This may be too long to post. If it is go to
Compatible fish.
Compatible
Groups of Tropical Fish Species
This page contains a list of some Groups of Compatible Tropical Fish species with a few comments about each group and some guidelines to help you choose one of these groups. The appropriate home is given for each of these recommended groups of fish species.
Group #1. Neon Tetras, Glowlight Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, White Clouds, Fancy Guppies, Corydoras Catfish, Glass Fish, Honey Gouramis, and Ghost Shrimp. These fish are compatible and a few of them will do well in a 15-gallon aquarium with warm water.
Group #2. Danios, Swordtails, Mollies, and Platies, plus Bigger Tetras such as Black Skirt Tetras, Painted Tetras, Serpae Tetras, Red Eye Tetras, Black Neon Tetras, and Silver Tip Tetras. A few of these fish will do well in a 15-gallon aquarium with warm water.
Group #3. Barbs, Gouramis, Sharks, Eels, and Loaches. Tiger Barbs and Tinfoil Barbs, plus Blue, Gold, and Opaline Gouramis, plus Bala Sharks, Red Tail Sharks, Rainbow Sharks, and White Tip Sharks. These fish are mildly aggressive and compatible with each other. They will grow fast and need at least a 29-gallon aquarium with warm water. Eventually they will need a much bigger aquarium.
Group #4. New World Cichlids. Firemouth, Convict, Pink Convict, Texas Cichlid, Jack Dempsey and other New World Cichlids are very aggressive fish. But many aquarists enjoy watching them dig, defend their territories, and care for baby fish. Large Plecostomus Catfish, Synodontis Catfish, and White Tip Sharks are usually compatible with New World Cichlids. Within a year or so a group of these fish will need an aquarium with at least 50-gallons of warm water. Eventually these fish will need an even bigger aquarium. Before you get these fish, be sure that you are committed to giving them the size aquarium that they will need.
Group #5. Oscars and Large Fish. Red Oscars, Black Oscars, Tiger Oscars, and Pink Oscars will grow fast to very large sizes. Oscars are compatible with Bigger Pacus, White Tip Sharks and Medium and Large Plecostomus.
These fish will grow fast and soon need a 50-gallon aquarium with warm water. Eventually these fish will need an even bigger aquarium. Before you get these fish, be sure that you are committed to giving them the size aquarium that they will need.
Group #6. Mbuna Cichlids. Auratus, Kenyi, Red Zebra, Pindani, Johanni, etc. Mbunas are from Lake Malawi in East Africa where they live among the piles of large rocks along the shore. Mbunas are very aggressive and need to be kept in a group with at least 12 other Mbunas. If kept in a smaller group, the strongest fish will make life miserable for the weaker fish. A group of 12 adult Mbunas will need a warm water aquarium with at least 50 gallons. Synodontis Catfish are compatible with Mbuna Cichlids. Eventually a group of Mbunas will need an aquarium with at least 80 gallons of water.
Group #7. Peacocks and Haps. Malawi Peacocks, Electric Blue Haps, Yellow Peacocks, Jacobfreibergi and other fish that live away from the piles of rocks and the Mbuna Cichlids in Lake Malawi. Keep a group of at least 12 of fish so the strongest fish not make the weakest fish miserable. These fish will grow fast and need a warm water aquarium with at least 50 gallons. Eventually they will need an aquarium with at least 80 gallons of water.
Synodontis catfish are usually compatible with Peacocks and Haps., but the Mbuna Cichlids, listed above, are not.
Group #8. Angels. Freshwater Angels, plus Dwarf Gouramis and Neon Blue Gouramis, plus Neon Blue Rainbows make a nice compatible group of fish. These fish require a warm water aquarium. Eventually they'll need an aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, and an aquarium at least 18 inches tall is recommended for Angels.
A Plecostomus Catfish is also compatible with these fish.
Group #9. Critters. Tadpoles, Fiddler Crabs, Mystery Snails, Crayfish and Ghost Shrimp. These animals do well in either a cool water aquarium or a warm water aquarium. These critters are compatible with many smaller less aggressive fish, except the Crayfish that are larger, more aggressive, and may bother small fish, but Crayfish are usually compatible with aggressive fish. Puffer Fish love to eat Crabs, Shrimps, and Crayfish, so they are not compatible with these Critters.
Group #10. Fantails, Telescopes, and Oranda Goldfish. Fantails, Black Moors, Red and Calico Telescopes, Red Orandas, Red and White Orandas, Calico Orandas, and Red Cap Orandas need a cool water aquarium or a pond.
You could keep a few of these goldfish an aquarium, but given good care and feeding, they'll grow fast and soon need a large aquarium. The Koi and Pond Comets listed in the next group below are too aggressive for the Fancy Goldfish fish in this group.
Group #11. Pond Comets and Koi. Fancy Koi, Red Pond Comets, White Pond Comets, Red and White Pond Comets, and Shubunkins are pond fish. They are not compatible with the Fancy goldfish listed in the group just above.
The Groups of fish listed above are just some suggestions from the many good combinations of fish that you could keep.
What Won't Work. For many years many aquarists have been advised to pick compatible tropical fish fish from certain groups. These groups had names like community fish, aggressive fish, semi-aggressive fish, etc. There were some very elaborate systems, but these methods all repeatedly caused problems for aquarists trying to pick compatible fish.
What Will Work. Sometimes you've decided on a fish you'd like to keep, or you already have a couple of compatible fish, and you'd like to get another type of fish. The best method is to find the fish that you already have on that list and usually you'll find five or six types of fish listed that will be compatible with the fish that you already have.
)
