Good Community Fish

[MithrilRider]

I've recently set up the 40 gallon tank my parents put into retirement about 5 years ago. I was wondering what are some good cummunity fish as I don't want to have my fish beating up on one another. Thanks

 

[JamesTasker]

Do you have any fish already?

 

[MithrilRider]

I have none right now. I guess a better question would be. What species of fish (in the <4" category) would definitely be a bad community fish.

 

[J_acon]

Neons and Guppies (actually almost all live bearers) are very peaceful.
Gouramis will beat each other, but not too much.
Otos don't bother anyone.

 

[JamesTasker]

Red tailed black sharks can be a problem, especially if there are other, similar sized fish in there.

Other fish to avoid:

Bala sharks (get huge)
CAEs (get big and nasty)
PLecs (get enormous)
Clown loaches (can get big and need lots of room)
African cichlids are aggressive and must be kept only with other Africans.

Good fish to keep are:
LIvebearers,
barbs,
tetras,
small catfish (corydoras, otos, bristlenoses)
loaches,
rainbow fish.

Why don't you have a look in some books or on the internet, see which fish you like and then we can tell you whether or not they'd be good together.

HTH

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Hey!

Just had to say to the above poster that not all africans are aggressive to the point of only being kept with african cichlids.

I have kribs and chromidotilapia finleyi without problems. There are also rams which I believe to be african.

MithrilRider - You are lucky in setting up this tank because you have already discovered this forum, unlike most of us who only found it when we had a problem. You can avoid the problems to start with

As for fish, be sure to have a good misof bottom/middle/top dwellers to spread the load and ensure that areas are not overcrowded. Many people also like to have a shoal of fish and then a centrepiece fish.

What kind of fish do you like in general? It's all very well us saying what you can have but there's so many that would work that it's easier if we have a way of narrowing it down.

Dana

 

[The-Wolf]

check out this siteaquazoo

 

[JamesTasker]

Just had to say to the above poster that not all africans are aggressive to the point of only being kept with african cichlids.

I have kribs and chromidotilapia finleyi without problems. There are also rams which I believe to be african.

Oh yeah, oops. When I think Afican cichlids, I think the blue, yellow and brown ones. I always forget that kribs are African. They are smallish and colourful which reminds me of the apistogramma species.

Sorry about the dud advice.

Oh, and rams are south american. LOL, we all make mistakes.

 

[parker313]

Rainbowfish are great. I've got a couple and if I was starting over from scratch, I'd make sure to get more! Also, instead of my pleco, I'd get 3-4 oto cats. I'm thinking about asking my lfs to swap 'em out for me.

Cory cats are GREAT bottom dwellers, if you go with these, get at least 3, more if you can.