Looking for a centerpiece fish

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alinewfish

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
16
I have a 16 gallon planted tank housing:

-8 neon tetras
-6 Pygmy corydoras
- 5 Amano shrimp
-10 rcs

I'm looking for a peaceful fish, to use as my centerpiece, that will get along well with my fish and stay away from my shrimp as much as possible. I want a fish with a lot of personality, and it would be great if it could add some color to the tank as well. I'm planning on getting no more than 2/3 since I wouldn't want to overstock my tank.

I was initially going to get some Honey Gouramis, but I couldn't find them anywhere; literally NOWHERE ;(

I've also considered getting:

-German blue rams
-Dwarf gouramis
-Sparkling gouramis
-and Killifish

However, they've all been known to eat shrimp; including the adults.

Does anyone have any experience with this?
 
Tough to find a centerpiece fish that won't eat tiny shrimp. Pretty much all cichlids, gouramis, etc will all eat RCS.
 
I have always been a fan of Endlers livebearers. If you get all males you won't have babies. They are quite colorful. Black bar endlers were my favorite! I would buy them NClass wild stock which means they were untainted with. But I use to breed these. They are peaceful, flashy and hardy.
 
Almost any other tetras would be a nice edition - maybe Black Skirt or Serpae Tetras.
By the way, if you want Honey Gouramis, they are available at Wet Spot Tropical Fish
 
I would personally not go with more tetras as they need a schoal, a honey gurami is nice but if it's Dwarf they have issues with disease, gbrs won't work as they are way out of the parameters as the other fish, for a 17 gallon it's limited as you're pretty stocked already (I think not sure) , you stated you have a biowheel if you plan to add more fish I honestly would upgrade filter first to an aquaclear 30 and run both of the filters on the tank, as far as a centerpiece you have to pick from fish(not schooling) that can be alone and not attack other fish, not eat shrimp, I would look into Bolivian rams


EDIT : NM on the Bolivian they need 30 gal still thinking
 
I have always been a fan of Endlers livebearers. If you get all males you won't have babies. They are quite colorful. Black bar endlers were my favorite! I would buy them NClass wild stock which means they were untainted with. But I use to breed these. They are peaceful, flashy and hardy.



Thank you! I'll definitely look into it :)
 
I would personally not go with more tetras as they need a schoal, a honey gurami is nice but if it's Dwarf they have issues with disease, gbrs won't work as they are way out of the parameters as the other fish, for a 17 gallon it's limited as you're pretty stocked already (I think not sure) , you stated you have a biowheel if you plan to add more fish I honestly would upgrade filter first to an aquaclear 30 and run both of the filters on the tank, as far as a centerpiece you have to pick from fish(not schooling) that can be alone and not attack other fish, not eat shrimp, I would look into Bolivian rams


EDIT : NM on the Bolivian they need 30 gal still thinking



I live in Bangkok so I don't have access to that filter and if I get it shipped, the taxes will probably almost double the costs ;(
Im also pretty sure the person from the store told me my filter could also be used on tanks up to 55 gallons. I'm not in any rush though so I'll continue thinking abt it for a while
 
Almost any other tetras would be a nice edition - maybe Black Skirt or Serpae Tetras.

By the way, if you want Honey Gouramis, they are available at Wet Spot Tropical Fish



They do look nice but I don't think I'll be getting anymore schooling fish and sadly I don't live anywhere near that store ;(((
 
I live in Bangkok so I don't have access to that filter and if I get it shipped, the taxes will probably almost double the costs ;(
Im also pretty sure the person from the store told me my filter could also be used on tanks up to 55 gallons. I'm not in any rush though so I'll continue thinking abt it for a while
The lfs will tell you anything to make a sale, instead of buying a good filter that will cost you double just modify the bio wheel with some fluval ceramic media, make your own cartridges out of filter batting or an aq30 sponge , there are videos on YouTube of how to do it, biowheels are not good when it comes to surface area for beneficial bacteria which is what keeps the tank ammonia and nitrite free, if you add media and do your own cartridges it will be 1000x better than it is now on the fact when you change a cartridge you don't have to worry about the tank cycling because you threw away your beneficial bacteria.

The rings cost like $2.50 on Amazon
The filter batting (or aq 30 Sponge) will be around $3.00 which means more surface area beneficial bacteria which leads to a filter being able to handle a bigger bio load.

Cartridges after a month if you don't change them the carbon inside them can start leaching toxins into the tank and you really don't need carbon unless you're removing meds, just Google search modifying biowheel.
 
The lfs will tell you anything to make a sale, instead of buying a good filter that will cost you double just modify the bio wheel with some fluval ceramic media, make your own cartridges out of filter batting or an aq30 sponge , there are videos on YouTube of how to do it, biowheels are not good when it comes to surface area for beneficial bacteria which is what keeps the tank ammonia and nitrite free, if you add media and do your own cartridges it will be 1000x better than it is now on the fact when you change a cartridge you don't have to worry about the tank cycling because you threw away your beneficial bacteria.

The rings cost like $2.50 on Amazon
The filter batting (or aq 30 Sponge) will be around $3.00 which means more surface area beneficial bacteria which leads to a filter being able to handle a bigger bio load.

Cartridges after a month if you don't change them the carbon inside them can start leaching toxins into the tank and you really don't need carbon unless you're removing meds, just Google search modifying biowheel.



Thank you! This helped me a lot :)
 
Almost any other tetras would be a nice edition - maybe Black Skirt or Serpae Tetras.

By the way, if you want Honey Gouramis, they are available at Wet Spot Tropical Fish



Tetras are all schooling fish. You'll need more than one and I don't think you tank can accommodate that
 
Personally I love platys. There are so many color variations and they get along with almost any fish. They eat everything and are pretty active. And if you get one it's be just fine.

Not a fancy fish but a fun fish in my opinion.
 
Personally I love platys. There are so many color variations and they get along with almost any fish. They eat everything and are pretty active. And if you get one it's be just fine.

Not a fancy fish but a fun fish in my opinion.



Thank you :) I'm definitely considering livebearers but I'm still thinking about it
 
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