Blue Fish?

dwalk77 · Aug 18, 2022

Hi,
I'm new here and also new to aquariums. I just got a 20 gallon long tank and plan to stock with freshwater fish. With that size, I'm sure I have limited options, but if possible I'd like to have some fish with a blue color that pops. Blue is my favorite color, that's the only reason why. Doesn't matter if it's just 1 or if it's a school. Any recommendations for this?

Thanks!

Kyshiara · Aug 18, 2022

Bear in mind you probably cannot keep some of these species together, so reasearch that before you get any.
You could get a betta fish, as they are in every colour.
Three Spot Gourami
Guppies
Platies
Swordtails
Certain tetras
Certain types of rainbowfish are blue as well.
Marbled Hatchetfish
Sparkling gourami

One thing I will say is DO NOT get dwarf gourami. They introduce MANY diseases, and caused the death of many of my fish. It also died within a month.
I hope this helps!

Byron · Aug 18, 2022

Before we recommend fish, what are your water parameters? Parameters refer to hardness (GH), KH (carbonate hardness), pH and temperature. The last obviously you can control (aside from heat waves!) and the KH is not so important for the most part, but the GH is because it directly impacts fish and there are fish that need softer water and fish than need harder water. The pH is tied to the GH and KH and usually is OK if the GH is in the range for the fish. You should be able to ascertain these values from your water authority if you are on municipal water, check their website.

Tank size is obviously important too...a 20g long (length 30 inches/75cm) is not going to work for the medium-sized gourami, plus they are normally very aggressive. The little sparkling gouramis are OK, subject to the water parameters. I could suggest some incredible blue fish that are small enough for this tank, but let's pin down the parameters. Smaller fish are more likely to be wild caught and preferences for GH especially are critical.

dwalk77 · Aug 18, 2022

Byron said:
Before we recommend fish, what are your water parameters? Parameters refer to hardness (GH), KH (carbonate hardness), pH and temperature. The last obviously you can control (aside from heat waves!) and the KH is not so important for the most part, but the GH is because it directly impacts fish and there are fish that need softer water and fish than need harder water. The pH is tied to the GH and KH and usually is OK if the GH is in the range for the fish. You should be able to ascertain these values from your water authority if you are on municipal water, check their website.

Tank size is obviously important too...a 20g long (length 30 inches/75cm) is not going to work for the medium-sized gourami, plus they are normally very aggressive. The little sparkling gouramis are OK, subject to the water parameters. I could suggest some incredible blue fish that are small enough for this tank, but let's pin down the parameters. Smaller fish are more likely to be wild caught and preferences for GH especially are critical.

Thanks for the response, that's good info -- does this give you what you're looking for?

dwalk77 · Aug 23, 2022

I didn't get a response based on the last post on hardness. I tested with strips and can confirm I have hard water, it's reading about 150 PPM and a neutral PH of 7
Does anybody have recommendations based on those water parameters? I still prefer blue, but I'm curious what fish work well with my water without having to make much adjustments

Thanks!

Byron · Aug 23, 2022

A GH of 96ppm (= 5 dH) is soft, and a GH of 192ppm (= 10 dH) is moderately hard, to use admittedly a subjective term. At 150ppm (= 8 dH) you are in a range more on the soft side than the hard, as many hard water species cannot manage this low, but there are more softish water species that would not have issues here. Neon tetras come to mind, even cardinal tetras if not wild caught. Not the green neon tetra though, it is more demanding of soft water.

There are a couple of other tetras a tad larger that have a blue hue, but a 20g standard is not going to provide them with sufficient swimming space as they are more active swimmers than the neon or cardinal.

dwalk77 · Aug 23, 2022

Byron said:
A GH of 96ppm (= 5 dH) is soft, and a GH of 192ppm (= 10 dH) is moderately hard, to use admittedly a subjective term. At 150ppm (= 8 dH) you are in a range more on the soft side than the hard, as many hard water species cannot manage this low, but there are more softish water species that would not have issues here. Neon tetras come to mind, even cardinal tetras if not wild caught. Not the green neon tetra though, it is more demanding of soft water.

There are a couple of other tetras a tad larger that have a blue hue, but a 20g standard is not going to provide them with sufficient swimming space as they are more active swimmers than the neon or cardinal.

Thanks Byron - out of curiosity, how many gallons would be good for those larger blue tetras?

Byron · Aug 23, 2022

dwalk77 said:
Thanks Byron - out of curiosity, how many gallons would be good for those larger blue tetras?

With most fish the footprint (tank length and width) is more important because it allows the fish to swim (or not) and is involved with territory which is important for many fish. The tetras that come to mind are the Inpaichthys kerri sometimes commonly called blue Emperor but it is not related to the true Emperor Tetra. The Emperor itself (Nematobrycon palmeri) is not as blue, but slightly. A 30-inch/75cm length tank for the first, and the Emperor I would not house in less than a 3-foot/90cm tank.

