slow moving, colorful, peaceful - Ideas anyone ??

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joannde

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On June 5 the temp in my tank will go back to normal after ICK treatment. I'm anxiously awaiting the day I can add a few more fish to the tank. You can view my gallery to see the setup.
Its a 29gallon (36L x 12W x 18H) with: 4 panda cories, 5 small platies, 6 neon tetras, one snail (soon to be increased - LOL, I found that I like watching the snail !).

Ideally I want something that is not too fast, actually kinda slow would be nice that's colorful and peaceful. Something "different" would be a nice plus :)

Any suggestions ?
 
I was going to say betta...but then i saw you have the neons....they'd prolly nip at the betta's fins. Same w/the platties. Soooo...i'd suggest a gourami...none of the other fish will nip at it as it doesnt have long fanny fins like bettas (if they do...the gourami can usually show them who's boss!) And rainbows like to be in groups, and i'd say that you have too many fish in there already to add another group...I'd say gourami, but tell us a few names of fish you would like, and we'd be able to help you out with how they'd work.
 
richiestang_78 said:
Gouramis are always a favorite, chill on the top of the water and are quite colorful and slow moving. Also there are Rainbow Fish

Rainbowfish aren't slow, lol. They are awsome fish, and lots of colors, but they are always on the move. At least mine are, very, very active.
 
I'm not very fond of gouramis. I had one years and years ago - a pearl - and she was SO nasty to everyone.

Fish I like:
Rams - but my tank isn't planted, so I was cautioned against them
Dwarf Neon Rainbows - are they more active than the platies ? I can deal with that.
Guppies - (don't laugh LOL) but I like the type with the multicolored spotted tails and I can't seem to find them anywhere

ps - I had a betta in this tank but he got lost inside a hollow resin ornament :( Those ornaments are now stuffed with filter media and will soon be replaced by a ceramic creation I'm making - it will be a cave type of system - I'm working out the sclupting details right now and will attempt to make it this week.
 
ya i was thinking the same thing about the rainbowfish, but i wasnt sure, as i've never had them. but i did see them at the lfs once, and the were pretty active. I'm not sure about the rams...why do you need live plants for them? And guppies would be fine i think...they're not too fast, as they've got the big tails, but they arent very big...does the size of fish matter to you? if not, i thnk guppies would be fine, unless you're not sposed to mix livebearers.
 
Rams just do better in planted tanks. Also, they like slightly acidic water, which means below 7.0. But they do good above 7.0 as well as long as the ph is stable. But in my experience, the colors on my rams really never came out until I moved them from my 55G unplanted to my 75G planted tank. They are just happier in a more natural setting.

Thebluyak said:
rams can get very angry when they are a pair and laying eggs. Id think plants would just help to keep everyones areas seperate.
No, not angry, just protective. They won't kill other fish that get too close like other cichlids do. When my Bolivians spawned in my 75G, if a fish got too close, they would try to spook that fish. If it didn't work, then he would aggressively push it away, but not harm them. And my Bolivians spawned 6 times in my 75G, and now once in my 29G, which is their new home.
 
joannde said:
I'm not very fond of gouramis. I had one years and years ago - a pearl - and she was SO nasty to everyone.

Fish I like:
Rams - but my tank isn't planted, so I was cautioned against them
Dwarf Neon Rainbows - are they more active than the platies ? I can deal with that.
Guppies - (don't laugh LOL) but I like the type with the multicolored spotted tails and I can't seem to find them anywhere

ps - I had a betta in this tank but he got lost inside a hollow resin ornament :( Those ornaments are now stuffed with filter media and will soon be replaced by a ceramic creation I'm making - it will be a cave type of system - I'm working out the sclupting details right now and will attempt to make it this week.

Nothing wrong with guppies, I have a ten gallon tank of them. There are many different colored strains of guppies and they are fun to watch. I would almost go with some more neon tetras or some cardinal tetras. The neons and the cardinals should school if they were mixed.
 
Nope, nothing wrong with guppies at all - assuming I can find the ones I want, which seems to be the biggest hurtle.

I didn't know that cardinals would school with neons ! My neons only school when my arm is in the tank LOL. I really like them tho - love that "headlights" look when they face you head on.
 
Those Guppies you are talking about are very hard to find. Last time I saw one he was in QT, not sure what he had.

My Opaline Gouramis are pretty peaceful. They only seem to bother each other and stay away from the White Clouds.

If I had to pick, the Guppies would be my choice provided you can find the little buggers.
 
I LOVE my opaline gourami. She's very sweet. She's not nasty at all! She moves so slowly and gracefully.....she's def. the centerpiece of the tank.
 
Yep, those guppies (called "Mosaic tails") sure are hard to come by these days. I remember when I had my tank set up 15 years ago that those were the ONLY ones readily available. I guess with all the new fancy breeds the old fashioned mosaic lost their attraction :(
 
Paradisefish - I like that suggestion, thanks !

Since I'm now thinking of planting the tank (at least to some extent) I'd really like to give the rams a try. They sound exceptionally interesting and since my original intent was a cichlid tank (until I figured out that the tank is way too small for any of the species I wanted) this is a way to at least get a bit of "cichlid-ness" into the tank.

But if I find those mosaic guppies first than that's probably what I'd go with since I'm seeing it as a "challenge" now ..... funny - who would have thought that a guppy would fit under the category of "something different !".
 
Honey gouramis are pretty peaceful.

My opaline gourami is a bully. He wouldn't leave my female bolivian ram alone so I had to move her out of my 29g. The opaline chases the cories also. I guess the way they are differs from fish to fish.

If you plant the tank I would get a German ram. My female is very peaceful and very pretty.
 
I saw two mosaic guppies today - at petsmart of all places. They get their new arrivals on thursday, so it was pretty slim pickings today - those two had torn up tails (goodness only knows what other species they had in with them before). I'm going to keep checking around - even if I have to get them one at a time. I know I'm not going to get the strongest specimens this way, but in all honesty I'm not prepared to pay $60 for a trio ! $1.99 - $2.99 each sounds about right to me.

Gourami's are too variable in temperment for me. I just can't stand the sight of anyone being nastily chased. I'm just a wimp I guess LOL - its a good thing I decided against the cichlids - I probably would have driven myself nuts LOL
 
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