please help me with my tank plans

[black_bull]

Hi everyone!

Can anyone help me with this problem:

I'm looking for fish that grow large (between 6 and 10 inches) and will be compatible with each other in a tank about 90 US gallons. I like new world cichlids, but I'm open minded. They all need to be very peaceful fish, but also should have personalities and be active. Furthermore, the tank will have a fine gravel or sand substrate, and will have only a few rocks of varying sizes for decorations (2-3 large ones). The fish obviously need to be comfortable with hardly any decorations in their tank. Anyone know any fish that fit the bill? I'd appreciate any recommendations, and do research myself, but a brief description from you guys of any fish that fit these criteria would be VERY helpful.

Also, I have a strange question courtesy of my wife: what is a good catfish (not a plec species) that has long whiskers or barbels and only grows to about 8-12 inches? it doesn't matter if the fish is dull colored; the most important factor is, strangely, the long whiskers. Please help me out on this, as she really is insistant on this point.


Thanks a lot, and sorry for the long post.

 

[modernhamlet]

A few mid-sized relatively peaceful South American cichlids:
Kehole Cichlid (Cleithracara maronii) 5"
Flag Cichlid (Mesonauta festivus) 6"
Blue Acara ('Aequidens' pulcher) 7"
Rainbow Eartheater (Gymnogeophagus australis) 6"
Devilfish (Satanoperca jurupari) 10"

Profiles and species articles available here: http/www.cichlid-forum.com/

The catfish you're probably looking for:
Raphael Catfish (Platydoras costatus)

Hope that helps get you started!

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

i would go for angels as they are peaceful

but for an intelligent fish oyu cant beat oscars

 

[black_bull]

Are there any New World cichlids smaller than Oscars that are also active and intelligent? I'm setting up a community, so the fish can be 14" long. I'm considering blue acaras and keyholes (thanks modernhamlet).

 

[black_bull]

Anyone able to recommend a non-cichlid for this tank? That gets to about 6-10"? Any advice appreciated.

 

[catfish101]

bala sharks, banded leporinous, tinfoil barbs, cigar sharks

 

[seanie112]

i cant think of anything but cichlids

 

[rob newland]

For the catfish look at synos?
My syno notatus has pretty long barbels and I believe its max size is 11"
although there are more colourful syno cats you can get.