Colour In A Community Tank?

[GrubbyGirl]

I have a 5ft tank already stocked with nice peacful community fish but not very colourful. I would like to add some more colourful fish that are bigger than tetras but not Mollies or Platys. Can anyone give me some advice on suitable fish?

I already have, 2 bolivian rams, 1 curvicep cichlid, 7 glass cats, 1 rather drab dwarf gourami, 2 angels, 4 black widow tertas.

Cheers

Angela

 

[minxfishy]

Rainbow fish, ie: Boesemani, Lacustris, Red etc, all reach around 4-5", unfortunately they look drab in the LFS, but are beautiful once settled.

 

[marksayer10@tiscali.co.uk]

I have a 5ft tank already stocked with nice peacful community fish but not very colourful. I would like to add some more colourful fish that are bigger than tetras but not Mollies or Platys. Can anyone give me some advice on suitable fish?

I already have, 2 bolivian rams, 1 curvicep cichlid, 7 glass cats, 1 rather drab dwarf gourami, 2 angels, 4 black widow tertas.

Cheers

Angela

severums or parrot fish.

 

[Schmill]

How about some Melanotaenia Praecox?

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/mel-pcox.htm

Great looking fish, although difficult to find a picture that does them justice, although this one is pretty good:

Again, they look pretty dull in the LFS, but once settled into a tank their colours really come out. The males have red trimmed fins, and the females have yellow. The body of the fish is generally silver, but cathces the light to give a great bluey colouration at times.

I'd get a mix of male and females though if you want to see their best colours, as then the males will 'display'

Do check their compatability with your current stock though, as that is something I know little about.

 

[shane87]

apistogramma cacatouides - cockatoo cichlid....or apistogramma agassizi ...not sure about the cockatoo but with the agassizi, the famle is a browy colour but when shes ready to breed one day you'l wake up and think whrere did this fish come fom as she transforms in to a bright yellow colour

 

[meguro]

Praecox have nothing on the already mentioned boesemani and lacustris. I'll add trifasciata too assuming the red rainbowfish mentioned is referring to "red irian" instead.

 

[Mr Bliss]

How about 2 - 3 pearl gourami? They, too, look a bit dull at the LFS but both the males and females get really pretty once they have settled in. They're also peaceful enough to probably leave the dwarf gourami in peace.

I would have suggested blue gourami (or their various color morphs) but I reckon they'd be a bit too rowdy for your current stocking.

 

[minxfishy]

Praecox have nothing on the already mentioned boesemani and lacustris. I'll add trifasciata too assuming the red rainbowfish mentioned is referring to "red irian" instead.

Yep, I was referring to Glossolepis incisus aka Red Irian rainbowfish, commonly called red rainbow

Praecox are lovely fish and would also be fine for a community tank, Ive personally found them not to be as hardy as the larger species of rainbowfish though.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

These are all great ideas thank you. As already said tghe fish in the lfs tend to look drab as they are youngsters so it's nice to get recommendations as to which ugly ducklings turn into swans. Keep them coming I'm fascinated!

 

[OldMan47]

I find my rainbow cichlids, Herotilapia multispinosa, add some color to my tank. They need a good sized tank though, since they can get up to 4 or 5 inches long.
Some of my Herotilapia

 

[drobbyb]

Rainbow fish, ie: Boesemani, Lacustris, Red etc, all reach around 4-5", unfortunately they look drab in the LFS, but are beautiful once settled.

So true! My avatar and signature pic are M. lacustris. They usually look bad in the lfs like Minx has said, but once they get settled in and fed the right foods they really are quite beautiful.