OK... is it weird to mix fish from different continents???

[Magnum Man]

some people do, with fish like Cory's or Pleco's, or loaches... but, for example, do people usually mix African & South American Tetras, or fish that stand out more???

I have some Congo Tetras, & was originally going to add some South American Tetras in the mix, but now that I decided to do a South American tank with mostly Tetras, I'd feel funny mixing in my Congo's... but then I don't feel weird adding South American Angel fish into the tank with my Congo's... maybe I'm just weird, & need to quit feeling weird???

do you fish wranglers have "worldly" tanks or prefer all your fish from the same area???

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Personally I don't care about stuff like that I'm sure the fish don't care either. If they're compatible, can live in the same water conditions and live peacefully with each other then that's good enough for me

 

[Naughts]

There is a long list of factors in deciding what goes in our tanks. For me, although a lovely idea, true Geographical biotopes are quite far down the list, actually more of an afterthought. Due to the size of South America and the vast number of species, one of my tanks could be called a loose biotope but it's more luck than judgement.

We have to consider if the tank is big enough, if there is enough swimming space, if the tank can accommodate a decent shoal size, if there is the correct gender mix, if the source water is low in nitrates and other contaminants, if the temperature range is appropriate, if the water is hard enough or soft enough, if the pH is suitable, if there are sufficient plants for the species, if there are the required decorations like driftwood or rocks, if the substrate meets their needs, if the flow is the correct strength, if the water is adequately aerated, if species can peacefully co-habit for their whole lifetime, if we can feed different species without conflicting requirements, if there is adequate algae for herbivores, if the activity levels are going to impact other inhabitants, if they will populate top/bottom/mid water levels, if the light levels are appropriate, whether we can afford the fish, if the stockist has the fish...and more.

It's so much more important to provide the habitat that the fish needs than match locations. Fish species can have such differing needs to their close neighbours - in the same space little fish may be cowering in the plants near the banks in low flow, whilst another species is out in the middle open water that is deep and has a fast flow. It's the complexity of freshwater fish. Honestly, community tanks ae so complex it's a wonder any of us manage it!

And if you have all the fish from one location are you going to get puritan about the plants, the rocks, the substrates, the leaf litter?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

As long as their needs and behaviors are compatible, it's mostly an aesthetic decision. I'm pretty into semi-biotope tanks myself, where all of the animals, as many of the plants as possible, and the look of the decor recreate the desired area. If I can't get a specific species from the desired area, I try to get a close relative. That's where I tend to draw my lines. Others draw theirs in different places, up to and including community tanks that don't give a rip about where the fish come from. As long as everyone is well cared for, that's fine.

 

[AlexT]

I think when people are doing a certain "biotype" if that's the right word, probably part of the buzz is the research and trying to recreate it, but perhaps no "clinical need" if water parameters, décor, and other environmental needs are met (as already covered above).

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I think when people are doing a certain "biotype" if that's the right word, probably part of the buzz is the research and trying to recreate it, but perhaps no "clinical need" if water parameters, décor, and other environmental needs are met (as already covered above).

Yep, that's definitely part of the appeal to me. I enjoy learning about the ecology of a completely different part of the world. It's fun, and it puts some enjoyingly challenging parameters on my creativity.

 

[Back in the fold]

Species only , species only , species only . For clarification . . . species only .

 

[AlexT]

Species only , species only , species only . For clarification . . . species only .

I'll bite, genuinely not sure, you mean a tank with just one species of fish?

 

[Back in the fold]

I'll bite, genuinely not sure, you mean a tank with just one species of fish?

Yep . To me , the fish seem calmer and show their natural behavior best when kept only among their own kind . No other fish competing for food . No perceived predators making them nervous . Some find it boring but I have come to like species only aquariums. I do not believe in the myth of the community aquarium . But that’s just me . To each his own .

 

[AlexT]

Yep . To me , the fish seem calmer and show their natural behavior best when kept only among their own kind . No other fish competing for food . No perceived predators making them nervous . Some find it boring but I have come to like species only aquariums. I do not believe in the myth of the community aquarium . But that’s just me . To each his own .

You know what. This is interesting timing. Over the past couple of days I have been asking myself that very question. For example, my initial plan when I returned to fishkeeping recently after a 10 year absence, was to have a corydoras only tank. And like you say, for some, they might have thought "strange, you will only have bottom dwellers". Which isn't quite true anyway, when I had a corydoras only tank years ago, the cory's were everywhere, up, middle, bottom (but of course, mostly bottom of the tank).

