Just Wondering....

[wtftastic]

Hi, I've been raising fish since I was young, but haven't had a tank in about 4 years. Can anyone recommend any easy/ hardy species, environments, and cost effective set ups?

I got myself a 30 gallon tank.

And I'm not opposed to single species.

 

[Fishkeeper2004]

With a 30 gallon you have some space to work with? Are you interested in a community tank, or would you like to have a few species?

If your going for a community, maybe have some shoals of tetras, any livebearers, 6-10 corys, and maybe a gourami or two?

You have alot of choices, try going to your LFS and see whats on offer, ask the staff whether they would be suitable for the tank you are interested in setting up. Hopefully, they will be more educated than the ones round here..

 

[wtftastic]

With a 30 gallon you have some space to work with? Are you interested in a community tank, or would you like to have a few species?

If your going for a community, maybe have some shoals of tetras, any livebearers, 6-10 corys, and maybe a gourami or two?

You have alot of choices, try going to your LFS and see whats on offer, ask the staff whether they would be suitable for the tank you are interested in setting up. Hopefully, they will be more educated than the ones round here..

Local fish store is an independant, with lots of choice. Would gouramis or chicilids be possbile in this size tank?

And are there any other more "exotic" easy to keep fish available?

 

[Fishkeeper2004]

Gouramis would be fine in a 30 gallon, but don't try keeping more than 3, with two of them being female if possible. They can be teratorial against their own species, so make sure there in enough room for each to have there own area around the tank. (They won't mind other species going in their area.)

 

[rdd1952]

As Fishkeeper stated, you have a lot of options. Looking at what your LFS has to offer is the best solution. See what fish you like, write the names down, ask the people there for advice on what fish are compatible but also come home and check them yourself. As stated, some LFS employees (especially LPS employees) aren't very knowledgable and just want to sell fish.

Also, for future reference on other questions you may have, it would help if you list in your profile where you live. If you're uncomfortable with putting a city, that's fine, just list US, UK, Australia or whatever. All products aren't available in all places so it would help people tailor their answers to you and your location.

 

[SamUK]

not sure if 30 gallons is enough but a pair of bolivian rams would be kewl to have and breed if it is!


someone posted pics of there rams spawning and it was really cool.

 

[wtftastic]

As Fishkeeper stated, you have a lot of options. Looking at what your LFS has to offer is the best solution. See what fish you like, write the names down, ask the people there for advice on what fish are compatible but also come home and check them yourself. As stated, some LFS employees (especially LPS employees) aren't very knowledgable and just want to sell fish.

Also, for future reference on other questions you may have, it would help if you list in your profile where you live. If you're uncomfortable with putting a city, that's fine, just list US, UK, Australia or whatever. All products aren't available in all places so it would help people tailor their answers to you and your location.

I'll keep that in mind then. I do live in the US, and there is one pet shop in my town, and several within a fifteen minute drive range.

The local store is selling "kissing fish". Any tips on them?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Kissing gouramis grow too big for a 30gal, about 8inchs i think and can be quite agressive- for more peaceful species of gouramis, check out dwarf and honey gouramis plus sparkling gouramis as well .
Gouramis like a heavily/densely planted tank, theres a whole section on this forum basically devoted to gouramis if you are interested in them and wanna check it out .

What sorts of fish/body types are you generally into?

 

[wtftastic]

Kissing gouramis grow too big for a 30gal, about 8inchs i think and can be quite agressive- for more peaceful species of gouramis, check out dwarf and honey gouramis plus sparkling gouramis as well .
Gouramis like a heavily/densely planted tank, theres a whole section on this forum basically devoted to gouramis if you are interested in them and wanna check it out .

What sorts of fish/body types are you generally into?

I know this sounds childish, but I like pretty fish. Nice colours, shapes, and quirky looks are all really interesting to me. I've also heard that some fish can recognize their owners. That'd be a nice trait too.

I'm just generally more interested in fish that are NOT quite the same nice lil 'uns as my brother. They get kind of boring! (He has mollies, plats, swords, danios, and corries)

But again, ease of keeping is also important, as I don't want to hurt my fish!

 

[chrismr]

I know what you mean about guppies and platties etc being boring... they just have no personality.

I am not suggesting all the following be mixed together, but trying to give some suggestions that go beying the usual cory, tetra, gourami suggestions. There are loads of great fish out there that nobody ever mentions.

