suggestions for compatible tank mates

[nuckfluckchuckbuck]

Hello everyone,

For anyone who didn't see my first few posts - I'm new on the forum. I have been an aquarist for about 2 years now, but it is only around 3 months since I setup my first Tropical setup, so I could do with a few pointers on what I can/can't pick for my tank...

The tank itself is a 120 litre (around 26 gallons - it's just a Juwel Rio 120) tank, so it should house quite a few... I currently have a shoal of 10 Cardinals, an Albino Corydora, a Spotted Corydora (sometimes called a "Talking Catfish" I believe, as he squeaks when he's out of water ), an upside-down catfish, a red-tail shark, a Crowntail Betta, a male/female pair of sailfin mollies & finally a shoal of 15 baby mollies from the sailfin's which I'm currently raising

The 2 adult sailfins and the Betta are by far the biggest fish in there, and they're only around 2-3 inch long (not including their finnage of course!) so I imagine I still have room for quite a few yet....

Here's a list of fish that I know the names of/have seen recently - can anyone tell me what they find to be compatible/what not to be compatible?

Angelfish - I do know that these are normally not recommended alongside Betta's - however, I will certainly be investing in another Tropical tank before the end of the year (probably a 300 litre/60gallon+ size tank), so if it was safe enough to keep them in for a year or so until I got a bigger tank, that would be great as I love Angels... If they would grow too big inside of a year and would become a threat to the Betta and the Cardinals, then I'll just have to wait to get some

Cichlids - I had a lovely pair of firemouths when I was about 10 years old... can I keep those with my current fish?

Gourami - Well, the blue and the pearl type to be exact... I love those two colours ... the honey ones are nice too... since they're anabantoids, could they do well alongside my Betta?

Elephant Nose - I've seen some of these beautiful fish in my local pet store and they're so unusual... however, I have seen some of them at quite a large size, so I don't want to end up with anything that is too big for it's home...

Also - I love anything else that is unusual, like Apple snails, shrimp, crabs, tropical frogs etc..... I've never bought anything except Apple Snails though, for fear of incompatibility or them getting eaten! If anyone has any wierd and wonderful suggestions for other creatures - I'm all ears!

nuckfluckchuckbuck

 

[Grey Legion]

Try this site

CLICK HERE

it is a great site with tons of info..

 

[webcat5]

26 Gallons = 26 Inches of fish

Sounds to me that you are almost at your limit that the tank can support.
If you add too many fish to your tank they will just die off. Apparently for no reason. They will not show any signs of illness and just die.

 

[Y2J]

Can i hi jack your thread please.. are Red Tailed Black Shark fish and neons compatible?.. anyone have both? I was talking to a guy at pets at home today for 10 minutes or so and he said that once the shark had grown he would eat the neons. Is this true? The shark grows to 12cm and neons 5cm according to data i ve read

 

[Ferris]

Y2J

A red tailed black shark will not eat neons but he/she will chase them and could kill them indirectly by stressing them. RTBS are great fish (I have one) but they are very aggressive, particularly to similar shaped fish, bala shaks etc. I have serpae and black phantom tetra's in the tank with mine and they do OK so it is possible, you just need to be aware of the risks. Once you put a RTBS in your tank, it does limit your options for adding other fish

 

[Y2J]

Im going to have neons and other Tetra/small fishes. I was having 2 black sharks until he said they would fight so will have the 1 now and hope it doesnt harm the other fishes

 

[nuckfluckchuckbuck]

Try this site

CLICK HERE

it is a great site with tons of info..

Thanks for the link

It is a great site!

However, the list it returned, based on my choices.... well, let me run it by everyone here to see what they think....

Gourami's
Blue Gourami
Golden Gourami
Opaline Gourami
Three Spot Gourami
Two Spot Gourami

Puffers
Arrowhead Puffer
Hognose Puffer
Mekong Puffer
Pignose Puffer
Eye Spot Puffer
Figure Eight Puffer
Amazon Puffer
South American Puffer

Cichlids
Salvinis Cichlid
Tricolor Cichlid
Yellowbelly Cichlid
T-Bar Cichlid


It also recommended The Elephant Nose (Yay! ) Angelfish (double Yay! ), and the Red Tailed Black Shark (even though I told it I already have one.... always thought you couldn't keep two together? )...

