Fish

[vis]

I want to start a community tank. I want to add Mollys, Neon tetra, Angelfish, Betta, Algae eater, Red tail shark, and maybe a salamander. Is this okay, will they live in peace or pieces?

 

[SamUK]

pieces. maybe not rite away but eventually when thr fish mature a bit youll have problems.


Neons and angels is a risk.

sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.

Bettas are easy targets. a group of small neons can take down a betta and probably will (something about the fancy tail looking tastey) in a couple of days.


RTBS are best kept with more aggressive fish as they get very terrotorial as they grow.


what size is your tank?

 

[carrera]

and maybe a salamander

really?

 

[vis]

I have a 25 gal, wat u mean troll?. A salamanser kinda looks like a lizzard, but its in the same family as frogs and such

yes, really

 

[SamUK]

lol he meant you cant keep a slamander anywhere near a fish tank.


theres been a few people on here to wind us up and i think he thought you were maybe one of them.



neway.. thats a few too many fish for a 25G anyway.

what are the dimensions cos angels will need a depth of 18".

sorry, dont mean to be putting a downer on your plans.

it can jus take some working.

 

[vis]

Why do you think im asking for advise? Its 15"

 

[SamUK]

nicely edited carrera lol.



vis, is there any other fish you liked?

gouramis or small cichlids like rams or keyholes?

 

[vis]

Yes i absolutly love yellow labs. Then i also like strange fish, but i live on a farm in south africa. not many good fish shops around. Money is also a factor

What do you recommend. Must be colourful fish

 

[SamUK]

yellow labs are african cichlids and require a high ph.


basically there different to normal fish and when they get big enough, theyll eat anything that fits in there mouth.

tetras etc.

for those reasons there kept in species only tanks so only with other african cichlids.


wow u must hate me lol.


anything else?


u could go for say 6 neons, 1 RTBS, 3 mollys (not sure what numbers there best kept in to be honest tho) then another center piece fish.

like any of these?

Bolivian Ram

Key Hole Cichlid

Dwarf Gouramis

Pearl Gouramis

theres loads more types of those too.

 

[vis]

No i dont hate you, i actualy like u very much. You are giving me good advise. Maybe just a shaol of yellow lab, are there ANY other fish that could be kept with them? Those dwarf gourami looks very nice, but i'll have to search for them, ive never seen those in a pet shop.

 

[SamUK]

they need to be kept with other african cichlids and the minimum tank size reccomended for them is a 55G so youd be pushing it with the yellow labs in the 25G.

with good filtration tho i think youd be ok.

if you go with them you want to head over to the african cichlid section and read the pinned topics at the top of the forum.

give you an idea about them and tell you how to set up the tank to get the higher ph so your fish are happy

if you like cichlids then i think a 25G is about the perfect size for shelldwellers which are basically mini african cichlids that live in shells (dur lol).

you could have more than one type of them in there but i dont kno anything about them so again youd have to go to the african cichlid forum.

there a helpful bunch tho so if you give them all the info of your tank size and stuff then theyll say whats best!



if you still wanted the community then any type of gourami would work fine as there all fairly docile and wont grow huge.


EDIT - and to add proof to what i sed about malawis eating other fish. ive had to take one of mine out cos he was getting picked on (yes they even try kill there own) and barely had any tail left.

put him in a hex tank with an angel, 2 guppys and 2 neons that i got from a friend when he moved out.

2 days later only the angel is left and even thats missing half a fin so ive jus had to move that lol.

lesson learnt. the hard way.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

another small gourami you might like is the chocolate ones, they're tiny but really beautiful (IMO)

But yeah I'd back up everything Sam's said. If you do want to go african chiclids then shelldwellers are an excellent option, very interesting little fish, really good personalities, we very nearly set up a community of them the other month.

 

[carrera]

nicely edited carrera lol.

 

[dwarfgourami]

As others have suggested, you first need to decide what type of setup you want. African lake cichlid are so different in their requirements and potentially so aggressive that they cannot be kept with ordinary community fish, and usually not even with fish from another lake than their own. So (if the tank is big enough), you have to decide if you are going Malawi, Tanganyika or community. And even community is best divided into either lively or peaceful, as timid peaceful fish can easily die from stress if put in with very robust companions.

African lake cichlids need quite a bit of room, they are aggressive and need to have space, and you do need quite good filtration. So not really something for a 25 gallon tank. The one exception is the one that has already been mentioned: shelldwellers. Something like neolamprologus multifasciatus. Shelldwellers are not as colourful as yellow labs, but they are very interesting fish, masses of character. They need a setup with hard, alkaline water, sand and lots of shells to live in. So you won't be able to keep ordinary community fish in this tank.

An RTBS is a lively territorial fish that grows quite big (up to 6 inches), so he wouldn't really be happy in a 25 gallon for long (and more to the point, the other fish wouldn't be happy.

Mollies and neons have totally different water requirements- mollies need hard alkaline water, preferably with a touch of salt in it, whereas neons need soft and acid and absolutely no salt. What I would do, would be to test the tap water and then decide between these two.

The angel is going to be a bit pushed for space, too. I would go along with the suggestion of a gourami instead- if you want a dignified fish moving peacefully through the water. Not a chocolate one, though, they have a reputation for being extremely sensitive. But you could fit in a trio of honey gouramis (1 male, 2 females) or a single pearl (aka lace) gourami. Gouramis don't mind being kept singly, but you should avoid getting two males, as they are territorial.

With gouramis as with angelfish, you need to make sure that their companions are not fin-nippers. So avoid serpae tetras, lemon tetras and tiger barbs. You should be ok with most tetras, livebearers (platies, endlers) and with bottomdwellers such as corydoras, khuulie loaches and bristlenose plecs. Of these three last-mentioned, the khuulies and corys are schooling- you want at least 3- while the bristlie can live on its own and your tank has only got room for one bristlie (they are heavy waste producers).

I would not put a betta in with either a gourami (they might fight) or an potentially fin-nipping fish

A suggested setup might be a trio of livebearers- I would suggest platies instead of mollies (1 male, 2 females or females only- but if you have both sexes, the females need to outnumber the males by a ratio of at least 2:1), 6 danios or black widow tetras (schooling species, so you want at least 6, not fussy about water), and for the bottom a trio of bronze or pepper corydoras.

Or: trio of honey gouramis, school of 10 neons, 4-5 khuulie loaches or one bristlenose plec

Or: 6 harlequin rasboras, 3 cherry barbs (1 m, 2 f) and 3-4 corys

 

[vis]

Thanks alot. You guys have really helped me. Most of all to do ALOT of research. THANX