Wich shoaling fish

[fishondryland]

Hi all. I am from South Africa and need some advice.
I have recently accuired an 1.5m aarium and wish to keep South east asian tropical fish. Eg Gourami's, clown loaches etc. What peacefull shoaling fish could I use? The water depth is 500mm and i have live plants. I am using 3 1200mm flourescent's wich creates quite a bit of light. I thought of getting rasboheteromorpha or harlequin fish, but some sources say that it needs subdued light. Any suggestions?

 

[Alien Anna]

First things first: before you buy a single fish, please read up on Fishless Cycling (somebody post the link, please! ).

The worst thing newbies do is to get a tank, put water in it, maybe leave it for a week or two and then add fish. It doesn't work. The ammonia levels shoot up and the fish all die, one by one. You need to colonise your tank with bacteria which will break down the ammonia for you. Please look into this first and then get back to us about recommended species.

 

[Inchworm]

Fishondryland

Like Alien Anna just said, you MUST get that tank cycled before you consider actually putting any fish into it. There is plenty to read about at this forum on how to do this so I will leave that instruction to others.

But, it looks like you've been giving some thought to your aquarium and considering it's future occupants is a good idea. Do you have your heart set on limiting your collection to Southeast Asian tropicals or do you really just want an attractive and harmonious group of fish?

Gouramis are great fish. I have some and get great pleasure from them. But, they live at the top of the tank and tend to be agressive with other gouramis so you will not want to put too many of them in one tank. They will stake out territories so having plants will help divide the area up.

For the bottom of the tank, you can't go wrong with almost any of the many kinds of corydoras catfish, but they are mostly South American in origin. They are playful and cute and some of them are beautiful. You should keep a small school of 6 or so (don't even think of getting just one!) They like to move around under low plants, so that will shield them from too much light.

Which gets to the point I wanted to make from the beginning. You can adjust the light for many fishes by providing shade in the form of plant life and cultivating the plants is a pleasure in itself.

Why not register and join us? You will find many friends here to help and encourage you and before long you will find yourself helping others!

 

[smb]

First things first: before you buy a single fish, please read up on Fishless Cycling (somebody post the link, please! ).

fishondryland,

Click on the 2 links in my signature.