5 Species I am Considering--Any advice?

[PBirdsong]

Danio Nigrofasciatus "Spotted Danio"
Hyphessobrycon Callistus "Blackfin Flame Tetra"
Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi "Black Widow"
Poecilia Sphenops "Lyretail Black Molly"
Xiphophorus Maculatus "Southern Platy; Platy"

With my 55 gallon I plan on putting three Bala Sharks in there and then a school of smaller fish. The five species I listed above aren't supposed to get any longer than 2 inches; which is what I was aiming for. And they should be relatively colorful in comparison to the Bala.

So does anyone know anything about either one of these species?

 

[mr86mister]

well at least with the danios and tetras you definetly need to get 5+ of them to keep them comfortably and allow them to act as they would in their natural habitat

the molly and platy are easy and i think would be fine with the rest but i'm not familiar with the black widow

chime on people!

 

[Jchillin]

I currently have 4 of the blackwidow (black skirt) tetras. The coloration is almost the same as Balas' though the black bands are very nice. They are quite hospitable and when I had my original Balas', they schooled together (I never knew why).

 

[PBirdsong]

when I had my original Balas', they schooled together (I never knew why).

Interesting. Did they breed easily? The Black Widows I mean.
Anyone know anything else about any of these fish?

 

[Jchillin]

I never bred them and for informational purposes, I've read that they are difficult to breed in the aquarium.

 

[PBirdsong]

Good to know. Thanks.
That is kind of another thing I am looking for; something that will breed easily on it's own.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Breed Easily: Mollies and Guppies will breed like crazy.

 

[Puriti]

I have 2 black widows, they're very ...snappy ^^;. You put food up at the top and they just STRIKE. Thus I named them Jaws and Striker lol. They're very pretty fish though.

 

[PBirdsong]

What about Zebra Danios? I saw some at the LFS today for the first time. They seem pretty neat.

 

[PBirdsong]

These look pretty cool too.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=948

 

[mr86mister]

the Blue Danio is definetly a nice looking danio, and its the same size as the Zebra i bet they would look cool with like 6 of each schooling together

 

[PBirdsong]

...i bet they would look cool with like 6 of each schooling together

That's a good idea. I may do something like that.

 

[Skyrmir]

I hadn't heard about those spotted danio's until I saw yourpost on them. Kinda hoping to find some locally now. One thing to note about having them if your going to breed them. If a Danio can reach an egg, it's caviar. Being the hyper fish that they are, they'll follow any spawning pairs and gobble up the eggs super fast, and any other eggs/fry they catch a glimpse of.

So if your planning to try for some spawning in the community tank, heavy planting with lots of places to hide are going to be needed.

 

[PBirdsong]

Yeah, I have actually thought about building a natural looking cave too. Of those five species I have listed, the Spotted Danio is definately my favorite.

 

[PBirdsong]

Any of you guys have a current going with your Danios? I have a pretty decent current in my tank because of my overflow filter. I just want to make sure that the danios would be okay.
The current doesn't run through the whole tank, just half of it.

 

[Skyrmir]

I've had varying amounts of current in the tank myself, they love it. Danio's are hyper fish that love to play in the current. They rarely if ever hold still and only need a slow current area for sleeping.

 

[msmonih]

I have 7 Giant Danios in my 90 g and they absolutely love having all the room in the aquarium to swim like crazy. They school with my 4 turqouise (sp) rainbows. All of them get along famously. I have 2 different currents in my aquarium and they swim in both.

 

[PBirdsong]

Sounds great! Thanks.