Centerpiece for 75g?

[sam180]

So I've tried angels and have had rotten luck so far. I wanted to have two of them as my centerpiece fish, however they don't appear to be well suited for my tank as I have lost three in a row and the fourth is now no longer eating. My parameters and other stock are as follows:

75 gallon community tank, heavily planted (mostly fake, a few live)
pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrites: 0.0
Nitrates: ~15ppm
Temp: 84°F (due to the California heat. Normally I try to keep it around 82°)
Filter: Fluval 406 canister x 2, pointing at opposite ends of the tank

Longfin Black Skirt Tetra x 10
Guppy x 8
Platy x 6
Polka dot Loach x 6
Peppered Cory x 5
Otocinclus x 5

I had read that angels prefer more acidic water in the 6.5 to 7.0 range, however I also read that many strains have adapted to higher pH and, seeing as how my LFS has a pH of 7.5 same as mine, thought that they would be okay.

All of that said, I am looking for a different centerpiece fish that gets in the 4-6 inch range that is compatible with my current stock. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[henningc]

A nice pair of Leeri, Pearl Gouramis would look nice. People don't realize they grow to 4"-6"

 

[CCXGT]

So I've tried angels and have had rotten luck so far. I wanted to have two of them as my centerpiece fish, however they don't appear to be well suited for my tank as I have lost three in a row and the fourth is now no longer eating. My parameters and other stock are as follows:

75 gallon community tank, heavily planted (mostly fake, a few live)
pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrites: 0.0
Nitrates: ~15ppm
Temp: 84°F (due to the California heat. Normally I try to keep it around 82°)
Filter: Fluval 406 canister x 2, pointing at opposite ends of the tank

Longfin Black Skirt Tetra x 10
Guppy x 8
Platy x 6
Polka dot Loach x 6
Peppered Cory x 5
Otocinclus x 5

I had read that angels prefer more acidic water in the 6.5 to 7.0 range, however I also read that many strains have adapted to higher pH and, seeing as how my LFS has a pH of 7.5 same as mine, thought that they would be okay.

All of that said, I am looking for a different centerpiece fish that gets in the 4-6 inch range that is compatible with my current stock. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

A pair of Rainbow Fish.
A large Gourami.
A Sailfin Molly.
A Rainbow Shark.
Maybe even a BN Pleco (They don't all have to be black)


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[Mattfinn]

You could consider new world cichlids like rams and kribs they'd be good in a community 75g


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[sam180]

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I like rainbowfish but my wife doesn't. She wanted angels over everything else, so since they aren't working out I'm letting her pick the replacements. I do like the rams and gouramis as well. Not a huge fan of plecos, mainly due to their ridiculous bio load. That and I just added in 5 otos yesterday that will more than deal with my algae.

On a side note, do you guys have any suggestions for making angels still work? Or is my pH just too high? I started with two veils and they both died within a few days of each other shortly after adding them to the tank. The third one that just died had a chewed up dorsal fin when I bought him which healed nicely after several days, but then he contracted some kind of white filmy disease and died. Now my 4th angel seems stressed and won't eat. I've bought all 4 from my local PetSmart...maybe their supplier just has a bad batch?

 

[CCXGT]

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I like rainbowfish but my wife doesn't. She wanted angels over everything else, so since they aren't working out I'm letting her pick the replacements. I do like the rams and gouramis as well. Not a huge fan of plecos, mainly due to their ridiculous bio load. That and I just added in 5 otos yesterday that will more than deal with my algae.



On a side note, do you guys have any suggestions for making angels still work? Or is my pH just too high? I started with two veils and they both died within a few days of each other shortly after adding them to the tank. The third one that just died had a chewed up dorsal fin when I bought him which healed nicely after several days, but then he contracted some kind of white filmy disease and died. Now my 4th angel seems stressed and won't eat. I've bought all 4 from my local PetSmart...maybe their supplier just has a bad batch?

Well I'm not well versed in American fish suppliers (I'm a Brit), but from what I've seen on this site, PetSmart seems to be the branch people are always having problems with.

If I were you I'd try and find some local aquarium business, there you can get to know the owners, the way they do business and be assured that they know what they're doing.

