Fish Recommendations

[Grant R]

Right , here's the situation.

45 gallon FreshWater tank.

Two ClownLoaches
One Red Tail Black Shark
One Pearl Gourami
One Gold Gourami
Three / Four Guppies
One Black Molly
One Pleco
One Red Dwarf Gourami

I'am in need of adding a few more fish to my tank, as it looks bare at the moment with the small amount of fish in. I'm going to add another two Clowns, but what else would you recommend as good fish to go with the above ?
Please bare in mind that the Gold Gourami is a nutcase, very territorial and killed off a new Kissing Gourami a few weeks ago.

Thanks,

G !!

 

[something_fishy]

Recommendations

Sounds like a nice start you have there. The want for the clown loaches is normal, everyone loves them, but keep in mind, they get rather large.
As for your black molly, why not add another (male/female) so they can breed, they do it like clockwork.
Here are a few of the fish I have in my community and they all get along very well:

2 weather loaches
1 bala shark
2 kissing gouramis ( great for any kind of algae problem you may have)
2 paradise fish (really nice as they mature)
2 indian dwarf puffers (freshwater, very docile)
2 rainbow fish
2 glass catfish
6 african dwarf frogs (no tank is complete without these comical guys)
3 rummy nosed tetras (great for monitering your water balance, their nosed turn more pale when your water is degrading)
3 chinese algae eaters
1 rubber lip pleco (I chose this kind because they only get to about 4")
2 grey severums
a few neons and rasboras for colour.
wide variety of live plants

Like I said, they all get along great and they keep me entertained for hours with their antics.
I cheat a bit because I have a 33 gallon tank with that many fish, I use 2 300 series external filters, so I'm filtering over 200 gallons of water per hour and I keep the temperature in the low 70's so as to slow any bacterial growths.
All in all, everything seems to work for me and I never have any problems with my water chemistry.

Good luck with your ventures.
Chris

 

[Grant R]

Thanks mate, will bear a lot of those in mind.
Nice tank too.

Grant

 

[mitche8359]

How about angels?

First off, I have never heard of Gouramis so I don't know if they are a community fish or not. I'll have to look since you peaked my interest.

One thing I did with the recent rebuild of my tank was to get 10 neon tetras just to have a school formation. More tetras would have a large impact, but it's still a pretty neat sight.

Thomas

 

[Grant R]

Yeah, I'm giving a lot of thought to Neon's at the moment, only thing that puts me off is they are quite vunerable. I might add two more after work, quick drive round the corner. Which two would be good to add today ?

 

[something_fishy]

2 fish to add today

Make sure that all levels are ok before adding fish. When you add fish, are you tempering them first? I also use a product that I swear by, Melafix, all natural fish drugs, haha. It really calms them down during a move or adding to a tank, it really helps.
If all checks out, I would get a pair of weather loaches, they are great and playfull, and you can train them to eat out of your hand, they will literally swim between your fingers, very amiable. Neons are vulnerable but pretty, hard to resist them, but they are so common, you can get them anytime, anywhere, go for the different stuff, thats what makes a cool tank.

 

[Guest]

Not to find fault with anyone here, but why so many gouramis? (lots of people, not just Grant)

I havent kept them in years, cuz they never caused me anything but trouble. Either too aggressive, won't eat, get sick and die at the drop of a hat.

Again, no offense to anyone, but they are about my least favorite fish for a community.

Why are they so popular?

 

[something_fishy]

Well...........

There's only one possible answer to that

Personal preference. Thats it, thats all
Some people love angel fish, personally I can't stand them, I think they are the most boring of fish, but thats just my personal opinion. If everybody kept the same fish and had the same tastes, we wouldn't need any forums.

 

[Grant R]

LOL @ corax, I've not really had a problem with them mate, my gold one however can be a complete ar*e !! I'll have to check out those Weather Loaches. I'm going to add one more Clown Loach as well, so I have three.

I think three will be enough for one interval of adding fish, so it's one more ClownLoach and ? and ?

 

[mitche8359]

Not to answer any questions....

I looked at the gouramis and I have seen these before and they haven't really struck me as a 'I have to have one' type fish. Now the gold gouramis seems to strike me in a better way and I wouldn't mind having one, but the species seems to be a bit aggressive for the other fish in my tank.

something-fishy, I feel the same way about neon tetras that you do about angels. (personally I love the long veil zebra angels) However, I bought ten of the neons for a schooling affect in the tank which looks nice in an 'everyone has them' type of way.

Thomas

 

[Grant R]

They aren't particularly stunning fish, but as someone mentioned earlier, it depends what flicks your switch. I have a gold, pearl and a red dwarf and the red dwarf is staggeringly pretty. There are plenty of species to choose from.

But you're right about the Gold Gourami - Far too aggressive.

 

[targaboy78]

Hey there something_fishy,

I have a question about your livestock...

The 2 indian dwarf puffers you have, you described as

(freshwater, very docile)

Haven't they been nipping at your other fish?

I want to get 3 Indian Dwarf Puffers ( 1 male and 2 female ), but I've read that they are quite Nippy. Since they are territorial, I bought the tank mates first. 9 Tiger Barbs, a mated pair of Kribensis and 3 Ottos. (Maybe 2 rainbow fish and 4 Gold Barbs in the near future).

I have gotten really attached to my Tiger Barbs and Kribensis and I don't want to introduce the puffers if there is a chance that they will terrorize the others.

I was thinking of waiting until the tank mates are at least 2 - 3 inches, then the 1 inch puffers shouldn't be able to bother them.

 

[Guest]

You all are quite correct regarding personal preference.

I'd bet we all have some species we love and others we hate.

Me even asking the question was rather silly at best, gourami-phobic at worst!

My apologies,

CC

 

[mitche8359]

No need to be sorry

I don't think there was a thing wrong with asking. I got something out of the answers people provided.

 

[Grant R]

" Debate keeps the world going around "

As someone once said ....

 

[d9hp]

I actually was fond of my tetras, but they disapeared a few days ago. I had 12 in a 10 gallon tank and they were relaxing to watch, since it was just a 10 gallon tank. I really never got excited about gouramis either... As for the loaches go for it, as long as you have a source to get rid of them of upgrade them to a tank about 125 gallons. They will get to be about 1 foot long!

Since all of my inhabitants have since deseased I am going to get some more fire-bellied toads, and maybe a newt, depending on how crowded things are looking. Grant, I really think you should get some dwarf frogs, they dont need land, and they are comical beyond your wildest dreams.

 

[Grant R]

Well, there were no loaches in stock, so I added two very large and very colourful gourami and a shoal of 4 neons - one of which didn't make it, so there is now three.

Photo's to follow soon.

Thanks for the frog recommendation - will consider that for sure.