need a little help

[knutty]

My tank is a large, underpopulated metropolis. Only problem- I have no fish of any significant size. I love each and every one in there but they are all small. I need to find a little bit larger fish that is completely non aggressive. Possibly 3-5 inches in length. I decided against angels. I am not concerned how large they get because they can be transplanted to a friend's larger tank. Mine is 55 gal. Check my signature for my stock. Thanks for any info.

 

[platypus]

Hi knutty,

How about clown loaches? They are lovely fish, really active, peaceful and they can grow to about 10" in captivity. Most often people buy them as babies when they're only about an inch long, but I'm sure you could get some bigger ones if you're after some beasts right away!

 

[knutty]

what is nuts is that i just took a 6 inch clown loach back to my lfs. I was cleaning out a pals tank that he wanted to take down. i did not know about loaches so i took him back. along with an 8 inch tonfoil barb. hmmmm...

 

[platypus]

ooof sounds like you missed out on a beauty! One wouldn't be very happy all on his own anyway though, they really need to be kept in groups. There's a really good website on clown loaches here, it should tell you what you need to know.

 

[knutty]

i love the corries. they are so happy. i could watach them all night. but, they are small . i have 7 and they all run around together. great fish. hmm i need to get some non bottom feeders.

 

[Alien Anna]

How about some larger tetras, such as emporer tetras? They are schooling fish or a reasonable size and will take up the middle section of the tank. A large school of rummynosed tetras or bloodfins would be impressive.

Giant danios and rainbow fish are my other suggestions - again, largish schooling fish. Hatchet fish would be food for the upper layers of your tank (they vary in size) although they can be difficult to care for as they won't eat flake.

I have a school of SAEs which looks great - they are quite dramatic looking fish in their own way and they eat all kinds of algae, which is great. They do like to swim and grow to about 5" long.

A red-tailed black shark might be quite a nice, dramatic fish to add that wouldn't likely be a problem to any of the fish you already have. They can grow to about 5-6" long.

 

[knutty]

i have 2 of the rainbow sharks now. they are all black with red fins. very pretty. i was thinking about getting a few more. going to check out the tetras tonight. that is a good idea. i have plenty of room for a school.

 

[knutty]

here is the funny part. my lfs has a great deal on a 125 gallon tank setup right now. i really a thinking about getting it. then i get home to ponder it a little more, and I am like...wait a minute.. i dont even have a 55 stocked yet. my entire goal is to have happy fish. no aggressiveness in this tank. i jsut got done raising piranhas.

 

[platypus]

mmmm 125 gallons....

 

[knutty]

yeah...125 gallons so sexy..might be time for a reef. my wife would kill me. i mean dead. very dead. so dead. so extremely very dead. so, the tetras it is for now.

 

[CFC]

i have 2 of the rainbow sharks now. they are all black with red fins. very pretty. i was thinking about getting a few more.

I wouldnt add anymore rainbow sharks if i were you, they are just as aggressive as RTBS's and should only be kept one per tank. You may have been lucky (so far) in that the two you have are not aggresive to each other but adding more is a disaster waiting to happen.

From the sounds of things rainbows or larger tetras will be the way to go, my personal favourite small shoaling fish are congo tetras and would go well

 

[knutty]

the two rainbows i have to get a little nippy frmo time to time, but only with other. most of the time they swim together and rummage the plants for food.