I'm going to kill my fish.

[NinjaSmurf]

Actually, it's a black joke designed to make you read this, however, it is sort of fitting my mood.

Can anyone tell me ove any fish that breed like rabbits and could fit in my thirty without killing any of the current fish and have some personality? Don't mention livebearers because I already have tried that with guppies and mollies and am not having a good time.

If not can someone tell me a good fish that is big and could go in there that actually has some personality to it? Cause if not I'm getting rid of the pictus, dumping everything else in the thirty and the five into a ten gallon and setting up a coldwater tank with a sunny and some freaking minnows or something.

I'm sorry if I sound like a real pisser but this is my first tropical tank and I am highly dissapointed in it. My fish do nothing but eat, screw and poop. They don't even pick at the gravel or swim in the current, they just swim up and down against the glass constantly, or just hang out at the top waiting for me to feed them yet again. As it is my tank seems to be nothing more than a glass box with some water in it and a few things moving around it that I hardly ever look at longer than the time it takes to feed them. I can not tell you how depressing that is.

 

[Becca]

You said:
"...don't even pick at the gravel or swim in the current, they just swim up and down against the glass constantly, or just hang out at the top waiting for me to feed them yet again."

If you're looking for some fish with personality, I'd highly recommend some African Cichlids. If you have a 30-Gallon (as long as it's a traditional, or long) you can get away with some dwarf cichlids, which are great. In the beginning stages, they just crowd the glass waiting for food, but as they get older, they develop beautiful coloring (especially the males) and you can't keep them from moving the substrate around or digging up plants. My aquascape is constantly changing thanks to my Cichlid (and South American) tanks!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

My tank is a tall, but I use a power filter so it gets plenty of airation. I've been checking into firemouths, I might end up getting a pair of them since they seem to go good with other fish, and if they breed I'm sure the catfish will pig out.

 

[Bustacapp]

in your post it says you have a male and a female betta in the same tank ?
thats usually not a good idea have you had any problems with them ?
back to the subject. I personally think a rope fish (Erpetoichthys calabaricus) has a great personality and is very peacefull wont breed like rabbits though never mind on the betta question i read now about the temple of solitude lol

 

[bslickis]

We have a 30 tall as well, and hated it for a long time because it was hard to find compatible fish. We had some "community" fish in there for a time, and also found that all they did was sit around and sometimes try to breed. Very boring, all in all.

We dumped the community fish and started a few African cichlids in there, but they quickly outgrew it so we got the 75-gallon tank and were once again at a loss for what to put in the 30 tall, until we tried some brackish puffers and found that it worked out pretty well.

Puffers are generally very mean, aggressive fish, but our green spotteds weren't too bad, and Figure 8's are more mild mannered still and don't get as big, so they'd probably never outgrow your tank.

Most non-salt water puffers are brackish, which means you have to add a bit of salt to the tank, but it's not a big deal maintenance-wise because the salt level flucuates in their natural environment, so it's OK if it fluctuates in the aquarium as well.

Unfortuantely our last puffer died the other day, and we may not replace him right away because we have two other tanks to manage, but the 30 tall seemed to be a good home for them. They don't swim forward very quickly, and they love to cruise up and down, so it was pretty well suited. Drop a nice piece of tall driftwood in the middle and they're all set for decorations and hiding places.

They're definitely not as colorful as the african cichlids, but they have quite a bit of personality and it's great fun to watch them swim around curiously checking out their surroundings, which they will do continuously even after becoming well acclimated to the tank.

Whatever you decide on, don't give up. You just have to find some fish that interest you, and it's real easy to get hooked.
Brian

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Bustacapp I did a quick search on them and from what I've read rope fish need a very tight fitting lid, which is hard to do with a power filter I'd thought about puffers too, but was never sure if I could get a hold of them. I'll have to check in on that Brian. I really do love fish but this tank has just really made me wonder why I even bothered. I mean, my old goldfish had more personality than these do! I've even gone so far as to almost switch to them, but I figured against an impulse buy, the last time I did that I got a pictus...

 

[Dwarfs]

Purple spotted gudgeons are cool But if you want something that breeds like mad I would say to get 3-4 rainbow cichlids and see which pair up When I got mine they bred two days later You cloud also try some sort of Apistos, they are expensive, but very easy to sex and breed. They have plenty of personality as well, being that they are a dwarf cichlid A ropefish wouldn't fit in your tank anyway, they get too big and need a 4' minimum tank

 

[Gourami Lover88]

A few Angel fish or maybe some convict cichlids, both breed often.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I had been considering convicts but then I read how nasty they can get when breeding, and I'd rather not have them kill everything in the tank only to land me with a million baby convicts, because the store around here doesn't take them. At all. Dwarfs, been thinking about the gudgeons too, I always wanted one, and tried to get a butis, but no luck there either...

Well, so far I have a good three in mind for the tank, but I'm definetely open to more suggestions...

 

[Dwarfs]

Don't the butis get huge?

 

[mwm]

Get a nice pair of convicts!

 

[Dwarfs]

Only problem with convicts is that the young are nearly impossible to get rid of

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Well, they young are supposed to get eaten by the pictus, but I heard convicts are seriously mean when they're breeding, and I don't want dead pictus and babies no one wants. From what I read the butis only gets about 8 inches big, but it's almost impossible to find in the US, even on aquabid. I can't spend forty bucks on a fish that might die in the mail, and with no digital camera, I'd have no proof, and be screwed. I wonder if I could get a pair of firemouths and a gudgeon.... I'd have to check into that.... I can just stick all the livebearers into a ten, have them breed like rabbits (for once) and then use the babies as yumyums...

 

[Ben]

convicts with out a doubt.

breed like mad,and have loads of personality,

or a pair of firemouths,as you said, will work.

or maybe make it an apisto tank.


in conclusion, cichlids rock!

 

[bunjiweb]

How can people reccomend convicts for a tank with guppies, mollies and bettas? Convicts would rip apart these fish in a matter of days.

I wouldnt bother rushing to go with cichlids, unless its a pair of rams or a pair of kribensis.

I think you should consider getting a couple more pictus cats and either some more mollies or guppies.

Ben