tetra species.
However, large aggressive tetra like buenos aires and black widows should not be included due to their aggressive nature.
A 55g planted tank can be made to look quite nice with one of each of the following speices:

neon
cardinal
green neon
glowlight
black neon
rummy nose
emperor
red phantom
black phantom
lemon
ember
rosey
blue
diamond

When first introduced they may seem a little nervous being seperated from their own species, but give it a few days and they'll all start to interact. Once they've all got used to each other they'll even begin to form shoals! 
And beleive me it's one hell of a sight, it's one big wave of color!
Give it a try.


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## Guest (Jul 11, 2006)

I never knew black widow tetras were aggressive. I always thought they were peaceful like mine are. Well maybe thats why the angels haven't beaten them up because they know how to defend themselves. LOL

Oh BTW, nice job CM.


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## dmarcus (Apr 13, 2006)

hey what size tank would you suggest as the minimum for a pair of discus? I have a 29 gallon i would like to house discus in but ideally i would like to have them in a tank with my dwarf cichlids (bolivians 2 and 1 gold ram). I also have a couple of rainbows (australian) which i would like to have in there. I think it will be too cramped but would they possibly fit into a 40 gallon?


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2006)

A 29 gallon should be just fine for a pair of discus.


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2006)

I would think a 29g would be way to small IMO, I think a 55g is the minimum size tank that they should be in but 75g is better.


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2006)

Discus are schooling fish so its usually recommended to get a group of them...unless you have a known breeding pair...then I'd say a 40g is minimum. But, if they aren't a known pair...get a group of 4-5.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

|V|][{|-|/\[-|_ said:


> A 29 gallon should be just fine for a pair of discus.


I would take this guys advice, as he's obviously an experienced discus breeder who takes in the concideration of the fishes potential adult size, and the welfare of such fish.


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2006)

Are you being sarcastic or serious Cichlid Man? I can't tell...


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2006)

He's being sarcastic. I would have guessed he Michael would have caught on by now. lol


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## Lupin (Aug 1, 2006)

Hi
I wouldn't really recommend a pair in a 29 gallons unless it's for breeding purposes. A group of 6 discus in a 55 gallons is fine.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2006)

Thats what's everyone's been saying already.  Also michael doesn't really know anything about discus which is why cm was being sarcastic.


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## Dr. Tankenstein (Oct 30, 2005)

dmarcus,
The 29 is WAY too small, what's been posted is true. 55G minimum, odd numbers to avoid bullying (they are cichlids after all). Also, the rainbows have got to go, they'll freak out the discus with their continual swimming (voice of experience here). Discus like it calm, shaded and mellow. the rams "should" be OK, but watch at feeding time that they not taking too much of the food (quick little buggers). Don't know about the clown plec sucking on discus slime coat, bristlenose is the only "pleco-type" catfish I've ever seen successfully kept with discus. Remember, if you decide to have a community tank with discus, it's a "discus tank" first, a community tank second. Just do some research on any new fish in regards to discus compatilbility. To be safe, no info, don't buy the new fish.


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## Rover (Oct 6, 2005)

Any suggestions for an African River setup? I think that there are a lot of really cool African fish that get overlooked because the cichlids take all the spotlight.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Hi there, welcome to the forums.
You are right, there are lots of african fish out their which are overlooked in the hobby and not imported regulary. What siez tank have you got?
If you prefer larger fish, you could have catfish like synodontis, elephant-nosed fish, and african knife fish. The tiger fish is also another interesting fish.
If smaller fish is what you are after then a shoals of tetra like congos will make a good display, as well as african glass catfish.
There are many cichlids like kribs and butterfly cichlids which will do very well in this type of setup, as well as blockhead cichlids.
It's best to keep this setup as clean as possible with lots of small regular water changes of pure tap water. e.g. a bucket of water every day. This way the nitrates/tannins will not be allowd to build up. This will simulate the constant clear white-water conditions of a large river in africa like the Congo.


