fish compatibility

[discus4everGrl]

I started this thread so that people can add groups of fish they have experience with that they know are compatible. I will start. Maybe this would be a good sticky if it turns out ok. I did this because I see so many tanks on here with concerns because people have made a tank that is full of fish that will just naturally shred the fins off of each other.

common fish you need to research tank mates for because they can be aggressive are:

angels
gouramis
most cichlids
kribs during breeding time
sometimes rams when kept in more than a pair
alot of fish that have an eel shaped body
discus can be aggressive towards each other
pacu (gets too big for most aquariums anyways)
I am sure there are more but someone else should add.

I will start with discus because I have them. Good tank mates include those that are not aggressive, can tolerate high water temps and don't contribute too much to fouling the water and are not greedy eaters as discus are slow to get food. Discus are timid and seem happier and healthier with dither fish in the tank. Discus also seem to thrive best in acidic water and that should be taken into consideration. Good tank mates are:

cardinal tetra, glowlight tetra, emporer tetra, lemon tetra, and rummy nose tetras.

pair of rams

cory cats

rasboras, particularly harlequin

There is some debate as to angels and their compatibility with discus because they both come from similiar native waters. I do not support the point that they are compatible because 1) angels can be aggressive towards discus and because discus are timid and slow they don't stand up for themselves and it's hard for them to hide. 2) angels are greedy eaters and will eat most of the food before the discus has a chance to eat.

 

[GoldLenny]

Here are a couple of Fish Compatibility Charts that I've found. I'm still a rookie with tropicals so please check out the first link and let me know if the chart is accurate in your opinion. The second link is to an actual compatibility chart but does not get into the various types of each species so it's more of a general guide to start some research with.

This first one is a downloadable Excel chart that also has lots of other information about the fish. http://www.grizzlyrun.com/petedu/fishchrt.xls You do need MicroSoft Excel or a program that can view Excel documents. MicroSoft does have free downloads of Excel Viewers for most computers at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...8A-4EA0-4C36-BED9-8FEAE6D75298&DisplayLang=en

The other chart which is provided by LiveAquaria.com (sister site of DrsFosterSmith.com) is at http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

 

[Balloon Fish]

ooo i wanna do angelfish

Good tank mates for angelfish-
livebearers (provide excellent fry food for angels )
tetras
african dwarf frogs
corys
small plecos
hatchetfish
mostly anything peaceful like fish that school but aren't overly active and annoying

fish to avoid:
gouramis
barbs
anything that will eat an angel
anything that will nip at an angel's fins

 

[Balloon Fish]

since i'm bored i'll do another one this one is on freshwater shrimp that don't have big claws like cherry reds, bee shrimp, tiger shrimp, ghost shrimp, amano shrimp, etc

Good tank mates-
other non aggressive shrimp about the same size
otocinclus
algae eating plecos
snails
corys
clams
tetras
peaceful community fish that don't have big mouths and can't eat a shrimp
(not really a tank mate but good water quality is also a must for shrimp cause they are more sensitive to high nitrate levels so people generally add them to planted tanks cause planted tanks have low nitrate levels, usually)

tank mates to avoid-
crayfish
angelfish
most cichlids
anything big enough to eat it
bettas (some might attack shrimp some might not)
anything that is territorial
loaches (info courtesy of shimmercat )
(not a tankmate but avoid anything with copper in it like most medicine, snail killing products, and algae killing products cause it will kill shrimp, also things like Seachem flourish and the flourish tabs have copper in it and some blame that for the death of their shrimp but i myself dose nearly 3 times the normal dosage every other day in my 20g and have never experienced any shrimp deaths and hopefully won't. And wardley algae wafers have a hint of copper in them but i have fed them to my shrimp before but never had any problems (changed to hikari after i found out it had copper cause i didn't want to risk anything))

If you want to breed the shrimp you should avoid bassicly every kind of fish. But you can keep herbivore fish like otocinclus's, bristlenose plecos. But even if they are herbivores like chinese algae eaters, these are too aggressive to the shrimp so those should be avoided too.

 

[shimmercat]

Loaches should be mentioned as bad tankmates for shrimp. I've heard that adding loaches to a tank with shrimp means the you very quickly have no more shrimp.