Help choosing new fish for a 45 gallon tank

[Finian]

Hello everyone! I'm new here and somewhat new to fish keeping. I've had bettas for about ten years and three months ago I decided, since I'm finally out of college, that I would get a large fish tank. Sadly I became the usual victim of pet stores. I listened to the worker, got fish he said would work, and many of them didn't. I re-homed most of them and kept a rainbow shark, a three spot gourami (that I am thinking of giving away) and three giant danios. I'm planning on getting three more Danios, since I hear they like six or more. What else could I get? I know the rainbow limits my choices a lot but I love him to much to give up.
Thanks so much for your advice everyone! Oh and my tank is 45 gallons, nicely planted with a large rock decoration and some driftwood (the shark's favorite spot)

 

[mistersprinkles]

Hello everyone! I'm new here and somewhat new to fish keeping. I've had bettas for about ten years and three months ago I decided, since I'm finally out of college, that I would get a large fish tank. Sadly I became the usual victim of pet stores. I listened to the worker, got fish he said would work, and many of them didn't. I re-homed most of them and kept a rainbow shark, a three spot gourami (that I am thinking of giving away) and three giant danios. I'm planning on getting three more Danios, since I hear they like six or more. What else could I get? I know the rainbow limits my choices a lot but I love him to much to give up.
Thanks so much for your advice everyone! Oh and my tank is 45 gallons, nicely planted with a large rock decoration and some driftwood (the shark's favorite spot)

Definitely get more giant danios. How do you feel about dwarf chain loaches and bushy nose plecos? Or clown plecos?

How about Odessa barbs?

You could get a pair of Kribensis. They're attractive. Getting food down to them past the danios (who are like hyenas as I'm sure you've noticed) would be tricky.

 

[Finian]

Sadly I don't have many pet stores around me, so I'm kinda limited on what fish are available. Petland is the best near me, because their fish are never sick.
I was under the impression other bottom dwelling fish would be a bad idea with my shark :/ and the kribensis seem very pretty! do most large pet store chains carry those? I've never heard of them before.
Do you think a female betta would be okay or would the gourami fight with her?

 

[Rivercats]

Many sharks have issues with other fish that have the same body shape of them. I don't think I'd try loaches (yo-yo's and that type) but I wouldn't have issues with a shoal of Cory Cats. I wouldn't do a female betta with the gourami personally. With the shark and the giant danio's why don't you look into some of the larger tetras or other barbs. I'd just stay away from smaller tetra's and such. Another colorful option could be Rainbowfish which come in a lot of colors.

 

[Finian]

Yeah rainbow fish are really pretty. I had two three spot gouramis but one terrorized the other, so I had to rehome him. Would multiple gouramis work? At the pet store they were fine together, but there were six of them too.

 

[mistersprinkles]

Yeah rainbow fish are really pretty. I had two three spot gouramis but one terrorized the other, so I had to rehome him. Would multiple gouramis work? At the pet store they were fine together, but there were six of them too.

If you want to keep gouramis in there, you might want to try a pearl gourami. They're much mellower than three spots. A pair would probably be peaceful, save for a few fights now and then, but why don't you just get a male, just to be safe.

 

[Rivercats]

Yeah rainbow fish are really pretty. I had two three spot gouramis but one terrorized the other, so I had to rehome him. Would multiple gouramis work? At the pet store they were fine together, but there were six of them too.

Usually multiple gourami's, especially when there are multiple males don't work. Every once in a while it can work but chances of the tank staying peaceful are pretty slim.

 

[toddnbecka]

Krib's are cichlids, and most will eat or at least dig up/rearrange plants to suit themselves. A couple groups of tetras or barbs would be a better choice for a planted tank IMO. I love cichlids, but I don't have planted tanks.

 

[Finian]

I have plastic plants so far, I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep them alive lol
So will my rainbow shark be okay with the kribs and rainbow fish? I don't want him eating anybody. He is still a little guy.
thanks for all of your help! I really appreciate it, so much more helpful than the pet stores.

 

[Rivercats]

I think the shark will be fine with the rainbowfish and kribs. The only thing is if the kribs spawn they could get quite aggressive. It just depends on the pair.

 

[Finian]

Are kribs generally kept in pet stores, like petland and petsmart? They are so cute I would like to get some!
Thanks again for all your help! It's been an adventure with these guys that is for sure!

