these fish together fish in my 80 Gal???

[fI$H_fAcE]

well i am just starting up a new tank....i've done this before (kept fish) but i am going much bigger than ever before....i have built my own tank and stand and hood.....now is time for fish, but there are so many i want.....

here is a list of interesting fish i have been looking at:

- Bala sharks (Balantiocheilus melanoptrus)

-Clown Loach (Botia macracanthus)

-Tiger Barb (?)

-Angelfish

-Blue acara (Aequidens pulcher)

- Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides)

-Convict Cichlid. (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum.)

-Discus (Blue, Green, Brown, hybrid Discus)

-Festivum Cichlid

- fire mouth cichlid

-midas cichlid

-banded cichlid

- electric yellow

- frontosa cichlid

-electric blue johanni



is there any of these i should steer clear of for my community tank, i am relatively unfamiliar with these fish but i want a relatively large selection in my new tank.

thanks

 

[hyunelan2]

If it's gonig to be a community tank, you want to steer clear of any cichlids. I'm no cichlid expert, but you can keep different types of them together, but only certain kinds... I'll let someone else comment on that.

Discus are usually in a tank on their own... the require high maintenance and lots of water changes.

Tiger Barbs are fin-nippers.

If you do a community tank, and not a cichlid tank, I would pick out what your favorite fish is. From there, see what 'friends' are compatible with that type of fish and add those.

Picking a bunch of fish that 'look neat' is a recipe for disaster.

 

[fI$H_fAcE]

yah i know what you mean........that list was just a bunch i was looking through, not the final list that i wanted, what i gues si really wanted to know was, which of these ones DO and DON't get along with each other....

thanks for the response

 

[nobody]

I agree about the cichlids. What I've read about them says they are a more agressive type of fish. There aren't many you see together with other types of fish in the stores.

Balahs are usually a pretty good community fish though. The pet stores may tell you that they are an agressive fish, but really the only fish that balahs are "agressive" to, if at all, are other balahs and this is one that my dad and I have kept. Even at that, it was only one agressive balah and it was my dad's. I think it learned to be agressive from the red-tail sharks he keeps. I kept his balah for a while and it chased the one balah I had at the time.

My two balahs I have now are best buddies and haven't ever bothered the other fish I have. If you want to see want fish I keep my balahs with just look at my signature. Just remember that the Goldfish is a coldwater fish and would do better in a tank with just goldfish. I just have him because he's got no where else to go. I plan on getting a bigger tank sometime to use for my community tank and use the one I have now as a goldfish tahnk. Balahs are more of a school fish though, so if you get some about 3 is good when introducing them to a new tank. Good luck.

 

[hyunelan2]

Oh, and I wouldn't be doing my favorite fish justice if I didn't recommend rainbow fish. Peaceful, active, beautiful, community fish.

 

[anwei]

answer

You have two choice: group1 or 2
Keep track of the *






Group 1- must be in very large tank



Bala sharks (Balantiocheilus melanoptrus)

-Clown Loach (Botia macracanthus)

-*Discus (Blue, Green, Brown, hybrid Discus) Preferably on their own
If you do keep them with this group, remove tiger barbs and keep water at 30 deg C. They must also be kept in a large group (4 or more)

-*Tiger Barb -in groups of 6 or more

-*Angelfish- group of 3
They must be medium or large, otherwise they will be picked by tigerbarbs

- Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides)-keep as pair

-Festivum Cichlid-group of 3







Group 2-
People recommend Africans to be kept on their own, but tank raised species are fine with local tapwater.


-Clown Loach (Botia macracanthus)

-Blue acara (Aequidens pulcher)

-Convict Cichlid. (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum.)

-Festivum Cichlid

- fire mouth cichlid

-midas cichlid * may get too aggressive

-banded cichlid- Severum?


- electric yellow

- frontosa cichlid

-electric blue johanni



Fish are like us- every fish is an individual.
In other words; any individual fish from a species may be more or less aggressive than the normal aggression level described for that species.




*thumbsups

 

[fI$H_fAcE]

thanks a tonne, that helped me alot *celebrate

-Brad

 

[MaryPa]

Clown Loaches need to be in a group of 3 or more,have lots of hiding places and will out grow an 80 gal eventually.They should also be kept with nonaggressive tank mates and prefer a nice current in the tank.
Another thing to take into consideration is what water conditions each species require.

 

[hyunelan2]

Whether or not they'll outgrow the 80g is debatable. A lot of times Clown loaches won't reach full size (12") in captivity. They're more likely to max out at 6-8". However, you have clown loaches, so you may know a little more from personal experience.

 

[phOOey]

a 12 inch clown wont even be too big for an 80g, not that it'll reach that size anyway.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Cichlids can definetly fit into a community setting!! Dwarf cichlids can work with tetras and the like. Angels can too, as long as the tetras are big enough.

I'm a cichlid guy myself, and would advise you to steer clear of any and all "communty fish" like tetras, barbs, etc. But thats just how i like it...

Of that list above i see certain things/groups. South America cichlids, Central American cichlids, African cichlids, very nasty cichlids, more peacful cichlids. I suggest you find one of your favorites and build around that.

I disagree with the comment about not picking a fish by its looks. Well....not really pick it and buy it, but pick it a look into that fish. Thats the first thing we see on most sites telling about the species, the looks. Pick what you like, do some research/ask here, and then use that species as a building block for your tank.

 

[CoNMaN]

looks like everyone has ya coverd about the cichlids and such. But from personal experience tiger barbs will continously chase angle fish around the tank, especially if they are in groups. I have a video showing it before i moved my barbs to another tank (a few setups ago)

 

[fI$H_fAcE]

thanks guys.....appreciated