Fish For Planted Tanks

[phlawed]

I will start it off on some of my favorites

Rainbow sharks (Scientific name: Epalzeorhynchus frenatus)- I keep one in my tank and is awsome to watch. He loves heavily planted areas where he can nose dive all the way down and swim backwards back up them scimming the leaves for anything he can. They are also very good at swimming upside down for the bottom of leaves. Although a little aggressive at younger ages, i have found his aggression to almost disapear after adding more plants and with age. He no longer bothers a sole in the tank and just does his own thing all day long. Colors look very good agianst plants and even shows a very nice blue tint at times on his body.

for more info: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=41902

feel free to add your fish and i will add them to the first post in this format. Include Scientific names if possible. Please only add fish in which you have kept or currently keep.

 

[phlawed]

thought this might be fun for some to tell about their favorite fish in their planted tanks, guess not

 

[Bloo]

Endlers Loveley bright little fish - they just gently cruise through the plants

 

[chrismr]

Dwarf pencilfish are pretty and really like to get in amongst the plants. I wish these fish were more readily available.

I did think that my angels would like to get in amongst tall plants like valis, but they tend to stick to the open.

Khuli loaches tend to like climbing around in bushy plants and cleaning them.

Badis badis seem to like plants a lot too, and they are great little fish. Very pretty and not at all boring. They are just so easily overlooked in stores...

 

[Discomafia]

Surprised noone has mentioned cardinal tetras or neon tetras... Rummynose tetras, tiger barbs, zebra danios (and its variations) are all good ideas too, but the danios don't school tightly often. The best fish for this, IME, are harlequin rasboras... Oh yea, and penguin tetras too! All depends on what other bigger/more aggressive fish you have in the tank, as fish will only school when threatened...

 

[Bloo]

Surprised noone has mentioned cardinal tetras or neon tetras...

Because I can't keep them in my hard water - where as Endlers are perfectly suited.

 

[lljdma06]

Surprised noone has mentioned cardinal tetras or neon tetras...

Because I can't keep them in my hard water - where as Endlers are perfectly suited.

Favorite fish for planted tanks?

Harlequin rasboras. They are just fantastic and their colors, yes they have quite a bit of color, pop out in the right conditions. Some other excellent rasboras are espei and hengeli rasboras, similar to Harlequins, but different.

Bridget rasboras are incredible for smaller tanks and the males are an intense red with black, very cool.

Several gourami species are great, honey gouramis and sparklers come to mind because I've kept them.

Pygmy corydoras are wonderful, again for smaller tanks. They also are not bottom exclusive and will shoal in large groups in the middle to upper layers of the tank as well.

When I move back, I will try my hand a tank with just tiger barbs and chain loaches. I will also work with Endlers, possibly serpaes or dwarf neon rainbow fish, and some of the rarer species like licorice gouramis, axelrod rasboras, and peacock gudgeons. We'll see. Miami has a terrible selection of FW fish. Aquabid, here I come!

llj