Centrepiece For A Community Tank...

[cuticom]

So I've finally managed to save a bit of money, and its time to start planning what I want to do for my little community tank.

Firstly I don't know what size tank I want to upgrade to, theres no point working that out until I know what fish will be in it LOL.

Definite fish for it will be
5-6 Black widow tetras (I have 5 already)
6 kulhi loaches (I ahve 3 already)

The kuhli loaches depend on whether or not I can locate them again, there never in teh shops around here.

I'd like to add a centerpiece as well, I was thinking an angel, but wasn't sure whether the black widows would nip one? and would it eat the kuhlis when fully grown? Any suggestions for a centrepiece fish? not too big please.

And what size tank should I be looking at?

Emma

 

[dwarfgourami]

Hmmm..with those widows you want a centrepiece fish without any tempting appendages, don't you? If I were you I'd ask in the New World cichlid forum about this one- afraid I don't know very much about cichlids.

 

[cuticom]

Not really after a cichlid, apart from the angelfish, most of the others look too likely to scarf my kuhli loaches, though maybe a bolivian butterfly? What about gouramis? My Mum keeps a paradise with her serpae tetras, and he gives them as good as he's got when they try to go after him.

 

[The-Wolf]

how about a pair or a single leopard spotted bushfish Ctenopoma acutirostre
they would be fine with deep bodied fish such as the black widows and the kuhlies would be
to long for them them to bother with.

the draw back would be you won't be able to have any slim tetras, like neons, cardinals etc,
as they would be food.

 

[cuticom]

Sadly there not available in Aus, their gorgeous though.

Not planning on any more tetras, generally I prefer to avoid the schooling fish altogether but theres something about the black widows thats very appealing...

 

[cuticom]

Oh and just to give an idea on tank size, I'm leaning towards a 3 foot tank, so 30-40g, no smaller then a 20g, no larger then a 40

 

[rowdyburns21]

dwarf neon gourami

 

[cuticom]

It'd be too small really for a centrepiece as the black widows get fairly large in their own right, and I still can't find non diseased dwarfs around here.

 

[The-Wolf]

ok I know you said not particularly keen on cichlids but consider a Mesonauta festivus Festivum
nice gentle giant of the cichlid world, however min tank would be around 40G

other than that you really don't have a great choice of largish fish that do ok on their own
check the following thread out for what is legal to keep in Aus and if you spot something you like
do some research to see if you can house it/them suitably.

HTH
Fish Available For Import To Australia

 

[cuticom]

So angels are out then? Festivums have the same feller things...

Hmph I wish there was a discus that didn't school, stayed small and didn't need perfect water, I would be very very happy if a fish like that existed LOL

 

[The-Wolf]

IMHO festivums are a good alternative to angels
except they only come in one colour.An adult festivum is truly a sight to behold
here is mine seen with my red severum (sadly not legal in Aus)

 

[cuticom]

Lol uuuh how big is that sev? makes the festivum look like its 12 inches long, its not is it? I thought they got to like 4-5 inches LOL.

So definitely no angels then? Not particularly keen on the festivum, as I'd have to order it online, and postage round here sucks, so theres a good chance I'd be ordering a dead fish by the time the package got here.

 

[The-Wolf]

at the time the pic was taken the sev was 4 inch long and 3 deep
the festivum is adult sized at 5.5 long and 4 deep
the sev is now slightly bigger than the festivum.

Angels need a tank that has at least 18 inches of water, so if your substrate is 2 inch thick you'd need a tank
at least 20inch tall (assuming the water is full to the brim) if you go for altum angels then they need at least 20 inches of water,
so I would say angels are out of the question.

is the only reason you are not keen on the festivum due to postage?
surely whomever you order it from will have a DOA gaurentee

 

[cuticom]

Yes they will, but its almost certain the next one will be DOA, and the next one after that and so on... If it was still winter It wouldn't be so bad but we're getting hot days again now and that would absolutely fry any poor fish thats been left at the post office for days on end, because they can't be bothered getting off there butts and calling us to let us know we have a package...

 

[SouthernCross]

Hey mate

You mentioned gouramis further up, they might be okay, they do have the long feelers but they're pretty tough and quite hardy (Not dwarfs obv).

You can keep a trio comfortably in a 30-40 gal. Crossroads usually always has pearls, and I've seen blues/opalines and golds there regularly too, although they're a bit more aggressive.

What else do I remember seeing....
They have rams a lot too, but I don't know whether you want something a bit bigger.