Expressive fish....

[Christmasfish]

Other than discus (the gold and dark eyed ones..not the red eyes.. ^_^) and rams what fish are out there with expressive large eyes? And some color.

And how many are temperature hardy?

I am sure after the loss of Cookie the rescue discus is less raw; that empty 18 gallon tall is going to is call for an occupant. She spent well over 100 bucks worth in new and used up supplies. So it going to "waste" will not work.
But she really likes discus....
The only other animal she pines for is reef tank with some tangs and a seahorse in a corner. I think that would fare worse with our current power situations. Not mention she has to give up more betta time and money to the care of a reef tank.

 

[tkos]

Why not build a tank around the betta's cousin, the paradise fish. They can get up to 4-5 inches big and are quite the fun fish to watch. Very colourful as well. Plant it out, add some loaches on the bottom and it could very well be an exciting tank.

Oh and don't mix sea horses with other fish. Pretty much a species only sort of deal due to special current needs and feeding.

 

[Christmasfish]

Hmm good heads up on tangs and seahorses. I a have seen seahorses with other colorful reef fish on many occasions though..they hang on teh kelp and plans swaying along. Those are tank sizes that cannot be here.


Paradise fish haven't caught her eye. But a girl with 22 specialty color betta in her room may well ignore a paradise fish. They don't have large soulful eyes anyway. Not like discus and rams.
She has odd taste anyway. She doesn't like most fancy discus..she prefers the draber stripey kind. prolly becuase most of those have the gold/brown eyes.

 

[Chikadee]

I would definitely recommend puffers. They are so fun to watch with very expressive eys that rotate individually. They are always curious and very intelligent. They greet me everytime I walk near the tank and are just the cutest little pets in the world! Plus, you could probably put up to 7-10 dwarf puffers in an 18 gallon. They're easy to take care of (except they'll only take live/frozen foods) and are definitely a joy to own! I would recommend you check out www.dwarfpuffers.com for more information.