What cool fish would you keep?

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Daven

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I have a 75 gallon (48x18" footprint) that i am going to be setting up after i reseal and finish up the rest of my DIY stuff. Previously with my current 29 gal i was going to go with a Bolivian Ram and some colorful community fish. The idea with this bigger tank was now i just have room for more kinds of the peaceful varieties. But the more i think about it, i realize i could then fit many of the bigger fish if i wanted to. Since currently i am only stocking 6 guppies in my tank, now is probably the easiest time to start fresh with stocking instead of trying to rehome a full tank (obviously any of these smaller fish wouldnt last long with many of the larger, more aggressive ones).

So, what are your favorite fish? Peaceful, aggresive, larger or smaller. Just looking for ideas since there seems to be alot of fish in the world to go through lol I want some with colours that pop and just generally look cool. And a variety of different colours would also be good. And do more aggressive fish require a more advanced diet to match a more carnivorous diet?
 
Definitely go for some loaches! Angelicus botia get decently large and are quite beautiful :) they also get along with a lot of fish :)
 
Definitely go for some loaches! Angelicus botia get decently large and are quite beautiful :) they also get along with a lot of fish :)

Those are interesting fish. Do they require a group of 6 or more? I previously had my eyes set of some corys so ill have to look a bit more into these larger guys!
 
Those are interesting fish. Do they require a group of 6 or more? I previously had my eyes set of some corys so ill have to look a bit more into these larger guys!

They do require a minimum of 6 individuals I would say. But I think many will agree with me that a group of loaches is one of the most entertaining things in all of aquariums. Think less like a school of fish swimming in tight formation, or a loose shoal of fish staying in proximity. They behave more like half a dozen puppies playing together.
 
They do require a minimum of 6 individuals I would say. But I think many will agree with me that a group of loaches is one of the most entertaining things in all of aquariums. Think less like a school of fish swimming in tight formation, or a loose shoal of fish staying in proximity. They behave more like half a dozen puppies playing together.

How would they do if kept with cichlids or etc?
 
How would they do if kept with cichlids or etc?

Depends on the kind of cichlid. They do well with many, many South American cichlids, and some Central Americans. Terrible with most African cichlids though. They can be kept with fish ranging from peaceful to semi-aggressive.
 
Depends on the kind of cichlid. They do well with many, many South American cichlids, and some Central Americans. Terrible with most African cichlids though. They can be kept with fish ranging from peaceful to semi-aggressive.

Im not familiar with the different types of cichlids... Some of the ones i have liked so far are the electric yellow ones, some peacocks, and the bolivian ram. The shapes and colours of these are what gets me. Also thought about a redtail shark, but seeing as they arent actual sharks i wonder if it would still be interesting? Too bad the Bala sharks get far too big for me lol
 
You could do a large/aggressive tank. Possible stock would be:

6 angelicus botia (cleaning/bottom fish)
1 redtail shark (bottom/middle fish)
1 zigzag yellowtail eel (awesome)
2 rubber lip pleco (wood/glass/decor)
6 boesemani rainbowfish (top/middle fish)
 
Im not familiar with the different types of cichlids... Some of the ones i have liked so far are the electric yellow ones, some peacocks, and the bolivian ram. The shapes and colours of these are what gets me. Also thought about a redtail shark, but seeing as they arent actual sharks i wonder if it would still be interesting? Too bad the Bala sharks get far too big for me lol

Electric yellow labs and peacock cichlids are Africans and rams are South Americans.
 
Electric yellow labs and peacock cichlids are Africans and rams are South Americans.

