Feature Fish For Community Tank

[thomtom]

We are looking for some feature fish (preferably a pair) to go in our 100 litre community tank and running out of ideas.
Currently have scissortails,harlequins,cory's,cherry barbs and a single guppy. Obviously we need to be carfull about what we choose, especially with the guppy.

The PH sits around the 7.5 so I guess that leaves most fish as a possibility. Using a fine substrate and real plants, also recently added some bogwood which gives them somewhere to hide.

So far we have thought about kribensis or German blue ram (think the blue ram need lower PH though?)

What do you all think?

 

[Becks1985]

Apistogramma cacatoides or agazzi

 

[Blondielovesfish]

You could have a pair of dwarf gourami although they are preferably kept in threes (1 male and 2 females).

 

[the_lock_man]

I have a 100l tank, the centrepiece is a single Dwarf Gourami. I also have a pair of Agassizi's Apistogramma, as a second centrepiece!
 
Any of the apisto species would be good, I love cockatoos (A. cacatuoides, as referred to by Becks), but they're a little pricey. Macmaster's, Hongsloi and Vejita are also reasonabley readily available. Bolivian Rams are another good bet, but I think that German Blues are a little picky on their water parameters, and may not fare too well in an alkaline environment.
 
Kribensis are a good shout, but make sure the cories are a decent sized species, otherwise when (not if) the Kribs mate, they will chase everything else in the tank, and anything too small may be killed.
 
Honey Gourami would be another suggestion.


If you wanted something a bit out of the ordinary, you could try one of the wild betta species, such as b. falx or b.imbellis. They can be quite hard to come by, but are superb.

 

[DreamertK]

I'd go with the honey's instead of the dwarf, due to the terrible diseases bread into the dwarf gourami. The honeys are just a tad smaller, but they've got a sweet demeanor and could get along with most non aggressive tankmates.
 
Betta's are beautiful, but require less water current in the tank and limit what you could put in the tank (or what's already in there). The guppy might be an issue.

 

[sadguppy]

The kribs will probably kill the guppy, so I would avoid. I loved my lady krib but she was mean to anything she could catch and made her way through several guppies before we caught on to her.

I like dwarf gourami and although I had a pair that died of dgd, I have another now which is going strong at well over a year maybe 2. I think they are worth the risk.

 

[stanleo]

I agree with sadguppy, I have had my dwarf gourami for over 18 months and he is doing great!

 

[thomtom]

Thanks for the advice, I have gone for 2 (male) Dwarf Blue Gouramis! One has settled in really well really quickly and the other is starting to come out of his hiding place more and more often and attacking the plants. They only went into the tank yesterday so I hope I have no issues with them....eek.
 
They look absolutely lovely!

 

[sadguppy]

When people said a pair, they meant one male and one female as two makes in a tank will fight, particularly in a smallish tank. I would take one back and switch him for a female or two as soon as you can, before they start laying into each other.

 

[thomtom]

Grr, I specifically asked the guy at the store about pairs/groups and male/female and he said it would be fine or even said it is recommended to have 2 males. I presume that they are both males because they both have a lot of colour to them. 
 
So far they are getting on really well though so I think I will keep an eye on them.
They often swim around together and both seem to have a separate hiding place at separate ends of the tank when they are apart.

 

[sadguppy]

Haha another lfs who need educating, what a shocker!

Keep a close eye, as there are exceptions to every rule and decor, plants and hiding spots can make a real difference, although a lot is age related and they are most likely still juveniles at the moment.

The minute they start squabbling I would advise taking the more feisty of the two back.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

+1 on the above! Keep a real close eye on them but it may turn out that they are fine! Every fish is different!

 

[DreamertK]

Some females even are aggressive.

My two gourami would gladly fight each other to the death if I kept them together. Even when they were adolescents before I could get a separate tank, one would always chase the other through all the plants I put in.

 

[thomtom]

It all sounds to me like I need a second tank hehe. I'm have been keeping a very close eye and so far I have seen no signs of aggression. They will be spit if they do show any signs. Such a shame because they look so nice in there. They are both very timid and shy, just walking up to the tank can sometimes cause them to hide away. Hopefully with the plants/bogwood they will have enough hiding placing to live together peacefully.
 
I wont be going back to that store as it wasn't my normal store, I don't trust them now. It was a Maidenhead Aquatics, they had a small tank with about 20 of them swimming around happily (hence I thought it would be fine).
 
I will keep you updated!

 

[the_lock_man]

It all sounds to me like I need a second tank hehe.

 
Nurse! Nurse! Another case of Multiple Tank Syndrome!