Which Oddball?

[daspricey]

hi

long story but soon i will have a 30"x12"x12" spare.
i love fish like bichers and eels.
is there any species of oddball other than dwarf puffers that can go in the 30" freshwater tank?
thank u very much!!!

david

 

[pica_nuttalli]

by itself or with tankmates?

would you be willing to have a single fish or would that kind of tank bore you?
would you be willing to have a small group of a single species or would that kind of tank bore you?

do you have access to and would be willing to buy frozen or live (not feeders) fish food?
what are your water parameters (pH, kH, GH) out of the tap?

 

[daspricey]

by itself or with tankmates?

would you be willing to have a single fish or would that kind of tank bore you?
would you be willing to have a small group of a single species or would that kind of tank bore you?

do you have access to and would be willing to buy frozen or live (not feeders) fish food?
what are your water parameters (pH, kH, GH) out of the tap?

preferably with mates but if quite active wont mind just 1.

depends on activness and socciable.
prefrably a group but again if active and socciable not all that bothered.

i can feed live and frozen but i'de like to feed pellets/flakes if poss, but dont mind.
my ph is around 7.4. don't have kh and gh but i know that the water around here is very hard.

thank u 4 your time.

david

 

[daspricey]

are there small specie of ghost knife fish?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

hrm, i was hoping some wiser voices than mine would chip in, but here is my limited pool of suggestions! (i'm only sort of an oddball person.)

yes, there is the African Brown Knife, which is similar to the ghost knife, but doesn't get nearly as large. if i recall, it reaches somewhere around 12"--smaller, but a little too big for me to really feel comfortable recommending it to you. according to my readings, it also prefers soft/acidic water.

i personally have a strong bias towards keeping freshwater puffers i have a South American Puffer (SAP, Colomesus asellus) and adore him. however, most of the puffer species can be a bit tricky to feed. many will not accept processed foods (flake and the like) and all of them require access to "hard" foods in order to keep their teeth ground down. the SAP is especially notorious for needing dental work due to an improper diet.

SAPs are unique among freshwater puffers in several ways. First, there are only two fresh/brackish water puffers found in S. America: C. asellus and C. psitticatus. Second, there is some evidence to suggest that SAPs are schooling fish and can be kept in groups in the home aquarium. Third, it's one of the few species that will accept processed foods (some might even argue that its the only). They're also very active fish which need HEAVILY decorated/planted tanks to prevent boredom and the development of neurotic habits.

For a full list of freshwater puffers see http/www.pufferlist.com/freshindex.htm


i'm also really keen on the various gobies & gudgeons available. there are plenty of smaller ones such as the peacock, the goo-obo, the bumblebee and the white-cheeked goby. some of them can be a bit tricky to feed due to their teensy size, but frozen food is generally a good solution to that. nmonks swears up and down that the bumblebee goby, if sold in freshwater, will do just fine if kept in hard/alkaline water like what you have.

A quick search for topics mentioning gobies or gudgeons.

This is a topic listing lots of oddballs suited to smaller tanks. Even though your tank will be closer to 30g than 20g, this topic is still a good reference. A lot of oddballs are territorial and a lot of them need extra clean water. An extra 10g will only improve your ability to keep them.

 

[Sp3nc3r]

ooo, peacock gudgeons http/www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%2...%20Gudgeons.htm

sweet fish

 

[daspricey]

thanks guys.
i have much to think about!
the 3 possabilitys...
3 dwarf puffers
2 red eye puffers

or

(nice community)
3 fetherfin rainbows
5 khuli loaches
3 dwarf corys
3 panda corys
1 betta
3 ottos
3 cardinal tetras
3 cherry shrimp
or

(hillstream setup)
4 hillstream loaches
5 zebra danios
5 WCMMM's

or

poss any other oddballs like eels and knife fish, if any1 can think of any?

thanks pica_nuttalli(and guppies everywhere, i'm not all that keen on gobbies. )

david

 

[Sp3nc3r]

well for eels

what about a peacock eel? i think your tank is big enough they get to 10 inches

and are very pretty, a few things you need to know is thta you MUST HAVE SAND, because they have no scales and the gravel will cut them because they like to burrow

here is a site for all fresh water spiney eels :

http/www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Spiny%20Eel.htm

 

[daspricey]

i only have rounded gravel in the planted tank i'm getting for my weather loach and co.
now, i really love the Zig-Zag eel!!!!
only 7" aswell!
but
i can't find any info on the net saying they groew to 7".
all them say they grow much bigger, 30" etc?
if they do grow to 7" could they go in the community of...

3 featherfin rainbows
5 khuli loach
2 rams
betta
and a zig zag or peacock eel
???
if that plan can go ahead, ye ha!!!
plus i'm getting a 10UKg for some dwarf puffers ansd red eye puffers.
thanks

david

 

[Erised]

plus i'm getting a 10UKg for some dwarf puffers ansd red eye puffers.

If I were you I'd get some more input on that. It's not really recommended to mix puffer species. Most people already have a hard time keeping 1 species of puffer together without arguing, not to mention 2. I know it is possible, because some people on this forum have managed it before. But if it's your first puffer, and if you don't have cycled backup tanks, it's not recommended.
Plus a 10G (US, not UK so you'll have some spare room, but not enough for as much as you want to add) is only big enough for 2 dps. 5UK Gallon per puffer. Not sure about the red eyes.

 

[ringham]

If you got a small peacock eel it would be a great adition to your tank however a small eel would need sand.

 

[daspricey]

alright i shall stick with 2.
but i have seen it on the net many times.
so do you think i can get in...
3 featherfin rainbows
5 khuli loach
2 rams
betta
1 peacock eel
i hope the eel wont eat any of the tank mates?
just wondering, how active are peococks?
many thanks

david

o and i always have sand in tanks that arn't planted.
in this there will be some java moss and fern.
and lots of bogwood and pebles/slate.

 

[Rust]

have you thought of glass knife catfish, they only get to about 4" and will live in a community tank?

 

[daspricey]

have you thought of glass knife catfish, they only get to about 4" and will live in a community tank?

can't find info on the glass knife catfish.
do you mean glass catfish or ghost catfish?
if so they used to be in the origional stocking idea.
thanks

david

 

[kev_kb]

so do you think i can get in...
3 featherfin rainbows
5 khuli loach
2 rams
betta
1 peacock eel

First off you should keep a group of the rainbows, say 5-6, plus there mouths are really small and you need to make sure they are getting enough to eat.

I wouldn't keep a Betta in a tank containing Cichlids. Not sure how the other tank mates would get on with it though.

I've no experience of eels at all, but bear in mind the Rainbows are pretty small and slender fish.

May I suggest an Apistrogramma species instead of the Rams? If you give them flowerpots as caves, or even lots of bogwood, IMO they provide more entertainment.