Mid To Top Dwelling Fish

[moochy13]

im just doing a bit of research at the moment, as i think my tank is missing something, and i think that something is a fish that occupies the mid to top levels of my tank, and hopefully wont hide away all day. if there is such a fish, i can get 1 or possibly 2 in my tank, but no more.

i think im slightly overstocked at the moment , but i dont have any problems with my water chemistry, and do decent hoovering and water changes every week. im talking about the tank in my sig, and the stocking is in the sig aswell. im trying to narrow down some choices of suitable fish now, for if/when fish die, or i can move them on to make room if i really fancy something.

as you can see im heavily stocked on bottom dwellers - i cant help it, they're my favourite type of fish - and even my rams and apistos stay close to the bottom. i have 3 small shoals, but they spend all their time playing in the current at the back of the tank, and i'd like something a bit more special looking. the angel, who has stopped growing, stays in the middle, but rarely vacates the back corner of the tank, and as hes black (hiding against a black background) i barely even notice hes in there.

so any help with suggestions greatly appreciated, the easier to get hold of the better. and please, if your only comment is "youre overstocked", find another thread, im aware of it

thanks

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Perhaps a Golden Wonder Panchax (would probably need a hareem trio if not kept singly, but pairs sometimes work if the female has room to escape a randy male) or a sexed pair of African Butterfly Fish (rear edge of anal fin in straight for females, curved for males)? Normally either need a calm water 24-27C temp and the ABF appreciate not having hyper-active tankmates at feeding time hitting the water surface (works well with say Ctenopoma acutirostre for example, or Synodontis nigriventris).

 

[moochy13]

cheers, butterfly fish arent my thing though, and ive probably got too much current for them. googled the gwp, and a few results came up questioning if its predatory on small fish ?

any other ideas anybody ? seems i might be more limited than i though.

 

[sXeLifer]

Decent sized gouramis are mostly a good choice or you could get 3 or 4 Dwarf Gouramis Red honey's

 

[moochy13]

ive been warned against putting gouramis in with boystrous fish, and my BA tetras like to hoss about the tank a lot. whether they would go for the gouramis 'dangly thingy's' i dont know. and ive never had any luck with gouramis - must be something in the water

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Golden Wonders are predatory, but only with torpedo-shaped fish they can swallow whole, so a 10cm fully grown adult would not be a good idea with Neon Tetras and alike (so similar to my African Butterfly Fish and Humphead Glassfish).

How about something from the Hatchetfish family, or some Rainbowfish (Forktail Blue Eye; gertrude; Celebes)?

 

[moochy13]

i thought about rainbowfish but wasnt sure i could fit enough in to have a comfortable group. bit concerned the panchax would eat my cherry barbs ?

my friend has hatchets in a big tank with all manner of fish, and sayd they are easily his biggest cause of hassle in the tank. not a fan of them either. and they seem really expensive. i saw some yesterday, about the size of a 20p, 6 quid each

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Oops, missed your Cherry Barbs, which would indeed be tempting eventually!

Given you are worried about stocking anyway, perhaps check out the Pseudomugil species and Iriatherina werneri (Threadfins) at the "rainbowfish bible" site, as a group of 6-8 is going to be much less bioload that the same number of Celebes?
http/rainbowfish.a....au/Werneri.htm (got a feeling the site has just updated its url to this)