Choosing Compatible Fish

[SlyT]

Hi,

Maybe I am doing this all a bit backwards, but before I buy a tank, plants etc, I want to learn a lot more about the type of fish I might be able to get. This should help me create the best possible home for them.

Below are details of some fish I like. I know these may not all be able to live together (pH requirements) and the Catfish will be either or, but I would be grateful for some opinions on the general list. Also are there other fish that would compliment this list? Its a fisrt stab at listing everything I quite like, so I can work out what sacrifices or changes I need to make (ie if I want Discus, what on the list cant I have).

I dont plan to do all of this at once, and obviously I will fishless cycle first. Im looking at getting a 300Litre tank (see my other thread).

As many options, choices as poss please as I want to do as much analysis & research as possible !

Thanks

Alex

Fish-------------------------- Quantity----Hardness---------- Temperature
Banded Gourami---------------------- 2----vs,s,m------------ 22 - 28C
Three Spot Gourami------------------ 4----s,m,h--------------22 - 28C
Moonlight Gourami--------------------1----vs,s,m,h,vh--------25 - 30C
Pearl Gourami------------------------2----vs,s,m,h,vh--------24 - 28C
Lake Kutubu Rainbowfish--------------3----s,m,h--------------20 - 26C
Boeseman's Rainbowfish-------------- 3----m,h,vh------------ 26 - 30C
Dwarf Rainbowfish--------------------5----vs,s,m,h,vh--------23 - 28C
Pictus Catfish---------------------- 2----vs,s,m,h,vh--------22 - 26C
Featherfin Catfish------------------ 1----vs,s,m,h---------- 22 - 26C
Glass Catfish------------------------6----vs,s,m,h,vh--------22 - 26C
Japonica Shrimp----------------------3----s,m,h,vh---------- 18 - 27C
Clown Loach--------------------------3----vs,s,m,h---------- 24 - 30C
Dwarf Gourami (Female)-------------- 3----vs,s,m,h,vh--------24 - 28C
Dwarf Gourami (Male)---------------- 3----vs,s,m,h,vh--------24 - 28C
Discus------------------------------ 4----vs,s,m------------ 26 - 30C
Black Molly--------------------------6----m,h,vh------------ 24 - 28C
Angelfish----------------------------6----vs,s,m,h---------- 24 - 30C

 

[loachman]

No shrimp and loaches. Other large fish may eat shrimp as well (rainbow and gouramis for example), and just about all fish will eat young shrimp.

Angelfish, mollies, loaches, and rainbows are all compatible.

pH really isn't all that important, as long as it is stable. If you want to breed fish, it matters more but just about all fish will live in any pH from 6-8. Discus tend to be more sensitive than most species though.

You may want to look at a smaller botia species instead of the clown loaches (zebra loach, yoyo loach, botia kubotai, etc.)

 

[SlyT]

Thanks Loachman Ill remeber that

Anyone else?

A

 

[pippoodle]

be careful about so many types of gourami as they get territorial
have more females than males
and have a very heavilly planted tank so they can have their own territorys

 

[Davo86]

In situations like this I always think it is best for you to give us one or two starting points, i.e. a species you are almost certain you want to keep, that way it is so much easier for us to give opinions on stocking/compatibilities etc..

At this moment in time there are so many variables in the list that it would be too time consuming to list but examples include, species that do best in specific numbers/ratios, species that require specific size tanks, fish that require opposite temperatures (some more specific than what you have listed) etc..

 

[SlyT]

Cool Thanks all for the feedback.

My Top choices are

Dwarf Gourami
Glass Catfish
Angelfish
Discus

I believe Angelfish and Discus are "either/or" which is why I wanted to try and decide how my choices limit other areas.

Building up my core will help me decide on what tank will be best and how best to set it up (eg plants yes/no and if yes should go for real/silk/plastic)

I also like the idea of the shrimp to add another layer of things to look at so if poss I would like something other than fish, but dont intend on trying a brackish tank as my first.

Thanks

A

 

[pippoodle]

Angel fish would be better as a beginner fish , discus are not very good fish for beginners as require RO water and lots of water changes
they are also not good with any lively fish that can stress them easily

glass catfish are lovely but need lots of plants the larger the group the more you'll see them as they feel more secure in a larger group
when i had 6 they hid a lot until i added another 3 , now they are out and about most of the time and even have the confidence to surface feed

for dwarf gouramis just get 2 males easiest way to prevent territorial issues and 4-5 females , if a male builds a bubble nest je will take all the ladies into it to mate

if the planting is quite dense you should be able to get away with 3 males but make sure you have mopre females than males to spread any aggression issues

 

[Davo86]

Cool Thanks all for the feedback.

My Top choices are

Dwarf Gourami
Glass Catfish
Angelfish
Discus

I believe Angelfish and Discus are "either/or" which is why I wanted to try and decide how my choices limit other areas.

Building up my core will help me decide on what tank will be best and how best to set it up (eg plants yes/no and if yes should go for real/silk/plastic)

I also like the idea of the shrimp to add another layer of things to look at so if poss I would like something other than fish, but dont intend on trying a brackish tank as my first.

Thanks

A

Ok that makes things a little easier,

Discus: need to keep minimum of 5 in a minimum of a 55G tank, tankmates need to be able to stand the high temperatures and be of no threat to the Discus, suitable tankmates would include larger cardinals and Rummynose, Congo Tetras, Rams, etc. Smaller Discus can be hard to keep and will require multiple daily feeds and multiple weekly water changes.

Angels: need 30G for the first one and then 10G for every one after that, tankmates will totally depend on the temperament of the angels, very small angels can be tried with dwarf gouramis and glass catfish, although in most cases the Angels will become too aggressive as they mature.
from your list a few shoals of Rainbows would be ideal tankmates for 2-3 centrepiece Angels, possibly with a trio of pearl gouramis and a few mollys. Clown Loach are also a possibility if the tank is big enough