Bottom Dwellers

[barryp]

Hi, My signature shows what fish i have. All my fish tend to swim around the darker bottom half of my tank. I love my fish dont get me wrong but i need to add a bit of colour and a few proper swimmers. I notice in my LFS that Angel Fish and Discus seem to do that whole slow swim around the middle of the tank, but, will these fit into my community. Can anyone advise what 2 (max) fish i can add that i wont have to go looking for to show friends.? Thanks

 

[wodesorel]

No suggestions for centerpiece fish, but I did want to alert you to a few things, if you didn't already know.

Did you know that bala will grow to around 14 inches, needs a 100 gallons tank, and needs to be in groups of 4 or more? Once grown, it'll also start eating tankmates that are smaller than it....

Discus get to 8 to 10 inches, need to be in groups of at least four, and required 10 gallons per fish when grown. (Minimum tank size is 55 gallons.) Anything less than four will create fighting.

The loaches and the ottos should be in groups of at least 5 or more to be comfortable. There is a dramatic change in personality when they're able to shoal with the correct number of buddies!

Red-tail sharks can also be very aggressive, but it does depend on the shark's personality. That might be problem if you decide to add other fish.


I know, you go to the fish store and they have so many cool types of fish, but please keep in mind that the employees and the tags on the tank are wrong 99.9% of the time! The good thing is they'll often take back fish (which you might want to consider with the bala and maybe the red-tailed shark as well). There's a great research area here called the Fish Index (on the front page of the forums), and of course if you need anything clarified, the people here are great!

 

[barryp]

Thanks wodesorel, totally appreciate your input but i never actually listen to my local LFS because they are sales people and will sell whatever is going. All the information i get for stocking my tank is from this site. I wish i had the time to go over all the replys ive received saying the RTS should be in 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, and that Bala should be on there own and a 190L tank is fine, i was told by more than a few members that 3 ottos was a good number......i can see your point with the bala but he is very small and when he grows i will rehouse if neccessary, but i have read plenty of accounts of RTS living in a community not unlike mine and living happily. If we where to all go by the book then this hobby to me would be uninteresting. I have worked very hard to create a community of hardy fish and so far (1 year and counting) i havent had one fatality.I monitor my fish alot and if i notice a problem i find a way around it. Heres hoping your wrong but for all the right reasons.

 

[brittlestar]

Just one other thing - you shouldn't have more than one shark species per tank as theya re territorial, so you will need to rehome your bala as they grow the largest The gouramis as you have just two, may be a little shy at the moment. How about a pair of dwarf gouramis? THey are more peaceful than the gold and the three spots and don't grow as large