Looking for fish...

[Xailiar]

Ok, I'm trying to get an idea of the kind of fish my new tank'll be housing before I do anything. (A little preparation can't be a bad thing, right? )

It won't be any bigger than a 55g, though it'll more than likely be something along the lines of a 20g long. Also, I'm not two worried about over stocking it a little, as I'm a firm believer in over-filtration and I tend to do weekly water changes anyways (sometimes twice a week)...

It's going to have a lot of "stuff" on the bottom (drift wood, rocks, et cetera) to make plenty of hide spots and "surface area" along the bottom, as the fish I tend to like spend most of there time there.

I already plan on getting 2 or 3 bristlenose plecos and maybe a pair of banjo catfish, but I think I'd like more.

I was thinking of maybe a getting a mystery snail or two as I rather enjoyed the ones I've had before. Ghost shrimp also looked interesting.

Are any/all of these compatable? Also what would you suggest to inhabit the upper regions of the tank? I'm not a big fan of "fishy" fish, so mollies and guppies or whatever are already out, though if you can find a cool-looking, hardy schooling fish, you might sway me. If nothing else can be found, I do have a betta I could put in there. Lol.

EDIT: I'm not exactly looking for a tank full of action and motion like most aquarium owners, I enjoy looking into to my tank and trying to find all the fish that are hiding in plain sight like they normally would, however I would like some movement, if you know what I mean.

 

[Joyler]

Well tetras are hardy...as far as I can tell...all of them are! These also come in a lot if different shapes, sizes, and colors. I don't know anything about the kind of catfish you want to get, but all the catfish I have seen are rather aggressive and/or predatory (especially towards smaller fish)! Danios, I believe are also a hardy one...as well as rasborras...

 

[tyspot1000]

I would only stick with 1 bristlenose pleco. Males are known to aggressively fight with each other; Sometimes entangling their bristles together (Hard to get apart). Besides, its going to be hard to keep an algae supply with 3.

The Bango's would be a pretty neat Idea. Only stick to 1 or 2. They are really cool fish. They shed sometimes too.

You could do 2 snails, but like I said, you would have to be able to supply both with a supplement of algae (Either growing in the tank or providing it <- Wafers).

You could do a School of Harlequin Rasboras as your Hardy schooling fish. They are a great fish; Always schooling it seems.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

I agree with Ty. Harlequin have a very pretty appearance and stick together a lot, which makes it even more striking. I personally love rummynose tetras. Or I was thinking since you aren't much for the fishy fish, you could go with a singular killifish pair. Some killifish have beautiful color.

 

[Xailiar]

I would only stick with 1 bristlenose pleco. Males are known to aggressively fight with each other; Sometimes entangling their bristles together (Hard to get apart). Besides, its going to be hard to keep an algae supply with 3.

The Bango's would be a pretty neat Idea. Only stick to 1 or 2. They are really cool fish. They shed sometimes too.

You could do 2 snails, but like I said, you would have to be able to supply both with a supplement of algae (Either growing in the tank or providing it <- Wafers).

You could do a School of Harlequin Rasboras as your Hardy schooling fish. They are a great fish; Always schooling it seems.

Supplying algae wafers is not a big deal. In fact, it'd be cool if I could use them to feed everything in the tank. What other kinds of fish (et cetera), besides plecos and snails, can be feed with wafers?

 

[TraceyB4602]

Mfdrookie will love this selection choice....
Kerri tetras. They are pretty awesome looking. They are a nice blue color.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium

 

[tyspot1000]

Most fish will eat wafers, but that shouldn't be their primary source of food.

 

[Homedog98]

I like the black skirt tetras, lots of personality, but slow moving for tetras. But as others have said, don't get too many bottom feeders, cause it's easy for them to starve. If you like bottom feeders, what about corys? They don't eat algae, but love algae wafers and will eat the leftover flakes that the tetras don't eat.

 

[Xailiar]

But as others have said, don't get too many bottom feeders, cause it's easy for them to starve..

What do you mean?

 

[Joyler]

Well if you get to many fish in one section of the water column then there won't be enough food for all of them...and you probably have a greater risk of overfeeding because your over compensating for food that would usually come down through the other two thirds of the water column IMO

 

[Homedog98]

Yup, that's pretty much it.