Top Water

[Thumper828]

Getting ready to add a few more fish to my 36 gallon BW. I NEED some top water dwellers, so far I have:

7 Cardinal Tetras
4 Panda Cory
3 Platy
2 Dwarf Gourami
1 Guppy

Would like to have 2 more small schools. Is it do-able?
Any suggestions on small bio-load top dwellers?

 

[Rivercats]

Threadfin Rainbowfish, Hatchet fish, and Longfin White Cloud Mountain Minnows are my best top schoolers.

 

[candymancan]

I like the red marble striped hatchet fish, and white clouds are really nice looking, but white clouds cant tolerate high temperatures so keep the temps around 75f if you get those fish.. I have a few in my 27g Hex and they seem to be ok in temps at 78f but that's because I cant get my temps lower due to my tank being in a small bedroom on the top 3rd level of my house.. Ambient temps of low 70's wont allow it to get any lower

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+883+1027&pcatid=1027

 

[Rivercats]

Longfin WCMM's actually tolerate higher temps. Mine are over 2 years old and the tank is generally 77-80F depending on the room temp and if the metal halide lights are on or off.

 

[Thumper828]

Threadfin Rainbowfish, Hatchet fish, and Longfin White Cloud Mountain Minnows are my best top schoolers.

I will most likely get a school of hatchets, they are a unique looking fish. In your experience are they fairly active? I also have been eye balling the longfin leopard danios but still undecided..... The thread rainbows you mentioned are good looking.....would really like something colorful......

 

[GodFan]

Getting ready to add a few more fish to my 36 gallon BW. I NEED some top water dwellers, so far I have:

7 Cardinal Tetras
4 Panda Cory
3 Platy
2 Dwarf Gourami
1 Guppy

Would like to have 2 more small schools. Is it do-able?
Any suggestions on small bio-load top dwellers?

I would say hatchets and half beaks. Both basically skim the top of the water all the time.

 

[Rivercats]

I will most likely get a school of hatchets, they are a unique looking fish. In your experience are they fairly active? I also have been eye balling the longfin leopard danios but still undecided..... The thread rainbows you mentioned are good looking.....would really like something colorful......

Hatchets actually do better with a little floating plant cover if possible and they tend to hang together and when I've kept them they don't do a lot of back and forth moving across the top.

The danios on the other hand never stop moving. Threadfins are also pretty active. Same with the Longfin WCMM's.

 

[Thumper828]

Hatchets actually do better with a little floating plant cover if possible and they tend to hang together and when I've kept them they don't do a lot of back and forth moving across the top.

The danios on the other hand never stop moving. Threadfins are also pretty active. Same with the Longfin WCMM's.

Local LFS is getting some floating plants in next week. They said they was getting , wisteria, hornwort, and water sprite. Which would be a plant for the fish's benefit..or maybe a combination?

 

[Fishfur]

Water sprite, I'd think. Hornwort is not really a surface floater, it's more of a mid column filler than a surface plant.

Wisteria is a stem plant, Hygro difformis, though you can of course float it if you want to. Water sprite, even if was grown as a stem plant to start with, will produce wide, relatively flat, ruffle edged leaves with substantial roots hanging down. Fish like to hang in the roots or under the leaves. It also makes baby plantlets in the leaf margins, so you get on ongoing supply of young plants.

It can get quite large, I had one with two daughter plants attached that covered a 30G entirely, but I sold that and kept the baby plants to grow on.

 

[Thumper828]

Water sprite, I'd think. Hornwort is not really a surface floater, it's more of a mid column filler than a surface plant.

Wisteria is a stem plant, Hygro difformis, though you can of course float it if you want to. Water sprite, even if was grown as a stem plant to start with, will produce wide, relatively flat, ruffle edged leaves with substantial roots hanging down. Fish like to hang in the roots or under the leaves. It also makes baby plantlets in the leaf margins, so you get on ongoing supply of young plants.

It can get quite large, I had one with two daughter plants attached that covered a 30G entirely, but I sold that and kept the baby plants to grow on.

been doin' some research..I tend to agree with you. I think the sprite would look more natural....

 

[Rivercats]

Water sprite has always been my first choice for a floating plant with water lettuce and water hyacinth coming in right behind them. Hornwort is actually a floating plant but is quite messy.

 

[Thumper828]

Water sprite has always been my first choice for a floating plant with water lettuce and water hyacinth coming in right behind them. Hornwort is actually a floating plant but is quite messy.

Hornwort=messy...thanks for the heads up!!!

I can see that though..all those little needles floating around...

 

[Rivercats]

It can grow great then all of a sudden just shed almost all it's needle leaves. They can clog up your filter in no time too.

 

[Thumper828]

It can grow great then all of a sudden just shed almost all it's needle leaves. They can clog up your filter in no time too.

Really.....yeah....I'll go with the watersprite.

 

[Fishlover3578]

Seems kinda mean to have just one guppy I thought they schooled ?

 

[Rivercats]

Seems kinda mean to have just one guppy I thought they schooled ?

Guppies are not schooling or shoaling fish so keeping just one is fine.

 

[Fishlover3578]

Ok . They sure act like it though

 

[Thumper828]

Seems kinda mean to have just one guppy I thought they schooled ?

I was under the same impression. I did start with 3. 1 male 2 females. Came home from work and 2 were stuck to the filter intake,1 male 1 female. Closer inspection revealed both were missing tail fins. I still kept the one. She is doin great and actually is a bit of a bully. She stands her ground, running off the platies and gourami....we call her Precious.....