deciding on fish...

[GaryE]

Well, in my role as an evangelist for the Church of the Neglected Killifish Group, have you heard the good news about Aphyosemions? You will need to search a bit, but the journey is worthwhile and they are the best aquarium fish on the planet, especially in smaller planted tanks. Even Fundulopanchax gardneri, their relative, would go far beyond ideal. Enlightenment awaits!

 

[Deleted member 149562]

As a fellow cube aquarium owner (mine is smaller than yours), they are - imho - the worst aquarium design ever purely due to the lack of space for fish to do what they do naturally.....swim.

Depth and width of an aquarium can be adapted to by a fish...but length or the lack thereof is an absolute 100% headache cos 99% of fish want length to swim along to thrive and a cube of 20 gallons or less simply doesn't deliver the space to stretch their proverbial fins and get some speed up before they have to start again in the opposite direction

Going round in circles is not what fish do well, they can get any speed up doing that.....think of it like a bear in a 20ft x 20ft cage going slightly insane with the lack of not just space to wander but lack of space to just chill out and get away from that damned human looking through their front window all day.

Shrimp, a Betta, snails...maybe Minnows...but very little will thrive in a small cube...live in one, yes, thrive not so much.

Mine has Fred, a very opinionated Plakat who is currently beating up some newly placed mini moss balls and showing them exactly who is boss.

 

[jaylach]

As a fellow cube aquarium owner (mine is smaller than yours), they are - imho - the worst aquarium design ever purely due to the lack of space for fish to do what they do naturally.....swim.

Depth and width of an aquarium can be adapted to by a fish...but length or the lack thereof is an absolute 100% headache cos 99% of fish want length to swim along to thrive and a cube of 20 gallons or less simply doesn't deliver the space to stretch their proverbial fins and get some speed up before they have to start again in the opposite direction

Going round in circles is not what fish do well, they can get any speed up doing that.....think of it like a bear in a 20ft x 20ft cage going slightly insane with the lack of not just space to wander but lack of space to just chill out and get away from that damned human looking through their front window all day.

Shrimp, a Betta, snails...maybe Minnows...but very little will thrive in a small cube...live in one, yes, thrive not so much.

Mine has Fred, a very opinionated Plakat who is currently beating up some newly placed mini moss balls and showing them exactly who is boss.

Ya, I agree that a nano cube is not the best option. To be honest I didn't really know what I was getting when I ordered but that is my fault. I'm starting to lean back to my favorite critter, a rope fish. If I can find one in the range of 6 inches it would do just fine in my cube. By the time it would get too long I would hope to have a 50 gallon.

 

[Wills]

I also have a cube (sort of... its 60x50x40cm) I think some dwarfs would be good in there especially with cichlids that are really marginal (living in the banks) like a lot of Apistos.

I think smaller Laetacara species would be good in here too or Nannacara species. You could even look at some of the African Dwarfs like Nanochromis Transvestitus - amazing little fish. I also wonder how something like a Checkerboard or one of its relatives would do in here? One species does get big but the rest are quite small and pretty gregarious.

If you wanted to go super small and cichlid esc have a look at Badis and Dario species. Black Tiger Badis are particularly stunning. Not sure if you've seen these guys before but seem to have a good reputation in the US and have a great range available for delivery. https://aquaticarts.com/collections/nano-fish

Wills

 

[jaylach]

I also have a cube (sort of... its 60x50x40cm) I think some dwarfs would be good in there especially with cichlids that are really marginal (living in the banks) like a lot of Apistos.

I think smaller Laetacara species would be good in here too or Nannacara species. You could even look at some of the African Dwarfs like Nanochromis Transvestitus - amazing little fish. I also wonder how something like a Checkerboard or one of its relatives would do in here? One species does get big but the rest are quite small and pretty gregarious.

If you wanted to go super small and cichlid esc have a look at Badis and Dario species. Black Tiger Badis are particularly stunning. Not sure if you've seen these guys before but seem to have a good reputation in the US and have a great range available for delivery. https://aquaticarts.com/collections/nano-fish

Wills

Thanks! To be honest I'm just looking around right now. Shoot, I just put water in the tank yesterday. To be honest my main concern at this time is what would be a good bottom feeder considering course gravel and java moss along with other plants arriving later today.

Yes, I LOVE cichlids, especially blue and yellow acara.... Green Terrors, convicts also have a spot in my heart. They just are not going to happen in my tank. But they just may happen...

I'm already figuring how to rearrange my living room to fit a 50 gallon. And I am serious about getting a small rope fish for my current cube. Sigh, rope fish are my heart throb! If I can find one in the 6-8 inch range I will have a larger tank well before it out grows my current cube.

As to a rope fish how can you not love this face?

 

[GaryE]

As an old teacher, I can say that fish reminds me of a smiling kid coming in from a cold recess with, uhh, nasal extras protruding.

 

[jaylach]

As an old teacher, I can say that fish reminds me of a smiling kid coming in from a cold recess with, uhh, nasal extras protruding.

Sigh, they are also VERY friendly and will happily eat meal worms out of your hand.