Stocking: Looking For Centerpiece Fish For Danio/guppy Aquarium

[Gvilleguy]

Our new 26 US gallon tank (98 liters) has 4 Zebra Danios, 4 Glofish Danios, and 4 male guppies (video in my signature if you want to see). I did the math based on the surface area of the bow front, and I calculated a capacity of about 28 inches of adult fish. I've stocked about 24 inches of fish so far, and with my double filtration I would not stress about adding another fish or two.

The tank fishless cycled for over 2 months, and I plan to run for 3 - 4 weeks with the current load of fish. I would then like to purchase a "centerpiece" fish for the tank. A fish that would grow 2.5 - 3 inches and not be aggressive to the other stock. The tank is colorful and with a lot of water flow, and it also has a cave shelter and a few plants.

I like the Dwarf Gouramis but have read too many posts of them getting sick and dieing. I also read that larger Gourami breeds might not get along well with my stock.

The tank pH so far is running 6.8 to 7.2 with a temp of 76F (24C). Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Badis, perhaps?

 

[Gvilleguy]

You know, I like the look of the Badis Badis - interesting fish! I have not seen one of those in my LFS yet. But I would worry about feeding habit - it sounds like a slow eater, and the Danios and Guppies are voracious right at the surface. I might have trouble keeping a Badis fed.

A less imaginative solution I thought of tonight might be a bright colored, male swordtail. They can grow 4 inches, so it would certainly be the biggest fish in my tank. But I don't know how one would do in non-brackish water.

 

[OldMan47]

You want something along the lines of a tetra or a South American fish. Most of the common livebearers will not tolerate your water very well. Have a look at the rams (ramirezi) and similar fish.

Please do not fall into the trap of thinking more filtration means higher stocking is OK. It gives you no added stock capacity whatsoever.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Wow - the Ram is a beautiful fish - and definitely looks like it would do well in my soft water. If my guppies succumb to the low trending pH from my tap water (KH = 0 out of the tap!), I will look into swapping over to the Rams. Thanks for that suggestion. I don't have enough data on how my tank will stabilize yet in terms of pH, so I don't plan on adding any other fish to the tank for a month at least.