Best Shoaling Fish For A 125l Community Tank

[Miss Wiggle]

at this point it starts getting down to personal preference really.

for me the most cohesive and well planned looking communities have just a few shoals but bigger numbers. But that's my own choice, the fish will be perfectly happy with 3 shoals of 6-8 instead of 2 shoals or 10-12.

I just find when you have too many different types of fish it can look a bit Noah's Ark, I think communities often look much more striking and effective with large shoals of a few species.

I think a lot of it comes down to people wanting every fish that they like right now in this tank, remember you'll be keeping fish for a long long time, you've your whole life in which to get all the species which you fancy, focus on making this tank look good rather than getting everything that catches your eye into it.

well if you're after something a bit different then get a few nice shoals of whatever then get a couple of 'feature fish' like dwarf cichlids which just look stunning and are fascinating to watch as well.

 

[loubega]

at this point it starts getting down to personal preference really.

for me the most cohesive and well planned looking communities have just a few shoals but bigger numbers. But that's my own choice, the fish will be perfectly happy with 3 shoals of 6-8 instead of 2 shoals or 10-12.

I just find when you have too many different types of fish it can look a bit Noah's Ark, I think communities often look much more striking and effective with large shoals of a few species.

I think a lot of it comes down to people wanting every fish that they like right now in this tank, remember you'll be keeping fish for a long long time, you've your whole life in which to get all the species which you fancy, focus on making this tank look good rather than getting everything that catches your eye into it.

well if you're after something a bit different then get a few nice shoals of whatever then get a couple of 'feature fish' like dwarf cichlids which just look stunning and are fascinating to watch as well.

i think what you say is very true. i went through a stage like that when i first started and now just want a very striking shoaling tank....i like the ideas of cichlids, also what about rams?

also what about the idea of a tiger barb tank? would these be suitable with BN and or corys?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

rams are a dwarf cichlid and yes a pair or trio of those (or just one by itself) would be fine

alternatively google image search the following species and see what you like

apistogramma cacatuoides
apistogramma borelli
nannacara anomal
checkerboard cichlids

there's others as well but that's a starter for 10!

yes they'd be fine, you need a big group of tigers to reduce agression though so 10 is the minimum number.

 

[loubega]

rams are a dwarf cichlid and yes a pair or trio of those (or just one by itself) would be fine

alternatively google image search the following species and see what you like

apistogramma cacatuoides
apistogramma borelli
nannacara anomal
checkerboard cichlids

there's others as well but that's a starter for 10!

yes they'd be fine, you need a big group of tigers to reduce agression though so 10 is the minimum number.

yea might get a couple of rams and then 2 shoals of tetras...

but then tiger barbs do appeal to me also....what is compatable with a big shaol of tiger barbs?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

anything that'll either stay out of their way (bottom dwellers such as catfish, plecs etc) or is a bit fiesty itself so can take the odd nip, nothing with long flowing fins like the congo's.

the dwarf cichlids would be fine with tigers as they're not super agressive but usually able to stand up for themselves.

perhaps something like black skirt tetras that are also a little bit fiesty could work.

not 1005 sure tbh, i hate tiger barbs with a passion (each to their own!!) so not got experience of what works with them really.

 

[loubega]

anything that'll either stay out of their way (bottom dwellers such as catfish, plecs etc) or is a bit fiesty itself so can take the odd nip, nothing with long flowing fins like the congo's.

the dwarf cichlids would be fine with tigers as they're not super agressive but usually able to stand up for themselves.

perhaps something like black skirt tetras that are also a little bit fiesty could work.

not 1005 sure tbh, i hate tiger barbs with a passion (each to their own!!) so not got experience of what works with them really.

yea i heard they can be very aggressivew, my mate has tiger barbs and wont put them with anything else but bottom feeders, wouldnt want to risk them with any other fish they might harm....just unfair!

im really warming to the ideas of rams now....thanks for the advice

 

[Truck]

rams are all over a good community fish. but can be a bit pushy when on heat. also a shoal of 30 neons would look awesome i did this with 40 gallon i had once with 3 honey gouramis as a display peice. but under the led light nights they put on a right show

 