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## Rover (Oct 6, 2005)

What do you mean by "pure tap water"? Kind of an oxymoron isn't it?


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Rover said:


> What do you mean by "pure tap water"? Kind of an oxymoron isn't it?


Water straight outta the tap?
That clear enough for you moron? 
As clear as "pure" tap water. LMAO!
See if you like that oxymoron.


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## Rover (Oct 6, 2005)

Sorry, I come from a reef background. We don't use tap water for anything because of all the phosphates and nitrates. You're are just suggesting frequent water changes with dechlorinated tap water correct? Sorry to derail the sticky, feel free to move or delete this tangent.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Don't worry about it.
Yeah, I suppose using RO water is a lot safer, but if your tap water is more than ideal for the fish you keep, then you might as well use that source.


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## GumboJones (Mar 6, 2006)

> That clear enough for you moron?


Lets try and keep this civil. We're all on the same team here...


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

GumboJones said:


> Lets try and keep this civil. We're all on the same team here...


And who the hell is this jerk?:lol:
LMAO!
PLus this thread is like really old.


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## GumboJones (Mar 6, 2006)

You're just make yourself seem like an a hole when you post like that.


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## The Gallonator (Sep 20, 2006)

what the hell is going on in this thread?


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## dolifisis (Sep 27, 2006)

The Gallonator said:


> what the hell is going on in this thread?


It appears everyone else saw the humor in that except for ol' Gumbo.


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## TigerBarb12 (Jan 7, 2007)

i like rasboras, especially the gold, not to mention they arent aggresive


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

Quick question regarding the gourami tank suggestion. I looked up all of the profiles regarding gouramis and they all seem to be top swimmers. My current pearl gourami's pretty much stay almost exclusively at the top and i can't really see them unless i look for them. If i were to fill my tank up with all of those top swimmers, then wouldn't all the fish be at the top?


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2007)

> If i were to fill my tank up with all of those top swimmers, then wouldn't all the fish be at the top?


I would think so, yes. I'd atleast put some bottom feeders in the tank.


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## Moltenice (Mar 18, 2007)

Hey cool writeup.. thats the kind of stuff I am looking for, help finding the right community...

You know what would be awesome if you ever get board, a picture of all the fish. I have no idea what any of those look like (well the barbs, tetras, and betas I know)........

good write up though..


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## davedudeman (Jun 25, 2007)

How does 3 dwarf gourami and 4 angelfish in a 46 gal bow front sound? I was thinking that or about 6 african cichlids.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2007)

gourami may fight


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## Arcfusion (Jan 4, 2008)

swordtailbreedr said:


> gourami may fight



Not if you keep them with gouramies, however they will make mincemeat of guppies.

And just a question, I saw this weird fish at Big Als the other day, it was like a hatchet fish (they way it looks like it was cut in half) and puffer fish (it was kind of fat) mix but it had like these spikes coming out of it. It was in a tank with lots of other fish, I thought it could have been a Buterfly Cichlid, but I dunno.


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## eterry (Dec 7, 2008)

*Fish Choice*

I would reccomend Rams and Gourami in tanks of 20gal or larger. They have been my favorite to keep. I would also recommend against barbs for a community tank. They won't kill alot of fish but will annoy them constantly. My odessa(rosy) barbs acted like a school of little sharks and harrassed even fish 5 times bigger than them until I took them back.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Thread necromancy!


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## micstarz (Oct 22, 2005)

CM, for South American Blackwaters wouldn't a shoal of discus and a pair of altums work better?


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Why is this thread sticky?


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## Dragonbeards (Dec 14, 2008)

Cool ideas. I like the idea of a species tank. In fact, I am going to have a 20g planted with a school of Danios.


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## llamas (Jun 29, 2009)

I loke the idea about having all species formt he same region. i tried it, but then fell to the beauty of fish from other parts of the world. It's so hard....


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## N0z (Jun 3, 2009)

awesome tips


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