 

[Rivercats]

It just depends on your area. If you have any local fish stores you could ask them if they would order them for you.

 

[mistersprinkles]

You could also order the Kribensis online once the weather gets warm again, if you can't find them in any stores near you.

A tip I have for you regarding feeding them:

Kribensis aren't voracious eaters the way that some of the fish you have are. If you drop food at the top of the tank expecting it to sink to the bottom for the Kribensis, odds are that the food will never make it all the way down.

What you might want to try is to get a tube of some sort (I use rigid airline tubing) and put the food down the tube. You just put one end of the tube on the bottom of the tank, the other end sticking out the top of the water, and drop food pellets down the tube. They'll sink to the bottom and go past the top and midwater fish. That way the Kribensis will have a better chance of getting the food.

Here is the Kribensis species profile from Cichlid-Forum
Cichlid Profiles

If you're going to be keeping cichlids I suggest you join cichlid-forum.com and ask your kribensis questions there. It's an exclusively cichlid oriented forum and there will be a lot more cichlid experts there to help you.

 

[Finian]

That's a good idea! I always feel bad for my rainbow and usually stick the food down there myself or feed him from my hand (which he always enjoys) but I like that idea too!
I thought about ordering fish before but how often do they come in dead? I'd be afraid they would arrive and not make it.
I shall look into Cichlid Forum if I do get them. Maybe I'll join now just to ask questions about them before I get them.

 

[mistersprinkles]

That's a good idea! I always feel bad for my rainbow and usually stick the food down there myself or feed him from my hand (which he always enjoys) but I like that idea too!
I thought about ordering fish before but how often do they come in dead? I'd be afraid they would arrive and not make it.
I shall look into Cichlid Forum if I do get them. Maybe I'll join now just to ask questions about them before I get them.

Joining now and asking questions would be the suggestion I'd make.
When you order a fish and they ship it to you, it's on you whether it arrives alive or dead. They aren't liable for it. No warranties, exchanges, or refunds. It's a risk you take. Much better to buy the fish locally if it's available.

 

[toddnbecka]

When you order a fish and they ship it to you, it's on you whether it arrives alive or dead. They aren't liable for it. No warranties, exchanges, or refunds. It's a risk you take. Much better to buy the fish locally if it's available.

Not necessarily true, fish bred/raised by hobbyists are much less likely to bring along Ich or other problems than stock from a pet store or Wal-Mart. As for live arrival guarantee, that depends on the individual seller.

 

[Finian]

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions! I read rainbows need five of their kind to be happy. Would I be able to do that and get three more danios without overstocking or cramping my shark? And with kribs, are they sensitive to hard water? My water leans to the hard side.

 

[mistersprinkles]

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions! I read rainbows need five of their kind to be happy. Would I be able to do that and get three more danios without overstocking or cramping my shark? And with kribs, are they sensitive to hard water? My water leans to the hard side.

How hard is hard? As long as the pH is reasonable they should be ok. I know somebody who breeds them in our local water here and it is quite hard- comes from lake ontario which has a limestone bottom. pH comes out at 7.6-7.8, and Kribensis do breed here.

They aren't a super sensitive fish. They're nothing to mess with either, but they're hardly as fragile as apistos or checkerboards or anything like that.

You could get five rainbows and another 3 danios in there. Ideally they would be small rainbows like dwarf neons but if you really wanted to you could get away with something bigger like boesmani. Just keep in mind that with a high bioload like that, you should do water changes at about 30% every 3-4 days.

So we're looking at

1 3 spot gourami
1 rainbow shark
6 giant danios
5 rainbows
2 Kribensis

That's pretty highly stocked, but again, with quality filtration and frequent water changes there's no reason why it wouldn't work.

What do you feed just out of curiousity? Fish, and especially cichlids, benefit from a high quality diet. Can you get New Life Spectrum, Northfin, or Dainichi? They're easily ordered online.

 

[Finian]

I dont know the exact number as I messes up that part of the card I compare my teat strip too, but is is very high up there on the scale. Like second from the top. I have well water, but I use it after it comes out of the softener so I thought that would help.

 

[Finian]

So far I just feed flakes (I'd have to check the brand, I think its tetra) and pellets for my shark, which are meat based so I am going to buy him algae wafers Thursday when I'm in town.