Mono Alternative That Goes With Gouramis

[Robbo851]

hi i recently saw monos at my lfs and thought they looked amazing however i do not nearly have a big enough tank or a brackish set up, however i am looking to add a new fish as one of my largest gouramis died (at least three years old dwarf) and i would like to add a similar fish to the mono but not brackish and not really get much bigger than 3-4 inchs, like an angel really but not as they are quite common and boring (sorry angel fans, i know a lot of people prob feel the same about gouramis)

my tank is 30 gallon sand with 2 dw gourami 2 honey gourami, 2 rams, a rainbow shark, a panda corie, and a flying fox. oh and some shrimp

 

[sylvia]

First I must point out that flying foxes and rainbow sharks don't usualy get along long-term so be aware of this and be prepaired to make some changes at the first sign of aggression from either. You should also add some more panda cories as they do a lot better in groups and single specimens are much more likely to be bullied by breeding rams or territorial sharks than a group of 4-6.

Having said that, a 30 gallon cannot realy hold much more than 2 sharks, 2 rams, 4 small gouramies and a group of cories. Most of the mono-shaped species I can think of are also schooling fish and need to be in groups themselves and an angel is not an option as things stand in your tank.

If you were to remove one of the two sharks (which I'd expect you'll have to eventualy - prefferably the rainbow which grows slightly larger), you will have some extra room that could allow you to, perhaps, add some disc tetras/salmon discus in a group of 4-5 (you don't, unfortunately, have room for more): http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113045 That is the best mono alternative I can come up with for your tank I'm afraid. Perhaps some other tetra species would interest you though, maybe something less mono-like (in shape) and smaller such as the black phantom tetra (my personal favourite).