Surprisingly too, it recommended the Paradise Fish which is from the same family Belontiidae as Betta Splendens, even though I told it I have a Betta... won't they fight each other!? I mean really fight each other!?

And as for Puffers, I have been told by every single pet store I have been to that these absolutely cannot be kept with other fish.... not community fish is the phrase I normally see scrawled on the tanks containing them.... how confusing!?

I noticed it did say these are recommendations based on assumptions, so they can be "wrong".... but what do you all think to these recommendations?

Any I should avoid?

 

[Ferris]

It also recommended The Elephant Nose (Yay! ) Angelfish (double Yay! ), and the Red Tailed Black Shark (even though I told it I already have one.... always thought you couldn't keep two together? )...

The bit about the 2 RTBS is wrong, you cannot keep 2 together, they are extremely aggressive towards their own species to the point that whichever is the sub-dominant will probably die from stress. I have unfortunately experienced this 1st hand in a friends tank.

In fact they are that bad, its a surprise they are not extinct, I don't know how they breed!

 

[Raechal]

DO NOT get a paradise fish with a betta. I know from experience that the betta will most likely kill it, if not the paradise fish will kill the betta. My betta ripped my paradise's tail clean off until it had no tail at all. I came home and found my paradise fish trying to swim, but didn't have a tail. I tried to save her but she died the next day.

I really wouldn't add anymore fish to your tank. If anything, I would add some more cories as your cories are probably pretty lonely with there only being 2. I suggest get some more albinos and some peppereds. Maybe 2 more albinos and 2 more peppereds.

I wouldn't get the angels as they may not make it in that tank with the betta. I have never tried it before, but the betta would most likely nip it's fins off. Same as with gouramis. Gouramis and Bettas are both labrynth fish and you should keep only one or the other, not both together.

I would also stay away from the puffers as most of them get fairly large, require special feedings, require brackish set-ups, or are too territorial to put with community fish. Especially with something like a betta, I believe the puffers would rip the fins of the betta the first chance they get.

I would also stay away from the cichlid as most become fairly aggressive. If you wanted to go for a pair of bolivian rams MAYBE you could fit them in there if you had good filtration and kept up with water changes. Another choice is german blue rams, but these fish need REALLY good water conditions, and they are also very colorful so the betta may attack it. Never kept german blue rams with a betta so I wouldn't know from experience.

I would just add to your school of cories if I were you.

You could probably try an African Dwarf frog or two. I think you could get away with 2 more albino cories, 2 more peppered cories, and 2 african dwarf frogs. If you decide to get the frogs, make sure you cover ALL of the holes in the tank as I have heard they are quite the little escape artists. Also, be sure you don't buy the African CLAWED Frog as they get large and will eat all of your fish. These are usually sold as albino frogs. African dwarf frogs will be more of a brown-ish color.

 

[Raechal]

Try this site

CLICK HERE

it is a great site with tons of info..

I don't agree with that site at all. It says dwarf puffers are compatible with gouramis and bettas. Wouldn't the dwarf puffers rip their fins to shreds? Also it says Bettas are compatible with gouramis! I wouldn't trust that site at all.

 

[Blue Lobster]

Angels will try to eat your tetras. I just threw 10 in with my Sunset Blushers and it's a shoal that I will never see becasue they are hiding in the bushes.

Angels do well with Bala Sharks, 1 RTBS, plecos of all sorts and some gouramis.

Bear in mind some gouramis are social and timid, some are outright terrors.

Good luck.

 

[Raechal]

Angels will try to eat your tetras. I just threw 10 in with my Sunset Blushers and it's a shoal that I will never see becasue they are hiding in the bushes.

