Thinking 'bout Little Fishies..

[Angel47]

Yes I know I'm really getting ahead of myself but I thought while I'm waiting for my tank to cycle I may as well get some decent advice on which fish to have. I really dont trust my lfs. The only way I can think of doing that at this stage is just by listing all the fish that I like the look of and hoping that someone can tell me which ones are compatible for a nice, happy community tank . I have a Fluval Roma 125 and here is my list (please note: I know I cant have all of these this is just all the ones I like the look of!!)

Neon Tetras (would def like some of these, theyre soooooo pretty)
Red tailed Shark
Blue Siamese Fighter, male
Angel Fish
Multi-Coloured Guppy, male
Green Tiger Barb
Albino Cory Cat
Paradise Fish
Pakistani Loach
Golden Apple Snail
Nemo Fish (sorry I've forgotten what he is, clown something? )

I'm also open to any suggestions of something that will be peaceful and really brightly coloured

Thanks guys. Advice, as always, gratefully recieved!

Maz

 

[yasinullah]

hiya,

neon tetras have to be introduced to mature tanks, about 6 months after cycling is recommended, as they are sensitive fish!

clownfish (nemo's!!) are marine/saltwater fish so not suitable for tropical tank set ups!

harlequin rasboras are pretty lil fish, which can be added to newly cycled tanks

thats all i know so far lol hope this helps

 

[Tw3lv3]

i dont know alot of those fish but i think the nemo fish is a marine fish not sure tho probably wrong lol but i have tried siamese fighters with angel fish and they got on well at 1st but after a few weeks the angels nipped off all the fighters finnage virtually and the only tetras i have been advised to get with my angel fish are black neon tetras as they are slightly bigger hope that helps narrow your list a little

 

[Angel47]

Thank you both.
Yes, clownfish, thats him but that doesn't really matter now I know he's a marine chappy Shows how much I know
I had heard that neons cant be introduced straight away by my lfs said just wait a couple of weeks. Thats why I dont trust their advice. They also told me it was easy getting your tank sorted. They would test the water for me once a week and it should be ready in 7 days to two weeks.

Mmm thats a shame about the Siamese Fighter and the Angel Fish. Not sure how I going to decide between those two, but def want neons so I guess the Angel may well have to go.

thanks guys


Maz

 

[Curiosity101]

I have the exact same tank as you I'll list the fish from your OP I would be happy putting into the tank:
Neon Tetras
Multi-Coloured Guppy, male
Green Tiger Barb
Albino Cory Cat
Paradise Fish
Golden Apple Snail

Note I would be happy putting these in the tank but no neccesarily put them all in together. For example I don't know a huge amount about paradise fish. But tiger barbs are nippy and so wouldn't work with the paradise fishes long fins.

Reasons I wouldn't put the other fish in:
Red tailed Shark - Grow up to be very big and very aggressive
Blue Siamese Fighter, male - Generally unsuited to community set-ups. Not only do alot of fighters not enjoy being in a community set-up, due to their long fins barbs and tetras tend to get nippy and shred their fins.
Angel Fish - I think you could perhaps fit angels into that sized tank, I didn't feel comfortable putting them in mine though cause I didn't think it was quite tall enough. If you did decide on angels then you can have any fish neon tetra sized as when the angels grow they WILL eat them.
Pakistani Loach - Although 1 would be find in your tank, you have to keep them in groups. They will grow to be quite large bodied fish eventually so might give quite a large bio-load. Meaning you'd be able to have many less fish, otherwise your filter wouldn't cope.
Nemo Fish - As above, these are saltwater not freshwater


Possible alternatives to the above:
Red tailed Shark - Can't think of an alternative to be honest...
Blue Siamese Fighter - Can't think of an alternative...
Angel Fish - A larger gourami such as a pearl gourami or a group of dwarf gouramis such as Honey gouramis (1m 2 f)
Pakistani Loach - Kuhli Loach?
Nemo Fish - Some of the bright dwarf cichlids such a German Blue Rams. You have to be aware that GBR's should be kept at around 28 degrees celcius so you'd have to take that into consideration with the other fish you wanted to stock.

 

[Tw3lv3]

they may have told you that the tank would be ready in 7 days - 2 weeks for a few reasons A) they are in the buisness of selling fish and the more die the more you buy or B) they have not heard of fishless cycling because as far as i know its a relitivly new procedure.... i got the same advice from my LFS and i have had a hell of a time keeping my fish alive doing water changes every day testing regulary (known as a fish-in cycle) luckily they are still alive so far but it would of been so much easier to do a fishless cycle before adding the fish not just on me but the fish also.

 

[Curiosity101]

Fist List

I have attached a link to a really good site. It has a large list of freshwater fish, when you click on each one it gives members reviews of the fish, aswell as maximum size and tank size they should go into.
If you find a fish you like I'd try googling it to check all info is correct etc etc. Ie. Never just use one source of information.