Pearl gouramis are peaceful and beautiful fish, and not too big. It is great to watch them swimming around feeling all the other fish up. If i hold my hand aginst the glass of my tank they come up and try to feel it. Cute

Pencil fish are a lot nicer than tetras, in my opinion. And you get some with great colours.

Kuhli loaches are lovely little things. Most loaches in my experience have plenty of character, and are good fun to watch. Some, such as the clown loach will probably get too big for your tank though. dwarf chain loaches, and zebra loaches are two other good choices.

If you want character and colour together, you could always go for apistogramma cacatuoides or some of the other dwarf species.

Another interesting fish is badis badis. I have no experience of them though, so not sure what caring for them is like.

A few upside down catfish could be fun.... I would love some, but don't really have room for them right now.

I love my whiptail catfish. He does not do much, but is very pretty.

You could get and ancistrus for dealing with your algae.

Hatchet fish, although apparently sensitive (mine are hardy as hell), have a really great shape. Silver apparently more active than the marbled variety.

Threadfin rainbow fish are hardy, busy little things and in my opinion absolutely gorgeous, with a highly unusual shape. There are other rainbows as well which should be fine for your size tank. Do a search on them.

Hope that gives you more ideas on what is out there.

Oh yeah, keyhole cichlids are brilliant little fish which are very peaceful. I love the way mine get all excited when they see me walk in with the fish food!

 

[wtftastic]

I know what you mean about guppies and platties etc being boring... they just have no personality.

I am not suggesting all the following be mixed together, but trying to give some suggestions that go beying the usual cory, tetra, gourami suggestions. There are loads of great fish out there that nobody ever mentions.

Pearl gouramis are peaceful and beautiful fish, and not too big. It is great to watch them swimming around feeling all the other fish up. If i hold my hand aginst the glass of my tank they come up and try to feel it. Cute

Pencil fish are a lot nicer than tetras, in my opinion. And you get some with great colours.

Kuhli loaches are lovely little things. Most loaches in my experience have plenty of character, and are good fun to watch. Some, such as the clown loach will probably get too big for your tank though. dwarf chain loaches, and zebra loaches are two other good choices.

If you want character and colour together, you could always go for apistogramma cacatuoides or some of the other dwarf species.

Another interesting fish is badis badis. I have no experience of them though, so not sure what caring for them is like.

A few upside down catfish could be fun.... I would love some, but don't really have room for them right now.

I love my whiptail catfish. He does not do much, but is very pretty.

You could get and ancistrus for dealing with your algae.

Hatchet fish, although apparently sensitive (mine are hardy as hell), have a really great shape. Silver apparently more active than the marbled variety.

Threadfin rainbow fish are hardy, busy little things and in my opinion absolutely gorgeous, with a highly unusual shape. There are other rainbows as well which should be fine for your size tank. Do a search on them.

Hope that gives you more ideas on what is out there.

Oh yeah, keyhole cichlids are brilliant little fish which are very peaceful. I love the way mine get all excited when they see me walk in with the fish food!

I'll bring this with me when I go to the LFS.

 

[fishing4exotics]

How about an Albino Senegal Bicher for the bottom, Australian Rainbow for a mid swimmer, an African Butterfly Fish for the surface of the tank, and a Gold Nugget pleco to help clean the tank. That's a pretty exotic mix

 

[Scott MacAdam]

there are some chicilids rated for about 5 inches if you want to look into that. they are very interesting fish and the colors can be very nice and bright depending on the breed. i see you have mentioned them above and i thought i'd throw it in . look into it first though because there are lots and i may be wrongly informed of the size due to WALMART !!!! i swear if i had another choice i would take it in a second...... o well. Also about the post above i would have to COMPLETLEY agree with the Senegal Bicher! they are quite amasing and they do have personality and if you are looking for something different it's a great idea.

 

[Synirr]

Gouramis are full of personality, as are bettas... you could have a very colourful female betta community in there. Or if you wanted a sort of aquatic puppy, leopard ctenopoma are great

 

[chrismr]

fishing4exotics suggested some really good fish there. Although you might be severely limited as to what you could ever mix them. I would look up the dietary requirements first though.

I had a rope/reed fish (similar to bichir) which had to be fed on live or frozen food only.