Fish Recommendations For 36 Gallon and 28 Gallon Aquariums

[Ed21]

I was wondering what kind of fish would be best for a 36 gallon bow front and a 28 gallon Nano Cube.
Both of these aquariums are in a nursing home and I am looking for medium-sized colorful fish that I can get from my local fish store.
I was thinking about Cichlids for the 36 gallon aquarium but, I don't know a specific species of cichlids that could live in a 36 gallon aquarium. Could Silver Dollars live with cichlids? I don't have any fish in the aquariums yet but, I was just wondering what people thought would be good for these 2 Aquariums and I'm thinking about getting Silver Dollars for the 36 gallon aquarium.
I would also like some type of livebearing fish for the 28 gallon Aquarium but, I'm open to any kind of recommendations for community fish for both of the aquariums. I would like hardy, beginner to intermediate fish that can live in hard water with a pH around 7 to 8.5. Both tanks are still cycling and there are no fish in them yet.

 

[Byron]

First a question, who will be looking after these? I obviously don't mean individual people, but will it be staff at the home, or you, or a hired aquarium maintenance person? This is crucial to know because fish like cichlids are not especially good if there is any chance of slack maintenance such as regular weekly substantial partial water changes.

Neither tank is sufficient space for a shoal of Silver Dollars. And if the water is on the hard side, with the basic pH mentioned, livebearers would seem to be the best option. Only males (both genders or likely even just females would mean fry over-running the tank in no time as they can't all get eaten) Platy are colourful, and several different varieties would seem best for the 36g and/or the 28g. Fine gravel for the substrate (easier to deal with than sand in this situation), a couple chunks of wood (real or artificial), fake plants (live ones would add another issue, but floating plants would be a good idea to help with water conditions).

 

[Ed21]

I will be taking care of the aquariums. I have experience with goldfish and tropical community fish but, I haven't had fish that have more than intermediate level of care. Both aquariums are setup and cycling without fish.

 

[Colin_T]

While the tanks are cycling, you should try to find out what the general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) and the actual pH is. This information is usually found on your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't provide it to you, take a glass of tap water to your local pet shop and ask them to test it for you. Write the results down in numbers when they do the tests. And ask them what the test results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, etc) because they have different meanings.

The next time you visit the pet shop, make a list of fish and plants you like and post it on here, and post the results from the water test (GH, KH & pH) here too. And post the tank dimensions (length x width x height). We can go through the list of fish and pick out ones that are suitable for your tank and water.

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Silver Dollars need to be in groups and grow pretty big. They also eat plants and probably aren't the best option.