Help me stock my tank with nice looking fish!

[am3ience]

Hi, i'm new to fishkeeping and have a 36 gallon bowfront tank using an aqeuon quietflow 55 filter, and the tank is in the process of being heavily planted. It's been running for about a month now. Currently I have:

3 honey gourami
3 oto catfish
1 siamese algae eater.

I'm looking for some good centerpiece fish. Easy to care for, and nice to look at! I was thinking rainbowfish, or dwarf cichlids? Any reccomendations would be awesome!

 

[sidgolding]

You should take a look at getting a pair blue rams. They would be a perfect pair plus they are good community fish so they won't upset any of the other fish and you can get other fish


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[am3ience]

You should take a look at getting a pair blue rams. They would be a perfect pair plus they are good community fish so they won't upset any of the other fish and you can get other fish


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Are rams easy to care for?

 

[sidgolding]

Yes. All they need is a good hiding place and a flat stone. Get a pair and they'll breed aswell but won't be crazy amounts


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[jasonfishaddict]

It's sometimes difficult to get healthy stock and they can be temperamental acclimating. Bolivian Rams are sturdier fish.

Rainbow cichlids are beautiful and relatively peaceful for a cichlid.


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[sidgolding]

It's sometimes difficult to get healthy stock and they can be temperamental acclimating. Bolivian Rams are sturdier fish.

Rainbow cichlids are beautiful and relatively peaceful for a cichlid.


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Lol I guess it's down to prefference as I cannot get enough of electric blue rams and have never had a problem and neither will you if you add them right.


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[jasonfishaddict]

My past experience with GBR's wasn't good. Long story short, I wanted a pair for my 24g bow front and after a couple of weeks, the female died. After 3 more tries, I just kept the male for a while but it's been so long ago, I can't remember what I did with it. Since you brought it up, I may give them another try. I have Bolivians in the 24g now but I've got a planted 29g that might suit a pair of GBR's.


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[sidgolding]

I used to have 5 breeding pair in a 260g tank with loads of other community fish and they thrived. So much so I was making about £500 a year selling their fry to the shops and some times I would have people put in orders. They where awsum. In that tank I used to have everything bred. So much so I had to buy a 100g fry/growing out tank because of the sheer number of fry. Rams are one of my favourite fish I absolutely love them


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[am3ience]

I used to have 5 breeding pair in a 260g tank with loads of other community fish and they thrived. So much so I was making about £500 a year selling their fry to the shops and some times I would have people put in orders. They where awsum. In that tank I used to have everything bred. So much so I had to buy a 100g fry/growing out tank because of the sheer number of fry. Rams are one of my favourite fish I absolutely love them


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They are beautiful fish, and breeding them sounds like fun. If I were to want to try and get into breeding them. What sort of steps do I have to go through, and equipment?

 

[Luananeko]

I'd second the suggestion for Rams. They have quite the personality and a ton of color. The German Blues can be really sensitive however... You have to have good quality stock, stable temperature, and clean water. As someone who doesn't have central AC, the temperature issue has been my stumbling block with them... Any temp swing larger than 4 degrees and they just go lethargic and die The Bolivian Rams are much sturdier from what I've heard.

You'll still have a bit of space after adding the rams, so I'd recommend a school of dither fish to help the gourami and rams feel comfortable. Cherry barbs, Threadfin Rainbows, Cardinal Tetras, etc all work well for this and are quite colorful and active in their own right

 

[am3ience]

I'd second the suggestion for Rams. They have quite the personality and a ton of color. The German Blues can be really sensitive however... You have to have good quality stock, stable temperature, and clean water. As someone who doesn't have central AC, the temperature issue has been my stumbling block with them... Any temp swing larger than 4 degrees and they just go lethargic and die The Bolivian Rams are much sturdier from what I've heard.

You'll still have a bit of space after adding the rams, so I'd recommend a school of dither fish to help the gourami and rams feel comfortable. Cherry barbs, Threadfin Rainbows, Cardinal Tetras, etc all work well for this and are quite colorful and active in their own right

cherry barbs and the threadfin look awesome! Thanks for the input! How many of them should I get?

 

[Luananeko]

cherry barbs and the threadfin look awesome! Thanks for the input! How many of them should I get?

A group of 6-8 would work well It might be a little tight trying to fit both the Cherry Barbs and the Threadfin Rainbows on top of your other stock, so I'd pick one or the other.

 

[CCXGT]

Bosemani Rainbowfish... I will always recommend Rainbows to a planted tank, they just fit in perfectly.

Maybe a school of Torpedo Barbs, they love their plantlife but grow to about 6".

An Angel or two, perhaps a tad common amongst planted tanks.


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