Anyway, I got my corydoras this time round, but added a large group of tetras and some young bristlenose. Now that mix, is not exactly far fetched, radical or controversial, but I now have been faced with issues such as the tetras eating most of the food before it reaches the corydoras and the clash with sinking tablets because the veggie based ones are good for the bristlenose, but not great for the corys. These issues are all overcome(able), but in hindsight, it adds extra aggro really.

I love corydoras, bristlenose and certain tetras. But I wouldn't do it again in the same tank. They all get on, but now it doesn't feel right. Like I am trying to have my cake and eat it.

At most I'd have two different species that offered no confliction. Not just the obvious hard water/soft water and temperature, but also things that we can take our eye off, like types of foods, methods of eating, lighting levels, water flow etc.

If I did have two species, it would not be an even split just to make it "look" balanced. I would have a dominating species such as corydoras, and maybe one or two single other fish that have zero conflicts like I said above. I certainly wouldn't have two "groups" of species, I think ever again at this point. I can really see your point.

For me, as long as their is interaction and interesting behaviour in your one and only big group (of one species) that will leave me content.

 

[GaryE]

I like biotope tanks. I don't often have them, except when I have single species tanks. That's most of the time.

I try not to mix South American and African fish, but an all African tank isn't a biotope tank. I have a tank of one of the only real shoaling fish I've kept, Bathyaethiops breuseghemi. They're from somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their tankmates from a vast distance away, are Gabonese Chromidotilapia nana . I could claim it as an African biotope tank, but Africa is huge and these fish would never meet in nature.

That's the key point to me. I could call my 75 gallon a South American biotope, but it's a community with fish from all across Amazonia, with plants from Africa, North America and Asia.

Sometimes though, biotopes teach. I had some Lucania goodei, bluefin killies, from a ditch in Orlando Florida. I was having trouble raising fry as they were stingy, and small numbers made overfeeding hard to avoid. In another tank, I had Heterandria formosa, the least killifish, a tiny livebearer. I noticed the fry looked very similar, though the fish were not related (in spite of the name used for the livebearer). I started thinking about how some pygmy Corys in Amazonia shoal with almost identically marked tetras, and decided to put the two Florida fish, from the same airport ditch, into the same tank.

Problem solved, as the fry shoaled together unbothered by the different looking parents, and I was able to raise ample numbers of each.

That was cool, because I had the parents together in the same habitat, and would never have seen that if I'd kept them alone, or with SA fish.

Overall, it's a fun thing. Some people take pleasure in gathering all the plants, gravels, fish etc to make a tiny slice of nature, and other delight in having tanks that look like the crowd in an airport. The only time I think it REALLY matters is with Cichlids. The time since the continents drifted apart is long, and SA and African Cichlids communicate differently. African river Cichlids are a bit tougher than most SA Cichlids, and the communication problems lead to fighting. East African Cichlids get along with no other fish, but are fine together.

 

[Back in the fold]

@AlexT I see that the fish show behaviors that they never do when they are kept with other species than when they are amongst their own kind only . They really settle down . Even the biggest aquarium isn’t really that big when compared to the wild where fish have unlimited space to escape to solitude . I once saw a big birdcage that a guy had a dozen finches in and it was a beautiful sight but if he had finches and canaries and parakeets and maybe a small parrot all together in there it would have been pandemonium at best .

 

[Magnum Man]

no disrespect meant... & this was asked as member opinions, so there is no wrong answer... but I've said this before on several subjects... it's humans who want to control nature... there is nothing "natural" about aquariums in general... putting only one fish species in a tank can't replicate anything in nature...

sure they like to hang out... but if they have a preferred biotope, something else is going to want to live there as well... unless what you're keeping is a big fat predator ( got fat from eating everything else that thought his spot was good ) all animal's will have to interact with something that encroaches on their space ( unless the critter has adapted to conditions nothing else could survive in ) in general, if the water quality is good, the critter is going to get company... and actually interacting & or learning to interact is more natural than a single species bio...

 

[sharkweek178]

Yep . To me , the fish seem calmer and show their natural behavior best when kept only among their own kind . No other fish competing for food . No perceived predators making them nervous . Some find it boring but I have come to like species only aquariums. I do not believe in the myth of the community aquarium . But that’s just me . To each his own .

I was talking to someone who wanted to do the old Noah's Ark approach, 1 or 2 of each species. I tried to explain schooling and I made the point that fish interact with others of their own species in ways they don't interact with other species. Like males competing for female attention.

 

[AlexT]

and actually interacting & or learning to interact is more natural than a single species bio...

But more natural to who, you? That is a preference as fish keeper and adding the word natural to justify it