im setting up a new high tech tank, what centerpiece fish should I choose

Ive got a juwel 240L, and I am looking for a good centerpiece fish, which is not a discus as they are to big for my tank. the tank has no hardscape and dwarf hair grass carpet, as well as some blyxa japonica, as a center piece mixed with J. repens for texture.

think this but much worse:

Its a tough one with tanks like this, with so much open water I'm not sure most centre piece fish would do that good. The lights are going to need to be really high and its quite a stressful home for them. Would you consider a Valis or Cyperus curtain at the back? Or maybe a layer of something like Rotala to proide a bit of height and cover? Maybe even some of the bigger Crypts like Balanase or some Crispulata?

If you have hard water you could think about a Rainbow Fish tank? Some Rainbow Fish tanks can easily rival Discus for colour, Bosmani, Irian Reds, Turquoise are all super easy to find and look amazing. There are other rarer species that look good too like Parkinsoni, Parva and Picta. In stores they don't often look that great as they are young and stressed so get washed out.

Wills

Wills said:

Its a tough one with tanks like this, with so much open water I'm not sure most centre piece fish would do that good. The lights are going to need to be really high and its quite a stressful home for them. Would you consider a Valis or Cyperus curtain at the back? Or maybe a layer of something like Rotala to proide a bit of height and cover? Maybe even some of the bigger Crypts like Balanase or some Crispulata?

If you have hard water you could think about a Rainbow Fish tank? Some Rainbow Fish tanks can easily rival Discus for colour, Bosmani, Irian Reds, Turquoise are all super easy to find and look amazing. There are other rarer species that look good too like Parkinsoni, Parva and Picta. In stores they don't often look that great as they are young and stressed so get washed out.

Wills

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Im thinking of doing some Valis. only issue with rainbows is my water is as soft as it comes

Acarichthys heckelii
Uaru amphiacanthoides

Colin_T said:

Acarichthys heckelii
Uaru amphiacanthoides

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dont think I can find the bottom one maybe the top one, not sure about plant compatitbilty

When you say "centerpiece" what are you thinking? I think a school of medium or large barbs or danios could be really nice. I think Tiger Barbs would look particularly good in a tank like that and they have a tendency to be quite bold especially when maintained in numbers. Barbs and danios will show complex intra-species interactions too. They can be quite entertaining.

Maybe Flag Cichlids (Mesonauta festivus) or some species of Acara if you want a solitary or pair of large fish instead.

EDIT: Look at Hoplo and Flagtail catfish too. They're relatively large and they're supposed to be bold. Seriously Fish says that Flagtail Catfish will hangout at midwater when maintained in a small group (3-6).

Guppies !! Guppies make everything better.

threecharacters said:

When you say "centerpiece" what are you thinking? I think a school of medium or large barbs or danios could be really nice. I think Tiger Barbs would look particularly good in a tank like that and they have a tendency to be quite bold especially when maintained in numbers. Barbs and danios will show complex intra-species interactions too. They can be quite entertaining.

Maybe Flag Cichlids (Mesonauta festivus) or some species of Acara if you want a solitary or pair of large fish instead.

EDIT: Look at Hoplo and Flagtail catfish too. They're relatively large and they're supposed to be bold. Seriously Fish says that Flagtail Catfish will hangout at midwater when maintained in a small group (3-6).

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thanks for the suggestions, I mainly want something that is colorful and a wow factor.

In terms of colours, there is no way to find a fish that is more colourful than Discus.

But you can consider the Earth eater fish though they prefer to be in a group than a single fish.
Get a group of center piece fish instead of a single center piece.
A single fish won't make any impact in your tank.

Geophagus Sveni is beautiful but they need to be in a group and a group may require 6 ft tank.
I attached a photo of my friend's Geophagus Sveni which we bought together.
Or get a pair of them if you like.

Or perhaps you can consider the smaller species of Earth eater such as Guianacara.
Get a group of them 5-6.
A group of Red Head Tapajos probably may also work though some people prefer them to be in 6ft tank.

6-10 Glossolepis incisus. Get 4 males and 4 females. The males will go blood red and end up about 4 inches long x 1.5-2 inches high. Females will be a bronze colour and are slim. But you want some females so the males show off. The contrast of red fish on a green background would look really good.

check YouTube for videos of them displaying

The following link has all the known rainbowfish from Australia and New Guinea. There are some quite colourful fish there.

Lajos_Detari said:

In terms of colours, there is no way to find a fish that is more colourful than Discus.

But you can consider the Earth eater fish though they prefer to be in a group than a single fish.
Get a group of center piece fish instead of a single center piece.
A single fish won't make any impact in your tank.

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I reckon some rainbowfish are more colourful than discus

The drawback to Geophagus is they like to dig and that can ruin the plant scape.

Colin_T said:

I reckon some rainbowfish are more colourful than discus

The drawback to Geophagus is they like to dig and that can ruin the plant scape.

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You are right. Geophagus are not suitable for planted tank. You can only have woods, rocks and sand bottom.

Lajos_Detari said:

You are right. Geophagus are not suitable for planted tank. You can only have woods, rocks and sand bottom.

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its a hightech planted scape with a hairgrass carpet. I think we a bit far along to change now.

The other negative of geo is they prefer the bottom of the tank; so you need somethign a bit colourful above them...

You can of course layer things with winmillerie at the bottom; rams in the middle and a rainbow or food colouring at the top.

The Geophagines are out, because they are eartheaters. You can't keep Acarichthys, Geophagus, or Satanoperca in a carpet tank. You're also going to have a hard time with a centrepiece if you design the tank like the photo. It's a completely bottom oriented design. Any large fish that rises to the surface area will also shut down its colours because it would be exposed to predation.
The tank also has no centre. The moss rises in the middle (beautifully), and with the exception of hatchetfish or tiny rocket kilies (E annulatus), most fish will want to stay below the highest point of growth. You have this shape ^. A centre needs this shape V. There's nowhere for the 'piece' to fit.
Some Rainbows - trifasciata, boesemani, sexlineata, http://rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au/Melano.htm as you'll see on this excellent site can blow ugly little discus out of the water, as can cardinal tetras in huge groups and a lot of killifish. Don't even look at linebred Discus, as over-rated, sickly beasts (okay, I'm being a troublemaker).
We automatically think larger species when we get larger tanks, but my nicest large taank had a tetra community with 50 cardinals in it, along with some large wild caught angels. I had to rehome the fish as I'm moving, but I'm going to do it again when I'm settled, minus the angels.