Hello.

[Tracyhf1]

Hello, I have been looking for a forum because I have some fishy questions.

We set up our community tank about 2 years ago. We had Neons, Danios, Platies, hatchet fish, corydoras and... a striped Raphael. Well some of the more experienced fishkeepers will probably see where I am going with this already. We had a couple of deaths of natural causes through time, a platy here or a neon there. But then I noticed that the numbers were dwindling, I looked for any floaters or remains...nothing! I don't very often see the Raphael as he is noctural...but my how he has grown! It wasn't until I witnessed him come out of his hidey hole and virtually suck in a hatchet fish before spitting him back out that I did a search on the little imp. I am positive that i was told he was a peaceful community fish! Anyway, I have subsequently discovered that anything small will be eaten, and that is what has happened. i even lost my baby platy which I nurtured. I whipped out my remaining 2 neons and the hatchet and sent it to my dads community tank pronto. At the moment i have the Raphael, a plec (small) and three spotted danios. Can anyone advise what fish to put with the raff? I know that small community fish are out now, but what about some of the smaller chiclids? I would like something fairly colourful, not too big, not too small. my tank is 3ft long. Can anyone give me some ideas?
Thanks...and hello all by the way.

 

[SirMinion]

Hi Tracyhf1, welcome to TFF

The first thing to add wouuld be another couple of Rafs, as these fish are much happier in groups!

 

[Tracyhf1]

Ooh ok, I will get a couple more. Thanks

 

[Tracyhf1]

Well I went out today and bought another Raff, two Kribensis and a Blue Acara. They all seem very happy at the moment. Might have to relocate the danios to dads tank if the cichlids get a bit aggressive (lady in shop said they would be fine), but all ok at the moment. I am considering taking out Danios and getting another Acara in a couple of weeks... what do you think?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

a 3ft tank? what is that, 40 US gallons? if i recall, that's far too small for even one Blue Acara!

i'm also concerned about whether you got a m/f pair of kribs or just two kribs. if you could do me a favor... look at their tails. one or the other should have a little black dot or two along the top edge. this is an "egg spot" and indicates a male kribensis.

kribs are feisty with one another even if they're a pair. another way to know if you've got a m/f pair is that one of them should have its stomach turn purple after they've been chasing a lot. this is indicates the female of the two; the darker the purple, the readier she is to breed. (my male's breeding coloration consists of orangey-yellow lines along his dorsal fin. most males are more colorful; i just can't remember exactly how )

 

[soph]

sorry to hear about your loss.

maybe a few big fish might do the trick, might teach it a lesson or two.
try kissing goriamis, siamise fighting fish ( make sure its only 1male with a female ) and hony goriamis.


good luck

 

[FalconStorm]

soph, I hope you do not mean a betta as a siamese fighting fish. First, males and females cannot be kept together any more than two males can be kept together. Bettas should not be kept with ANY aggressive fish at all. They will get torn to shreds. They are not compatible with anything but very non-aggressive, small finned community fish. Generally, they should just be by themselves. Just thought I'd let you know.

 

[Tracyhf1]

a 3ft tank? what is that, 40 US gallons? if i recall, that's far too small for even one Blue Acara!

i'm also concerned about whether you got a m/f pair of kribs or just two kribs. if you could do me a favor... look at their tails. one or the other should have a little black dot or two along the top edge. this is an "egg spot" and indicates a male kribensis.

kribs are feisty with one another even if they're a pair. another way to know if you've got a m/f pair is that one of them should have its stomach turn purple after they've been chasing a lot. this is indicates the female of the two; the darker the purple, the readier she is to breed. (my male's breeding coloration consists of orangey-yellow lines along his dorsal fin. most males are more colorful; i just can't remember exactly how )

Right, we have a male and female pair of Kribs. The lady in the shop told me that. She said that the female is the one with the spot on her fin, she also has a reddy belly.
The Acara we have looks just like the one in the link, I told the lady in the shop what size tank we have at the moment and she said it was fine...! In that case I will leave the Acara as a singleton and if he/she gets to look like it hasn't got much room I will get a bigger tank. We have a large living room, so it wouldn't be a problem if he needs more room in 12 months or so.