Help choosing fish.

[Marconis]

What I like...

Electric Yellow Cichlid---Also, any kind of Cichlid I like (that has nice color)

A bunch of neon or rummynose tetras--Depends.

I really like Rainbowfish--How are they? (Selmer's has these)

Gouramis---Also looked really cool

Betta---Amazing color

Fancy Guppies---Silver with a blue tail.

I completely understand that I can't have at least 90% of these together but I'd like to hear people's suggestions and maybe you can help me piece it all together. I need to find some more small fish, so I was wondering what other nice ones there are (I can't remember the others)

***Edit- Completely forgot about angelfish

 

[Zagz]

Is this for your 46 gal? If so, no cichlids except dwarfs like German Blue rams. I don't recommend bettas and gourami's together. Some GBR's would be colorful as well as great fish to keep.

 

[WaterPond]

why not do an african cichlid tank.... 46 can house some nice ones...

If you want a variety... go with dwarf cichlids as centerpeice fish... maybe a nice pair of bolivian rams, or something along those lines.... then u can have the rummies.......

Yeah.... HTH

 

[Marconis]

I just realized that the minimum size for Electric Yellow Cichlid is 50 gallons. At the LFS, the one I was looking at had a minimum of 20 gallons and was yellow as well so now idk the name of it.

 

[LandGhoti]

I have six cherry barbs. Great color, always out and about, peaceful, and will eat pretty much anything.

I also have two turquoise rainbows, who are a tad more aggressive than the cherries, but again, always out and about, fill the tank with color, etc.

I had 3 rummies in my tank's previous incarnation and loved those as well.

Those are my "swimmer" suggestions. Bottom feeders are a whole nother story.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I do not recommend a 46 gal for an African tank. Some people disagree but IME it is just not large enough.

There are several options for SA/CA cichlids. Angels are beautiful fish but should not be housed with neons. In nature they are a food source. You could definitely do Angels and Rummies though. And perhaps another type of Tetra? Round it out with a few cories and you have a stocked tank.

 

[Marconis]

Okay so I guess cichlids are out? I'd prefer an angel or a rainbow, I think they're really awesome looking. I'll check out the barbs.

*Edit- Just looked up the cherry barbs and they look awesome. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Angels are also Cichlids. Just not African. JChillin introduced me to them a year and a half ago when I was setting up my 55 gal tank. Now they are one of my favorite species.

 

[Marconis]

I never knew that lol. Learn new things on here every day .

 

[rich311k]

I agree a couple of angels and a school of rummies would be nice in that tank. You would still have room for cories and/or a smaller type pleco.

 

[Marconis]

How about the Gouramis. Are they compatible with a lot of other fish? There seems to be a nice variety in colors of them.

 

[Zagz]

I've had gourami's with angels, in a lot of cases it doesn't work due to aggression. Might be better to consider the dwarf gourami's as opposed to the larger variants.

 

[Marconis]

This is hard lol. So many choices!

 

[locorosa]

Goldfish....lol.

 

[LandGhoti]

*Edit- Just looked up the cherry barbs and they look awesome. Thanks for the suggestion.

I can't believe how much mine colored up once I got them out of the LFS. The drawing they have of one on liveaquaria does not do them justice. I want more but I don't want to overload my tank. Here are three of mine:

 

[cassie]

Maybe some nice dwarf gouramis? But, seriously, do NOT pair them with a betta. Been there, done that, got the emergency tank to cover for the mistake! They would pair nicely with the cherry barbs and the tetras from what I can remember (please, please don't make me look it up). There are also some neat dwarf rainbows if you can find them (which would allow you to have more in the tank). If it were my tank, out of your list, I'd put together something with the dwarf rainbows, some dwarf gouramis, and a school of the rummynose tetras. In a 46, you could have quite a few in there mixed and matched and if you wanted, you could probably add those cherry barbs as they're not terribly aggressive and would get along well with a peaceful, active community like that.

 

[SparKy697]

Angels were my first choice but after losing 4 of them in 2 weeks I decided to go another route until I could find a better source.

I have learned that I really like the look of similar groups of fish all swimming together. I have opted for much smaller fish than I would have thought of initially.

Don't overlook the beauty of a half dozen (or more) rummys or cardinals hanging out in your tank. Those little zebras that I got last week are quite active and seem to keep the rest of the tank moving. Serpaes also make a great school and are very active. I found them to be a bit aggressive in my tank, but when I took them to work and put them in the 75g there they seemed to not bother anybody at all.

There is beauty and interest in numbers.

 

[Marconis]

When I buy my fish I am only going to buy a few a week. Should I buy a school first, then the bigger fish, or it doesn't make a difference?

 

[neilanh]

with the bioload you're simulating in your fishless cycle, if you don't fully stock right off the bat, you'll lose a lot of the bacteria. But this is still better for fish since the tanks cycled at the beginning. If you have a need or reason to put in fish in pieces basically, I would start with the messiest fish first, and as many as you can for the initial stock, then work your way down to the smaller fish/less loading fish. Doing it this way you make less stress for the fish that already have residence.

For instance, if you put in a school of tetras (light bioload) then lose all of the additional bacteria you cycled, and then put in a huge messy fish (heavy bioload), your tank will/maybe mini-cycle and add some stress to the tetras.

If you go the other route, add in the big bioload when the tanks setup to handle it, then add the small bioload tetras, you'll prob see nothing and little to no stress on the fish.

JMO

 

[mugginns]

I would usually go with a schooling fish first, so they can learn the layout of the tank etc, get well-established. Then I would go with the bigger fish, the ones that may be more aggressive, so the other fish have a 'one-up' on them so to speak. Do you have a current updated list?