Obviously this is going off the assumption that it's a bad batch but maybe you have a mystery bully in the tank that's stressing out your poor fishies.


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[Mattfinn]

On the rams as well they're similar to angels as far as water parameters go but are easier to breed and in my opinion more colorful whilst being smaller


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[sam180]

My last angel died this morning. All of my other fish seem to be perfectly fine and healthy. Maybe it's the heavy currents in the tank, although there are plenty of places that have little to no current for them to hang out.

 

[Bloodroot]

My biggest suggestion is find a better place to buy a fish. I love petsmart for their equipment
but stay away from their fish!! If your petsmart is anything like the one here they all pretty much share the same water, so if one fish has an illness they ALL have that illness. I would personally try angel fish again from a better store.

Or get two german blue rams! A female and a male! If the person you are buying them from cannot tell you which is which, don't buy fish from them. The rams have a really cool personality and would be pretty happy at that temperature.

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[sam180]

My biggest suggestion is find a better place to buy a fish. I love petsmart for their equipment
but stay away from their fish!! If your petsmart is anything like the one here they all pretty much share the same water, so if one fish has an illness they ALL have that illness. I would personally try angel fish again from a better store.

Or get two german blue rams! A female and a male! If the person you are buying them from cannot tell you which is which, don't buy fish from them. The rams have a really cool personality and would be pretty happy at that temperature.

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That's what I'm thinking, actually, I might give them one last shot. I have a small LFS nearby that doesn't have much in the way of equipment, but they have both salt and freshwater fish. The owner seems knowledgeable and his shop apparently has been around for a while. If I get 1 or 2 angels from him and they still don't make it, I think I'm giving up on them and will look at Rams as an alternative.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

That's what I'm thinking, actually, I might give them one last shot. I have a small LFS nearby that doesn't have much in the way of equipment, but they have both salt and freshwater fish. The owner seems knowledgeable and his shop apparently has been around for a while. If I get 1 or 2 angels from him and they still don't make it, I think I'm giving up on them and will look at Rams as an alternative.

I just bought two gbrs and they are awesome! Very colorful and mellow, a lot like angelfish.

As for petsmart vs a lfs, I would definitely say go to the local store. I always go to my lfs and the one time I ventured to petsmart to get some mollies, they had Ich and it spread to all my fish

 

[sam180]

I just bought two gbrs and they are awesome! Very colorful and mellow, a lot like angelfish.

As for petsmart vs a lfs, I would definitely say go to the local store. I always go to my lfs and the one time I ventured to petsmart to get some mollies, they had Ich and it spread to all my fish

Yeah I'm definitely going to try buying any future fish from them and see how it goes. Until the angels, though, I've had great luck so far from PetSmart and all of my other fish are doing well. I guess the 14 day guarantee kinda sucked me in. That and the convenience of being able to buy supplies and equipment at the same store. The LFS doesn't have much variety, but they can special order just about anything.

 

[bettaowner]

Moonlight gouramis would be another great option.


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[sam180]

Moonlight gouramis would be another great option.


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I've heard that gouramis can often be aggressive. Are there certain species that are more peaceful than others? I'm wanting to find a fish that gets to 4 to 6 inches.

 

[Gillie]

If you want good angels I would suggest checking out angelmania.net, I know a few people that ordered from them and were beyond pleased. Their phillipine blue zebras really have me tempted to keep a few angels.

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[sam180]

If you want good angels I would suggest checking out angelmania.net, I know a few people that ordered from them and were beyond pleased. Their phillipine blue zebras really have me tempted to keep a few angels.

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Yeah, definitely nice looking stock and tempting, but I don't think I could get up to the minimum order lol. I only have room for 2 angels. Thank you for the suggestion, though. I will still keep them in mind!

 

[Gillie]

There is also Mark Walker on aquabid I've heard good things about his angels too.

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[guppygourami]

I've heard that gouramis can often be aggressive. Are there certain species that are more peaceful than others? I'm wanting to find a fish that gets to 4 to 6 inches.

I say a pearl gourami, they're pretty and usually not too aggressive. I think a pair might look nice in your tank and I believe they do grow to 4-6 inches.


Namirah?Canadian, Eh??

 

[Fishobsessed7]

I like my blue gourami I just bought a lot. One would look nice in your tank


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