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Community Tank

jaquiscorpio

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Apr 17, 2015
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110l community tank
I would like bright colourful pretty fish and would like ideas on what are suitable
Are paradise fish suitable?
Also what is he best temperature to have my tank at
TIA
 
Hiya, I normally try not to get involved in stocking ideas as it's all down to personal choice but as I know your in the same neck of the woods as me and are more than likely to have very soft water like the rest of us in these parts I'll recommend you have a look at soft water loving fish as it's always best to stock for the water you have naturally as try to force a fish to live in conditions it's not built for.
 
I know nothing of paradise fish as I've never kept them so I've no idea of their requirements in water conditions.
 
I can though, give you a list of soft water loving fish. This will then set you off on a path of research. I can also recommend that you arm yourself with the odd fish book. These can be great to flick through. I picked one up in the pet shop at Otley called Mini Encyclopedia - The Tropical Fish Guide by Gina Sandford. It's not a bad little book to be honest and seems to be readily available. There's some nice colour pictures inside along with descriptions of each fish and it's 'ideal conditions'. I've also picked up a couple over the years in charity shops so keep your eyes open for them popping up if your a bargain hunter :)
 
Okay. On to a list of soft water loving fish
 
All tetras - neons, cardinals, emperors (they can be really colourful with bright purple bodies and yellow fins) the list goes on and on for tetra's - too many different species to list. Do your research though as some are peaceful and great for community tanks, others can be nippy to a little aggressive.
 
Harlequin Rasboras - a lovely small fish, best in a large shoal. Again research as there are different types. I have some lovely dark blue ones with a gold head and  gold fins
 
Corydoras - probably the loveliest fish I've ever had. Peaceful and fun with a sweet nature. Keep in groups 5-6 of the same type. Some types are smaller than others. Panda's and pigmys being the smallest two that are always readily available
 
All South American Cichlids - angelfish, rams, keyholes, again too many to list and some need to be approached with caution as some can be aggressive, others are peaceful and shy. Lots of research before buying with them.
 
Gourami's are another that will be okay in soft-ish water but beware of the dwarf gourami as it's been known lately to carry a disease that is incurable 
 
Barbs - in general okay in soft water but a lot can be nippy. A nice colourful one that isn't nippy is the Cherry barb. They stay quite small and the males are lovely bright red. They will need a group though to be at their best.
 
 
Hopefully I've set you off now on a journey of discovery.... happy fish hunting :)
 
I have a similar sized tank.
 
At the moment, I have a shoal of each of cardinal tetra, cherry barbs and pentazona barbs, along with copious amounts of cherry shrimp. It makes for a very busy tank, always lots going on.
 
If I were starting again, and had soft water, I would lose one of the shoals, probably the cherry barbs, and the shrimp, and substitute a male of one of the apistogramma cichlid species, personally my favourites are hongsloi, agasizzii or cacatuoides. Other options would be a bolivian ram, or a honey gourami.
 
What would be a good idea for you, is to go window shopping at your LFSs, write down the names (preferably scientific names) of the species that catch your eye, then post them on this thread, and we can make some suggestions.
 
With softwater, you want to avoid the popular livebearer species, platies, guppies, mollies and swordtails, they won't thrive in softwater at all.
 
Apisto Hongsloi 
drool.gif
 me want one 
drool.gif
 
I concur with what other members have posted here.  I'll just respond to your question on the Paradise Fish, Macropodus opercularis.  This is an anabantid (the family including the bettas and gouramis) so that right off tells us a few things.  Males are territorial, and with this comes aggression in varying degrees depending upon the species.
 
While a very attractive fish, this is not a good community fish for the average aquarium. Smaller fish will be eaten, fins will be nipped, and any similar-looking fish will be attacked. Paradise Fish are very aggressive with its own, males in breeding form will often kill rivals; females are less aggressive. It could be kept as a single fish, or a pair (male/female) in your 110 litre (30 gallon) tank; in much larger tanks it could be combined with medium-sized fast-swimming barbs and danios.
 
Byron.
 

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