densely planted 37gal inhabitants?

[jacblades]

one of my friends at work was lucky enough to get ot take home our 37 gal eclipse sick tank when the filter broke and she wants to do a planted tank.
now she sees amano-style pictures and says thats what she wants to do(and i know she doesnt have the slightest idea of how much time, effort, and money get poured into tanks like that)
originally she wanted discus but i talked her out of those. then angels. then leporinus fasciatus. then a ghost knife.
well i have talked her out of all of the above but i cant offer her any suggestions as to what to put into the tank. she wants 2-4 larger (no bigger than 5 inches) fish. any suggestions? i would guess her skill level to be somewhere between beginner and intermediate. she currently has 2 tanks, a 55 that is very overstocked with goldfish and one angelfish and a 20long with assorted community fish (not exactly sure what)

also (and i know this should be in the planted section) how much light for a 37 eclipse? those things are ridiculously tall (dont know the exact measurements atm) but i am assuming at least 120 watts.

 

[phishluvr]

gouramis... gold, blue and some pearls. gorgeous! good with plants too.

 

[corbypete]

red bellies

 

[sylvia]

Yep, gouramies but don't over-do it.

I would avoid three-spots (blue, opaline, gold, platinum, cosby, lavender etc are all color morphs of this - trichogaster trichopterus) because of their aggression as you say the tank is a tall one so I would think the surface area, and therefore available territory space, would be somewhat limmited. She could try a single one though but then you shouldn't realy add any other gouramies. Also, three-spots get to 6".

Pearls would be great though. They get to 5" and I would think a couple of females would be great. If the tank is going to be heavily planted, a pair would be fine as well.

Other gouramies to consider (as pairs or singly) would be the banded gourami (colisa fasciata) to 4" and the thick-lipped (colisa labiosa) to 3.5".

You could also mix a single pearl with one of either colisa species or go for one of each colisa species.

If she likes, she could also try a trio of dwarf gouramies (colisa lalia). One male, 2 females. These only get to 2" though.

There's also several cichlids you could suggest - kribs, rams, apistos etc but they don't get bigger than 3". I love keyholes myself - some of those would look nice in a planted tank and get to 3-4".

Livebearers such as swordtails and mollies also get pretty big - female swordies can get to 3" and many mollies get to 4". The fact that they are hardy and colorful is an added bonus and you need not worry about territoriality etc. A trio of mollies would be nice.

Can I suggest though that you persuade her to move the angel she has in with the goldfish to this tank? A 37 gallon tall should be large enough and, if possible, get another at the same time to make a pair. If you do this, however, tell her to leave out the gouramies or any other cichlids. Livebearers would still be ok but limmit the number so as not to over-stock.

 

[GSD]

gouramis would be the best bet
i think shoals always look great in a planted tank

 

[phishluvr]

I would avoid three-spots (blue, opaline, gold, platinum, cosby, lavender etc are all color morphs of this - trichogaster trichopterus) because of their aggression

Aack! they get such a bad rap... steer clear of more than one male of each and they'll get along well. It works in my tank. Or just go with all females.

It's amazing to me how they somehow know their color and tend to group together. (like you said, they're all the same family, so why they do this is a mystery to me) Of course, there's always the exception but you can exchange aggressive fish.

 

[jacblades]

i have been trying to persuade her to move the angel but she wont. the person she got it from (another coworker of ours) had it with goldfish too. and therefore that makes it ok (sarcasm-if you didnt pick up...dont want to get jumped on)
the angel is too big for a 37 anyways.
i suggested some livebearers but she didnt want to get anymore since she already has a few in her community.

gouramis do sound like a good idea. i cant remember if i suggested them to her or not...

as for piranahs...i hope you werent serious... as housing even one in a 37 gallon would be ridiculously cruel. they are illegal anyways.

i will see her tomorrow and suggest a few gourami types.

any other suggestions?

 

[Sky042]

I would avoid three-spots (blue, opaline, gold, platinum, cosby, lavender etc are all color morphs of this - trichogaster trichopterus) because of their aggression

Aack! they get such a bad rap... steer clear of more than one male of each and they'll get along well. It works in my tank. Or just go with all females.

It's amazing to me how they somehow know their color and tend to group together. (like you said, they're all the same family, so why they do this is a mystery to me) Of course, there's always the exception but you can exchange aggressive fish.

+1
Females are not agressive at all towards each other.

 

[jacblades]

she didnt take to the gourami idea...

she has decided to go with discus afterall. she talked to a manager of a pet supermarket and he told her that they are easy to take care of and that a group would do well in the 37.

it was just what she wanted to hear

poor little fishies