Angels do well with Bala Sharks, 1 RTBS, plecos of all sorts and some gouramis.

Bear in mind some gouramis are social and timid, some are outright terrors.

Good luck.

He would need a massive tank for balas though.

 

[nuckfluckchuckbuck]

DO NOT get a paradise fish with a betta. I know from experience that the betta will most likely kill it, if not the paradise fish will kill the betta. My betta ripped my paradise's tail clean off until it had no tail at all. I came home and found my paradise fish trying to swim, but didn't have a tail. I tried to save her but she died the next day.

I really wouldn't add anymore fish to your tank. If anything, I would add some more cories as your cories are probably pretty lonely with there only being 2. I suggest get some more albinos and some peppereds. Maybe 2 more albinos and 2 more peppereds.

I wouldn't get the angels as they may not make it in that tank with the betta. I have never tried it before, but the betta would most likely nip it's fins off. Same as with gouramis. Gouramis and Bettas are both labrynth fish and you should keep only one or the other, not both together.

I would also stay away from the puffers as most of them get fairly large, require special feedings, require brackish set-ups, or are too territorial to put with community fish. Especially with something like a betta, I believe the puffers would rip the fins of the betta the first chance they get.

I would also stay away from the cichlid as most become fairly aggressive. If you wanted to go for a pair of bolivian rams MAYBE you could fit them in there if you had good filtration and kept up with water changes. Another choice is german blue rams, but these fish need REALLY good water conditions, and they are also very colorful so the betta may attack it. Never kept german blue rams with a betta so I wouldn't know from experience.

I would just add to your school of cories if I were you.

You could probably try an African Dwarf frog or two. I think you could get away with 2 more albino cories, 2 more peppered cories, and 2 african dwarf frogs. If you decide to get the frogs, make sure you cover ALL of the holes in the tank as I have heard they are quite the little escape artists. Also, be sure you don't buy the African CLAWED Frog as they get large and will eat all of your fish. These are usually sold as albino frogs. African dwarf frogs will be more of a brown-ish color.

That's good news about the little African frogs.... a local shop has them (they're definitely the right ones), so I'll pop along and get two of the little fellas tomorrow

It's funny you should mention about the Albino Frogs too..... the same local shop had some in last week.... they were babies and very small, so I asked the store owner what his thoughts were on keeping them with fish..... He started to laugh and explained to me that two days ago, 20 of these Albino frogs arrived.... looking back at the tank, I didn't see 20.... there were 8 left. He'd sold none either. They ate each other - and very bloody quickly too!

He also told me they would grow to about the size of a fist or two... so I won't be buying one of those then!

Thanks for the advice on fish numbers too - I probably would have put another 10 or so fish in yet.... I think I'll stick to a few more Cory's, a couple of wee frogs, and perhaps one catfish of some description.... we like Catfish myself and Mrs Nuckfluck, so again, any recommendations on a nice catfish we can add as our last fish, and that's me done until I get my next 60 gallon tank!

(We already have one, but Mrs Nuckfluck insists that we use it for the Axolotls... I love them, but I'm dying to fill a tank that size with LOADS OF FISHIES!! )

 

[Raechal]

If you aren't trying to save all the fry in your tank from the mollies, I would recomend a bumblebee catfish. I have one and although he is nocturnal and hides during the day, he is the cutest thing in my tank. He will eat very small fry though.

 

[nuckfluckchuckbuck]

If you aren't trying to save all the fry in your tank from the mollies, I would recomend a bumblebee catfish. I have one and although he is nocturnal and hides during the day, he is the cutest thing in my tank. He will eat very small fry though.

Is this the type of catfish you mean?

If so - yes please!

I will search for one of those too once I've introduced my frogs for a bit tomorrow. He'll be our last fish in there for now then.

How big will he/she grow Raechal?

Oh - and is it true that I can't keep various shrimp with many catfish? I've seen some amazing looking armoured shrimp but wouldn't want to buy one unless I was sure he'd fit in, since they are fairly expensive...