Yeah ive been looking into that. Im thinking of going african/malawi since i like alot of the colours of these fish. But is it true that id have to add pretty much all of them at once so they dont defend territory against new arrivals? My tank is cycled but currently only housing the couple small fish, and then when my 75 gallon is ready ill have to again get that one going (hopefully transferring everything from running tank makes it painless). So i wouldnt want to add a bunch of fish and cause an ammonia spike. And on the flip side, filling it with other fish to prepare means id have to re home them all
 
You could do a large/aggressive tank. Possible stock would be:

6 angelicus botia (cleaning/bottom fish)
1 redtail shark (bottom/middle fish)
1 zigzag yellowtail eel (awesome)
2 rubber lip pleco (wood/glass/decor)
6 boesemani rainbowfish (top/middle fish)

I like this idea! Maybe switch one of the plecos for some sort of geophagus? I love my zig zag eel, they have such good personality
 
You could do a large/aggressive tank. Possible stock would be:

6 angelicus botia (cleaning/bottom fish)
1 redtail shark (bottom/middle fish)
1 zigzag yellowtail eel (awesome)
2 rubber lip pleco (wood/glass/decor)
6 boesemani rainbowfish (top/middle fish)

I never really liked Plecos personally. Maybe ive only seen them in too small of aquariums. The eel sounds interesting... Anything specific to know about them vs other fish?

Im thinking id be happy with an african chiclid tank and hopefully i can also get a red tailed shark. Although my tap water is around 7.8 ph, so im still searching to see if it would have issues with that. Corries would likely be bad in a tank of this sized semi-aggressive fish, right?
 
I never really liked Plecos personally. Maybe ive only seen them in too small of aquariums. The eel sounds interesting... Anything specific to know about them vs other fish?

Im thinking id be happy with an african chiclid tank and hopefully i can also get a red tailed shark. Although my tap water is around 7.8 ph, so im still searching to see if it would have issues with that. Corries would likely be bad in a tank of this sized semi-aggressive fish, right?

The thing about african cichlids is that for the most part the only thing that can go with african cichlids is other african cichlids. Some synodontis catfish can go with them as well. But you have to be committed to it- definitely no corydoras, no eels, no red tailed shark and no loaches with them. It's a really great tank setup though, don't be discouraged!

It's fairly easy to adjust water for african cichlids. Just use an aragonite or crushed coral sand and it should bring your pH and hardness up enough.

There are also recipes for african rift lake salts that are easy to make :)
 
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The thing about african cichlids is that for the most part the only thing that can go with african cichlids is other african cichlids. Some synodontis catfish can go with them as well. But you have to be committed to it- definitely no corydoras, no eels, no red tailed shark and no loaches with them. It's a really great tank setup though, don't be discouraged!

It's fairly easy to adjust water for african cichlids. Just use an aragonite or crushed coral sand and it should bring your pH and hardness up enough.

I had real that some had luck with a red tail in with them. But of course its all on how each individual fish behaves. Malawi's are african cichlids, correct? And as for PH, isnt 7.8-8 what they typically want anyways? Thats what is straight from the tap where i live
 
I had real that some had luck with a red tail in with them. But of course its all on how each individual fish behaves. Malawi's are african cichlids, correct? And as for PH, isnt 7.8-8 what they typically want anyways? Thats what is straight from the tap where i live

Sometimes they'll get along, sometimes they won't. But the water and habitat requirements of african cichlids are very different from that of red tail sharks. I just wouldn't do it- too many potential problems.

7.8-8.0 is good for african cichlids but they also like hard water, so it's good to have a chemically active substrate like aragonite sand.
 
Sometimes they'll get along, sometimes they won't. But the water and habitat requirements of african cichlids are very different from that of red tail sharks. I just wouldn't do it- too many potential problems.

7.8-8.0 is good for african cichlids but they also like hard water, so it's good to have a chemically active substrate like aragonite sand.

Very true. Maybe we will see in there're after I look into it specifically more.

As for African cichlids, do the smaller dwarf ones do ok with the larger ones?
 
Very true. Maybe we will see in there're after I look into it specifically more.

As for African cichlids, do the smaller dwarf ones do ok with the larger ones?

African cichlid stocking is tricky, and I have very little experience with it. I know that generally it's more about not mixing peacocks, mbunas, or tanganyikans than it is about size- like, you can keep neolamprologus multifasciatus (one of the smallest cichlids, from lake tanganyika) in a tank with much larger tanganyikans, but you can't keep them with malawi peacocks.

If you're settled on african cichlids I would make a separate post in the cichlid section and someone who knows a lot more than me will chime in :)
 
I made a topic there and it looks like I'll be going with a lake Malawi based cichlid tank. But I'm still open to everyone's ideas for nice looking fish! So many kinda out there


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