Centerpiece Fish

[LilBangarang]

I was thinking of getting a small sw tank but realising the huge margin of failure, I have decided to get some cool freshwater fish... I have a 20 gallon with electric yellow cichlids, yoyo loaches, giant danios, a clown pleco, and an opaline gourami... I was thinking this christmas of getting another tank. This time with one "centerpiece" fish. I was thinking some kind of South American or big African cichlid. What are some others that get kind of big, but not really huge. I want to stay on the smaller side. Like a 20 or 30 gallon. Piranha, Pacu, Silver Dollars, Tinfoils? What are your experiences with each. I also think that a pleco would compliment the tank nicely.

 

[GodFan]

Ok I do not have experience with those fish but I can say that pacus get HUGE (at least the species Ive seen does) and piranhas are illegal in some states. Alot of plecos get to big for a 75 gallon let alone a 20 or 30. For a center piece fish I wouldnt be sure because I dont have cichlids...

 

[freddiefish14]

definately not a pacu, they get huge.

 

[JoeBob]

Silver dollar fish get pretty big too, my brother has one about 5". I recently purchased some rams, 1 Bolivian, 1 blue and I really love them. They would do well in a 20 or 30 gallon tank and you could start with several juvies if you wanted to try and breed. I think you would want to stay away from more than one male when adult though as they get pretty territorial if you decide on them. Good luck and enjoy MTS! ps. I have an albino rubberlip pleco that's only grown to about 3.5" so I think that would fit in that size tank allright.

 

[Coursair]

I was thinking of getting a small sw tank but realising the huge margin of failure, I have decided to get some cool freshwater fish... I have a 20 gallon with electric yellow cichlids, yoyo loaches, giant danios, a clown pleco, and an opaline gourami... I was thinking this christmas of getting another tank. This time with one "centerpiece" fish. I was thinking some kind of South American or big African cichlid. What are some others that get kind of big, but not really huge. I want to stay on the smaller side. Like a 20 or 30 gallon. Piranha, Pacu, Silver Dollars, Tinfoils? What are your experiences with each. I also think that a pleco would compliment the tank nicely.

NONE of the above !!! IMHO
The smallest are Silver Dollars and ALL of them are schooling fish. Silver Dollars IMHO should be in at least a 55g tank esp since they are super skittish if they aren't kept in a group.

I know it says min. tank size 20g but that's not realistic since many SDs get larger than 6" each.

Big Fish need large tanks and big filtration sometimes double normal small fish.

 

[LilBangarang]

I live in ohio so piranha aren't illegal. I wasnt really considering pacu... just as an example of fish like that.

 

[Coursair]

What about a pair of Dwarf Cichlids ?
Rams, Kribs, Apistogrammas or other dwarf cichlids. Colorful but won't outgrow the tank.