Searching For Top Swimmers.

[fshinggrl]

Ok.
75 gallon tank
3 YoYo Loaches
4 Zebra Loaches
6 Odessa Barbs

They all seem to stay at the bottom!! Would adding 6 more Odessa barbs help the situation and make the fish more visable? I could take a picture of my tank with all these fish in it and you would not see any!!! I am looking for fish to inhabit the top 3/4 of my tank! I will be adding 2 Kribensis last.

Any suggestions?

 

[walkers101]

danios are the best top swimmers in my opinion and they are dirt cheap

 

[mattlee]

thats a good size tank and not many fish in it..... a bigger group of any fish will make them more active and visible. be carefull of kribs and bottom feeders as they get very teritorial and its been known for kribs to attack and remove the eyes from corys...

ive just bought some denisonii barbs and they are all over the tank, top, middle and bottom. they look absolutely superb and have made my tank come alive. i removed some beautifull discus to have these and have no regrets. they are quite expensive though but well worth it

have you though about a larger species of fish as a 75g tank is more than capable of housing something of larger size....?

 

[fshinggrl]

ive just bought some denisonii barbs and they are all over the tank, top, middle and bottom. they look absolutely superb and have made my tank come alive. i removed some beautifull discus to have these and have no regrets. they are quite expensive though but well worth it

have you though about a larger species of fish as a 75g tank is more than capable of housing something of larger size....?

Yep, I'd love a shoal of Denisonii barbs but as you touched on, they are spendy and I absolutely cannot afford one let alone 5! I've been trying to plan my stocking around the Kribensis.

 

[mattlee]

how about a group of boesemani rainbow fish. these can be very stunning in a large group?

 

[walkers101]

If your getting kribs get rid of the loaches as said i had kribs with corys they really do go for the eyes

 

[fshinggrl]

If your getting kribs get rid of the loaches as said i had kribs with corys they really do go for the eyes

Thanks for your input.

 

[jacko32]

what about 10 marbled hatchet fish they stay to the top and would bring your other fish out more as they will feel more secure with other fish above them

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How about a hareem of African Butterfly Fish? You currently have nothing that will remain under 5cm as adults that will be seen as food when these beautiful fish get larger.

Another option is a hareem of Golden Wonder Killifish, which again would then cross off any small fish being added safely.

As mentioned above, Hatchets would create surface activtity without aggression. You could even combine them with some beautiful Pencilfish.

Forktail Blue-Eye Rainbowfish are another small top-dwelling fish possibility, but I'm not sure if you could combine them with hatchets and Pencilfish, as some Rainbows species can get a bit boisterous.

Halfbeaks are another possibility, again in a hareem, but they can be easily spooked and then smash into the tank glass (often breaking their jaws).

There's some food for thought, but some of the above options will depend on how you see the behaviour of your Odessa Barb (playful; boisterous; aggressive etc.)

 

[fshinggrl]

The butterlyfish are beautiful. Unfortunately I cannot 'give away' $56 worth of loaches. Store will not give credit or have returns. I can't sell them on eBay or Craigslist. So perhaps I will have to give up on the Kribensis, which is what I started with over a month ago as my 'centerpiece' fish.

It seems that no matter how much research I do (yes, even after/before advice on this forum), I still can't figure it out.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

For "dwarf cichlids," Kribs are "Satan's spawn" once they start breeding. I love their colours when they start flirting with the opposite sex, but I always knew I would not consider them for my Rio240 (despite the mainly African theme I have going on), as I was too concerned about the possibilities of carnage...

Hence I chose Lionhead Cichlids, which are quirky in looks and behaviour, yet they don't usually attack tankmates to the point of death (often as they are slower movers than many fish in open space, due to their hopping motion).

Apistogramma species have lovely colours without the Krib aggression, agassiziis "double reds" are a sight to behold!

http/www.dwarfcichlid.com/index.php

 

[fshinggrl]

Hence I chose Lionhead Cichlids, which are quirky in looks and behaviour, yet they don't usually attack tankmates to the point of death (often as they are slower movers than many fish in open space, due to their hopping motion).

Apistogramma species have lovely colours without the Krib aggression, agassiziis "double reds" are a sight to behold!

http/www.dwarfcichlid.com/index.php

Thank you. I appreciate the options you gave. Thank you! You have been a great help throughout my process.

 

[fshinggrl]

Ok, with the Lionheads/blockheads, would they have any issues with the loaches? Looks like the double reds need a lower PH, correct?

 

[AstonN24vantage]

well, i once tried a water change because i had the same problem and after the fish all went to the top of the tank. idk what it was.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Having just looked up your loaches on www.loaches.com (http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae and http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata) the temperature range of your loaches is perfect for Lionheads.

However, the most critical thing I spotted was that Yoyos come from "calmer water pool areas of highland streams." Lionheads have adapted through evolution to live in the high current of the Congo/Zaire River. The only way I could see this combo working would be to add a second current making device (could be a powerhead like a Koralia 3, rather than spending out on an external filter like my Eheim 2078) that creates high current over ~50% of the tank's longest side. Southampton's "hard water" of gH 14 and kH 11 is almost perfect for Lionheads, as they are found in regions of the river with a pH range of 6-8 (Southampton tap water is pH 8.2, so its justa fraction harder). Lionheads like digging, which can cause a headache in planted tanks.

A lot of South American fish come from acidic "black water" rivers, which can have a pH almost as acidic as our stomachs! However, commercially bred fish from this region can adapt to cope with harder water that consequently has a higher natural pH (although some fish like Neon and Cardinal Tetras often have shortened lives if homed in anything higher than "moderately hard water." They love planted tanks, just like your Odessa Barb. From what little I've read about these cichlids, they can adapt to harder water, but may not breed in their lifetime. Could well be worth a thread in the "New World" section