Cant decide!

[juanveldez]

definatly wouldn't go with the labidochromis it will kill everything that you have in that tank trust me I got 5 used to have 6 till one got brutilly murdered one night.

 

[Alien Anna]

I have a 20 gal tank with 4 zebra danios, 2 painted tetras, 1 weather loach, and a algea eater. As most of you probably know aside from my paintes tetras I have a lot of very dull colored fish. I was wondering if any of you guys know if there is a nice bright and colorful community fish out there(aside from neons...I got neon desease).
I was thinking about a Blue zebra cichlid or a electric yellow labido cichlid but I wasnt sure if they would eat the fish in the tank or outgrow my tank.

This is a side issue, but are you aware that you've got major problems with the size and aggression of some of the fish you've already got in there?

A weather loach is not really a small tank fish - it grows to about 11"! If you "algae eater" is a Chinese Algae Eater that grows to about 11" too (not including tail) and is highly territorial and aggressive. It also stops eating algae after a few months and prefer a diet of other fish's eyeballs or whatever.

It is a general rule of thumb (which is pretty good in this case) that you should have 1 inch of fish length (not including tail) per US gallon of water. Not only that, but an 11" fish would barely have room to turn around in your tank, let alone two. You should either re-home those larger fish (take them back to the LFS and make a scene) or seriously consider getting a much bigger tank (55 gal minimum really). Weather loaches are actually excellent pond fish, I'm told.

Another issue is your "painted" fish. "Painted" tetras, in case you aren't aware, undergo a process that is extremely painful and dangerous for the fish (many don't make it) in which the fish is injected with nasty dyes. The dyes wear off after a while, but many fish live little more than a few months due to the serious harm the dye does to their bodies. In many countries "painted" fish are banned because its considered animal cruelty. What is more, the dye wears off after a few months anyway and you end up with some rather more subley coloured fish. (I realise you may be already aware of this, which is why you are asking about naturally coloured fish).

Since tetras are schooling fish, you should ideally be looking for some same-species tank-mates for them (once the nasty dye wears off). A school of pale tetras weaving in and out of some attractive plants and bogwood, a pair of blue gouramis and a school of cardinal tetras makes a gorgeous tank, just to give you an idea.

 

[Morrgan]

red tailed sharks are nice but u can only have one per a tank, they stay pretty small 2

I wouldn't call 6" small, nor would I put them in a tank as small as 20g. They are nice though, if you have the space for them and other fish that don't mind their territorial behavior.

 

[Inchworm]

Post 93 09-10-03


TempestBlayze,

You didn't tell us what you have in mind, overall, for your fishtank.

Is it planted? If it is, that weather loach will give you problems, at some point because they are very active and like to dig in the gravel which disrupts the plants. They are lots of fun to watch, though.

The reason I'm asking this is because the way your tank is laid out will have some bearing on the type of fish that will do well there. For example, gouramis are territorial and plants will divide the tank (as they see it) into areas which can be defended. Also, they provide hiding places for one who wants to escape aggression from another. I strongly advise having plants if you have gouramis.This probably holds true for some other fish as well.

If you want yellow fish, check out the gold gouramis. They are not really vivid, but they are attractive and graceful. The gouramis are not aggressive toward other fish, I might add, just to other gouramis. Another thing to consider is that they are air breathers who like to occupy the top part of the tank so you will have some action up there if you select them.