Help On Tankmate Compatability

[Matt_northants]

If your worried about barbs being agro why not choose pentazona they look great, and have similar markings to Tigers

 

[LolaLouie]

I have cherry barbs with 3 gourmais and they never come near them. They're very peaceful fish. As for the tiger barbs, as the person said above fivebanded barbs have the same markings but have no aggression. They are lovely fish but VERY shy, you need lots of plants and no big fish as they bearly get a look in at feed time and will hide if they feel threatened.

 

[f1sh]

Hi, we were told not to get angel fish cos we had black neon and flame tetras, and the angel fish might eat them when they get bigger. Also we have 2 Bolivian rams in a hard water tank and they are perfectly happy.

The only time my Angels become aggresive is when they have a brood, and then only when other fish get too close. As long as you put smaller fish in the tank before them, then they're fine.

I've kept neon tetras with Angels, but they're definitely a favourite food if they're small enough to swallow. Angel mouths aren't that big though, so if you get small Angels and bigger neons you'll be fine. Don't recommend the other tetras on your list, they nip fins. Golden or coral barbs are better, and yes - do get a yoyo loach! I've found them to be sensitive to water quality, but they should be no problem in the tank you're planning.

Hey. I'm a total beginner with tropical fish.. i want 2 angel fish but also want neon tetras and a betta. ive heard (and read n the internet) a lot about angels eating neon tetras but both of the fish shops that i live near keep them together and say they are fine together. also, the betta apparently goes well with the neon tetras buuut i dont know if thy can go with angel fish. i asked one of the pet shops but they say bettas cant go in fish tanks with any other fish. i know they can though cause ive seen tanks with them in. ??

 

[SJ2K]

Hi, we were told not to get angel fish cos we had black neon and flame tetras, and the angel fish might eat them when they get bigger. Also we have 2 Bolivian rams in a hard water tank and they are perfectly happy.

The only time my Angels become aggresive is when they have a brood, and then only when other fish get too close. As long as you put smaller fish in the tank before them, then they're fine.

I've kept neon tetras with Angels, but they're definitely a favourite food if they're small enough to swallow. Angel mouths aren't that big though, so if you get small Angels and bigger neons you'll be fine. Don't recommend the other tetras on your list, they nip fins. Golden or coral barbs are better, and yes - do get a yoyo loach! I've found them to be sensitive to water quality, but they should be no problem in the tank you're planning.

Hey. I'm a total beginner with tropical fish.. i want 2 angel fish but also want neon tetras and a betta. ive heard (and read n the internet) a lot about angels eating neon tetras but both of the fish shops that i live near keep them together and say they are fine together. also, the betta apparently goes well with the neon tetras buuut i dont know if thy can go with angel fish. i asked one of the pet shops but they say bettas cant go in fish tanks with any other fish. i know they can though cause ive seen tanks with them in. ??

Id never recommend a betta in a community tank full stop, its not a good idea even if 1/100 work out fine.

Angels and neons CAN be alright together if the angels are introduced at a very young age and grow up with the neons, its always a risk though, you may be better off changing the angel for a gourami or the neons for somthing deeper bodied.

 

[Topazlizz]

I've fallen for the impulse to get neons for my angel tank several times and learned the hard way not to buy the neons too small. Even if the neons are bigger they tend to disappear one by one just a little faster than is likely through natural causes, or so it seems to me. Otherwise angels don't limit choices very badly at all - I've tended to always avoid fin-nippers, sticking with gold, cherry or Odessa barbs, the aforementioned neons with results as above and other peaceful schooling fish that I hardly remember any more.

I've never kept a betta in with angels (and wouldn't try), but there's one with my mollies right now - he decimates the fry but that's about all the damage he does. I would be concerned for the others if I got a female for him in the same tank, that would make him too aggressive to get along with.

I'm sure the gourami idea above, with the angel and the cories and maybe cherry barbs would be a great combination. Or skip the angels and go with neons, gourami and cories or maybe a clown loach or two?

Forgot to mention I'm also planning an angel/ram tank. Will not keep cories or loaches in case the rams breed, but will probably get a quiet school of barbs, probably odessa.

 

[Inchworm]

i asked one of the pet shops but they say bettas cant go in fish tanks with any other fish. i know they can though cause ive seen tanks with them in. ??

Hi f1sh

Perhaps one of the first lessons to learn about fishkeeping is to take everything a salesperson at the lfs tells you with a grain of salt. They are in business to make money and that means the more things they can sell you the better. Also, unless you are lucky enough to find an independent lfs, that has been in business for many years, the staff members just do not have the experience to know all there is to know about all the fish they get in.

Now, let me tell you the problem with keeping bettas in community tanks. It's not the just betta's disposition (although it could be) that's the problem, it's the flow of the current from most filters. A HOB (hang on back) filter, and other types, if they are turned up enough to do their job, will create a certain amount of churning up of the water surface. Bettas and gouramis are from a more peaceful and still environment and much spend a good amount of their time at the surface just to breathe. Gouramis are larger and stronger, and lack the flowing fins that bettas have, so they fare a bit better, but bettas tend to wear themselves out swimming against the current. They appear to enjoy it, but in the long run it will shorten their life span.

There are many factors to learn about before you can become a successful fishkeeper, f1sh, so take your time and read and ask as many questions as you like. There's a lot to learn, but it's well worth the effort it takes.

 

[Matt_northants]

Perhaps one of the first lessons to learn about fishkeeping is to take everything a salesperson at the lfs tells you with a grain of salt. They are in business to make money and that means the more things they can sell you the better. Also, unless you are lucky enough to find an independent lfs, that has been in business for many years, the staff members just do not have the experience to know all there is to know about all the fish they get in.

LOL tell me about it I was in one on Sunday and I heard a young lad working there tell a customer that the reason the Siamese Fighting Fish were in small seperate tanks was because they were so vicious that they would kill and eat anything they were put with!