[loubega]

rams are all over a good community fish. but can be a bit pushy when on heat. also a shoal of 30 neons would look awesome i did this with 40 gallon i had once with 3 honey gouramis as a display peice. but under the led light nights they put on a right show

my tank is 125l or about 27 gallons

like the idea of 2 rams as show pieces

then maybe 2 shoals of tetras....maybe rummynose and or neons...how big could these shoals get? 12 each? or maybe harliquins

then one BN and 4 corys as clean up crew

this sound ok,

oh also will have a moss back wall with a moss floor, 2 bits of slate and 2 bits of bogwood and maybe 2 amazon swords or java fern

 

[Truck]

2 shoals of 10-12. as for clean up crew one bn is good but 4 corys wont clean only hoover up food i recomend shrimps or ottos. how old is your tank?

may i recomend HC as a plant instead of moss as it carpets and looks awesome

 

[loubega]

2 shoals of 10-12. as for clean up crew one bn is good but 4 corys wont clean only hoover up food i recomend shrimps or ottos. how old is your tank?

may i recomend HC as a plant instead of moss as it carpets and looks awesome

HC? what is this? read java moss is good at blanketing too

tank is new, bought it off a guy who was selling most of his stuff, think its about 7 months old

setting it up this week, with sand substrate and bought a fluvial 3+internal filter that i will add mature media from my 70l tank to help speed up cycling, will add a few small danios from my 70l to keep the ammonia levels up for the matured media....wont add any new fish for a while....not untill the second half of the media is matured anyway.


what shrimps could be put with them? do they need special feeding?

 

[Truck]

java moss wont blanket becuase it doesnt spread. if you use java moss you will have to cover your aquarium with slate.http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=187478

yes ive kept shrimps with rams with no problems.

you could have cherry shrimps ghost shrimps amano shrimps. but cherrys will breed. shrimps pick at algae(hair mostly on plants) and they eat detrius and left over food there brill cleaners.(but r=they do appreciate having a carpet and it can look great.

ive put hc in my tank check it out

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=261227

i put it in on saturday and ive noticed growth already

 

[loubega]

java moss wont blanket becuase it doesnt spread. if you use java moss you will have to cover your aquarium with slate.http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=187478

yes ive kept shrimps with rams with no problems.

you could have cherry shrimps ghost shrimps amano shrimps. but cherrys will breed. shrimps pick at algae(hair mostly on plants) and they eat detrius and left over food there brill cleaners.(but r=they do appreciate having a carpet and it can look great.

cheers what is HC?

yea was planning on attach java moss to slate and also plastic meshing with weights, i wont blanket the whole surface only the back area, leaving the front area with sand.

will the shrimps be ok with tetras also?

 

[Truck]

yes shrimps are brilliant with all types of community fish. small tetras, livebearers, barbs, minnows, danios, corys, plecos, id be careful if you plan on getting a loach

HC stands for hermianthus callitrichoides

 

[loubega]

java moss wont blanket becuase it doesnt spread. if you use java moss you will have to cover your aquarium with slate.http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=187478

yes ive kept shrimps with rams with no problems.

you could have cherry shrimps ghost shrimps amano shrimps. but cherrys will breed. shrimps pick at algae(hair mostly on plants) and they eat detrius and left over food there brill cleaners.(but r=they do appreciate having a carpet and it can look great.

ive put hc in my tank check it out

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=261227"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=261227[/URL]

i put it in on saturday and ive noticed growth already

sorry didnt see the link, i now see what HC is

i wasnt planning on having a soil substrate tho, or cant really afford to add CO2 will this affect HC?

i heard java moss grows well in any condition

 

[Truck]

i havent used anyspecial substrate plain ol gravel. and as for co2.

1 you need a 2 litre pop bottle.( i mean who doesnt have one of these in the green bin?) 1 metre of airline a check valve and a ceramic diffuser. DIY co2 for around a fiver.

2 drill a 6mm hole in the bottle cap and push about 15 cm of airline in so 10cm is sticking out the top. and silicone around it give it 24 - 48 hours to dry and check for leaks.

3.attach an airline check valve to the airline coming out the bottle. then attach the left over air line to the other end of the check valve and attach the ceramic diffuser to the end of this.

4.to produce co2 you need: yeast dry active stuff. water (its about 0.04 p a litre) and sugar

5 fill the bottle to the first line with sugar then top up with luke warm water, so the total level is about 2 thirds of the way up the bottle. then shake for about 30 secs. then add half a teaspoon of dry yeast shake attach cap. place the diffuser in the aquarium with the included suction cup. and in about 30 mins you should see bubbles