 

[Angel47]

Gosh, its very complicated. Not only do you have to match the fish but then you have to match the temp, and I'm guessing, the PH balance as well? I don't think I'm going to be able to work that lot out Thanks for the link Curiosity101 I shall have a good look and try to get my head around it. Basically I love bright colours and I want some fish that are peaceful, reasonably easy to look after and that dont just look like goldfish, otherwise I could have just gone cold water. I definitely want some sucky fish - loaches or catfish - as I've got to have one called George. Its already in my head

My lfs did know about fishless cycling as they said they would test my water and let me know when my tank was ready for fish. However, I want to know whats going on with my tank and my fish cos, well, they're mine!! Not only that, everytime I go back there they have lots of dead fish. Not just one or two but whole groups laying dead on the tank floor. I told them about it the other week and they said "Not the clown loaches was it? Yeah that the second batch we've had die in 2 days". There were also dead sword tails (I think thats what they were called) and all the yellow apple snails had gone overnight because they had all died in one go. These were on different days which has made me very reluctant to buy fish from them. Not good. However, they gave me a £10 fish voucher as I bought my whole set up from them so I guess I'll get something from them.

 

[Curiosity101]

I 'think' and don't quote me, you can keep bristlenose catfish on their own. So although they aren't particularly colourful you could certainly get a specific fish to name. I'm just saying this as most of the bottom feeders I can think of are shoaling fish. So ofc you would find it pretty hard to name 1 and recognise it later in the day.
They come in normal and albino.

And as for your lfs, just be very very wary when you buy fish. Make sure you give them a good looking over and check they're healthy when you purchase them. Or...can you maybe swap your voucher and use it for dry goods instead?

Normally you don't need to perfectly match pH's. There are exceptions (as there are with everything), but most community fish tend to be find in a pH around 7.

 

[Tw3lv3]

did they tell you how much ammonia to add during the fishless cycle if not there is a caculator on this site which is very useful for those sort of things

 

[Angel47]

I wouldnt mind getting a little shoal of catfish or loaches as I could get a couple of different colours, albino etc, and then I would know which one was George! I would name the others too its just that one of them has to be called George. But I have to say, having looked at the Bristlenose an albino one of those would be brill!

I luuurve the German Blue Ram! He's bootiful and would definitely make up for losing the Beta and/ or the Angel. Are they easy to find and are they expensive? Could he be added straight to my tank once its cycled?

Hi Tw3lv3,

I have learnt about ammonia only since coming on this forum and Curiosity101 very kindly told me about the calculator (as well as lots of other helpful stuff). The shop never mentioned ammonia at all, just stuff to make the water safe and stuff to boost the bacteria. Thats when I decided I really wanted to take responsibility for getting my tank correct.

Maz

 

[Tw3lv3]

cool they are great on this forum in that respect sorry if i gave you the wrong idea i wasnt trying to be an A** about it i was just informing you about it as i didnt have a clue about it when i 1st came on here and i find it a really useful tool

 

[Curiosity101]

Easy to find, not expensive and not for brand new set-ups...sorry

But if you really want one (or a pair) then I'd recommend planning your stocking around them (as they need 28 degrees celcius and wont mix well with other dwarf cichlids)
Then once you've finished the rest of your stocking, except the rams of course, wait a couple of weeks and then get the rams. The only thing to remember with rams is that they can be sensitive. I think you have to make sure nitrates stay below 20ppm or so.

 

[chob]

The rule for guppies is 3 females to one male, and they breed ALOT, so pick 3 different coloured females and a nice male guppy. Plus Albino corys are very active and if you have 3, they tend to shoal in triangles. but can be a bad idea to mix betta fish with guppies since they fin nip, plus can be very aggresive fish. And please choose dwarf gouramies over any angel fish, they're amazing.

 

[Angel47]

sorry if i gave you the wrong idea i wasnt trying to be an A** about it i was just informing you about it as i didnt have a clue about it when i 1st came on here and i find it a really useful tool

Thats ok, Tw3lv3. I didn't think you were being funny at all. I have found this site so helpful its unbelievable.

Curiosity101 said " Easy to find, not expensive and not for brand new set-ups...sorry "

Oh pants. So near and yet so far . Oh well, I can wait a couple of weeks. You've already seen how patient I am... Right, I will just have to research what I can have at that temp then see if it works for me. Erm...working out what goes with what at what temp is going to be hard work I think!

Chob, I dont want to even think about fish having babies yet! How would I look after them, what would I do with them? Will diferent coloured females stop the male wanting to mate? I do rather like the multi coloured male guppy. He's on my original list!

(As you can tell, I havent worked out how to do quotes from multiple replies in one post yet..)

Cheers Maz