Doomchibi
Fish Fanatic
I have a 1.5" rainbow shark and a 1" leopard ctenopoma (leopard gourami), and I am trying to plan out future tankmates for them. They are currently in a 20g long aquarium for the time being until my living situation is settled, and then they will be moved into as big a tank as I can reasonably find. Most likely around 125g or so, bigger if I come across one. (I am not going to be adding any more fish to this current tank, again- i'm just planning.)
I have some ideas of what I could put with them, but I would like opinions on these. The only two fish that must be included are my current two, so I do have a decent variety I can choose from.. I'm not planning on putting *all* of these fish ideas in, but I would like to try to choose some if any seem reasonable. If you know of any I don't name, I would love to hear about them as well.
I am keeping in mind that my ctenopoma could potentially eat anything that will fit into her mouth when she reaches her adult size, and so I am going to assume that is anything smaller than 2 inches. If anyone knows whether or not I need to go with larger fish than that, please let me know. Also, most fish I can purchase would be young, if not juveniles, and so I need to consider how safe they would be while they were growing. If needed I could purchase small fish and keep them in a different tank while they grow, until it would be safe to put them with my others.
Any of these?
Boesemani Rainbowfish 1.5 - 2" at purchase (Would be getting about 5)
Red Breast Smiling Cichlid (Laetacara curviceps) 1" to 1-3/4" at purchase
Acei Cichlid (Pseudotropheus sp. ) 1-1/2" to 2" at purchase
German Gold or German Blue Rams (Papiliochromis ramirezi) 1" to 1-1/2" at purchase (Can you keep both colors together?)
Porthole Catfish (Dianema longibarbis) 1" - 2" at purchase
Badis (Badis badis) 3/4" to 2-1/2" at purchase
Panda Barb (Puntius fasciatus) 1.5 - 2" at purchase
Out of all of these, the rainbowfish are the most preferred species.. So if any of those aren't compatible with the others, prioritize the rainbowfish.
Also, a different idea I had. I have heard of (and seen) adult leopard ctenopoma being kept with senegal bichir successfully. If I was to try this, I am assuming my rainbow shark would be safe if he grew to 6" or so which is what I have been told he will reach, but I am not sure about any other fish. I know senegals will usually eat anything they could possibly fit in their mounts, (unless the other fish are too fast), but no one has said exactly what size that usually is. So my question on that is what size fish is generally safe to keep with these bichirs? Is it anything over 5" or would 4" be OK? If I could keep some medium sized fish (say 4" or bigger at adult size) along with my current two in a tank with 1 senegal bichir, I would love to do that- But I definitely do not want to risk anyone getting eaten. If I was going to do this, I would wait until all of my fish were at least 3" before getting the bichir (who would only be around 4-5" when I got it) so hopefully everything would be able to grow fully before the bichir got nippy.
Let me know if you have any other questions and thank you all for reading my obnoxious block of text.
I have some ideas of what I could put with them, but I would like opinions on these. The only two fish that must be included are my current two, so I do have a decent variety I can choose from.. I'm not planning on putting *all* of these fish ideas in, but I would like to try to choose some if any seem reasonable. If you know of any I don't name, I would love to hear about them as well.
I am keeping in mind that my ctenopoma could potentially eat anything that will fit into her mouth when she reaches her adult size, and so I am going to assume that is anything smaller than 2 inches. If anyone knows whether or not I need to go with larger fish than that, please let me know. Also, most fish I can purchase would be young, if not juveniles, and so I need to consider how safe they would be while they were growing. If needed I could purchase small fish and keep them in a different tank while they grow, until it would be safe to put them with my others.
Any of these?
Boesemani Rainbowfish 1.5 - 2" at purchase (Would be getting about 5)
Red Breast Smiling Cichlid (Laetacara curviceps) 1" to 1-3/4" at purchase
Acei Cichlid (Pseudotropheus sp. ) 1-1/2" to 2" at purchase
German Gold or German Blue Rams (Papiliochromis ramirezi) 1" to 1-1/2" at purchase (Can you keep both colors together?)
Porthole Catfish (Dianema longibarbis) 1" - 2" at purchase
Badis (Badis badis) 3/4" to 2-1/2" at purchase
Panda Barb (Puntius fasciatus) 1.5 - 2" at purchase
Out of all of these, the rainbowfish are the most preferred species.. So if any of those aren't compatible with the others, prioritize the rainbowfish.
![smile.png](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fishforums.net%2F%2Fpublic%2Fstyle_emoticons%2Fdefault%2Fsmile.png&hash=b5c8ae447c70b019aa0ca962f3fd8dfb)
Also, a different idea I had. I have heard of (and seen) adult leopard ctenopoma being kept with senegal bichir successfully. If I was to try this, I am assuming my rainbow shark would be safe if he grew to 6" or so which is what I have been told he will reach, but I am not sure about any other fish. I know senegals will usually eat anything they could possibly fit in their mounts, (unless the other fish are too fast), but no one has said exactly what size that usually is. So my question on that is what size fish is generally safe to keep with these bichirs? Is it anything over 5" or would 4" be OK? If I could keep some medium sized fish (say 4" or bigger at adult size) along with my current two in a tank with 1 senegal bichir, I would love to do that- But I definitely do not want to risk anyone getting eaten. If I was going to do this, I would wait until all of my fish were at least 3" before getting the bichir (who would only be around 4-5" when I got it) so hopefully everything would be able to grow fully before the bichir got nippy.
Let me know if you have any other questions and thank you all for reading my obnoxious block of text.
![biggrin.png](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fishforums.net%2F%2Fpublic%2Fstyle_emoticons%2Fdefault%2Fbiggrin.png&hash=9aa5d624d33fdc252bf73c00afa01086)