Morasea · Aug 23, 2022

One of my favourite blue fish are the Apistogramma Borelli. Although not always fully blue they have a super cool pop of blue in their face and make for a great centrepiece fish!

dwalk77 · Sep 26, 2022

Kyshiara said:
One thing I will say is DO NOT get dwarf gourami. They introduce MANY diseases, and caused the death of many of my fish. It also died within a month.
I hope this helps!

I wondering a little bit more about this comment. Gourami seem to be quite prevalent in the hobby. When you say "avoid dwarf gourami", does that include some of the other species of gourami such as Red Fire/Flame and Honey Red? I think these are still considered "Dwarf Gourami", but wanted to make sure. It's a shame b/c they really are some pretty fish

Byron · Sep 26, 2022

dwalk77 said:
I wondering a little bit more about this comment. Gourami seem to be quite prevalent in the hobby. When you say "avoid dwarf gourami", does that include some of the other species of gourami such as Red Fire/Flame and Honey Red? I think these are still considered "Dwarf Gourami", but wanted to make sure. It's a shame b/c they really are some pretty fish

Dwarf Gourami refers only to the species Trichogaster lalius. There are varieties, like Neon Blue, probably others, I do not know which species Red Flame belongs to. But the Honey Gourami is a different species, Trichogaster chuna.

This species, the dwarf T. lalius, frequently carries a disease known as "dwarf gourami iridovirus" which some believe has been caused by successive generations of inbreeding of this fish in the far east. Imports of the species often have high losses, and this disease is now known to be transmittable to other species in the same aquarium with an infected gourami. Fish purchased should be very carefully examined, and if possible only acquired from local breeders. Absolutely never buy this fish from chain pet stores, their control is practically non-existent. Independent stores that acquire fish from a reliable breeder should be fine, though I suppose one is still taking a risk. Ther is no cure for iridovirus.

Colin_T · Sep 26, 2022

Melanotaenia praecox for a 20g long
Melanotaeniia lacustris for a 4ft tank

If you haven't set the tank up yet, maybe take it back and get something a bit bigger so you have more option.

The following link has pictures and info of the fish mentioned above.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

AdoraBelle Dearheart · Sep 26, 2022

Could consider Sawbwa resplendens - I really like blue fish as well, these have been on my want list since I first saw them in a video. A photo really doesn't do them justice, it's like a blue with a sliver, glittering sheen and stunning in a planted tank. You also have to remember how it will look with a school of them swimming about, these guys need a group:

Would suit your tank size and water parameters, more info about them here:

Sawbwa resplendens — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Maybe not blue enough for you, but I count them as a blue that could also work in your tank, celestial pearl danios

Celestichthys margaritatus – Celestial Pearl ‘Danio’ (Danio margaritatus) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Kyshiara · Sep 27, 2022

dwalk77 said:
I wondering a little bit more about this comment. Gourami seem to be quite prevalent in the hobby. When you say "avoid dwarf gourami", does that include some of the other species of gourami such as Red Fire/Flame and Honey Red? I think these are still considered "Dwarf Gourami", but wanted to make sure. It's a shame b/c they really are some pretty fish

I mean these little things:

Their latin name is Colisa Lalia. There are many colour variants as well, such as these:

Electric Blue

electric blue dwarf gourami - Google Search

Red Fire/ Flame Dwarf Gourami

flame dwarf gourami - Google Search

I completely understand that they would get confused with other such as Honey Gourami and Three Spot Gourami, but if you google Dwarf Gourami this is what comes up.

Any other type of small Gourami is fine, such as Sparkling Gourami, Croaking Gourami, Flame Gourami etc. but Dwarf Gourami are known for having many diseases.

(My dad's friend at work owns/owned many fish tanks, including marine, and told us this. He has been keeping fish and lizards for a long time, probably decades I think. Unfortunately it was too late, it had already died and infected the tank)

I just did a bit of extra reasearch, and found that because they have been massively inbred to create all these colour varieties, they have poor genetics and are very weak. This leaves them open to infection which then can spread to other fish.

Iridovirus Dwarf Gourami Disease - Causes and Cures

Dwarf gourami iridovirus disease is one highly contagious virus that brings an impact on gourami, there are no cures for it but ways about euthanizing a fish.

www.hygger-online.com

I hope this helps a bit!

Kyshiara · Sep 27, 2022

Ooo I'm quite happy I just wrote all that....

🌟 Exclusive Amazon Black Friday Deals 2024 🌟

Blue Fish?

New Member

Fish Crazy

Supporting Member

New Member

New Member

Supporting Member

New Member

Supporting Member

New Member

New Member

Supporting Member

Fish Guru

Nutty fish nutter

Fish Crazy

Fish Crazy

Similar threads

Useful Links