Tropical Fish Compatability

[onebto]

Hello everyone I hope you are all well and so are you fish

Personally I think there is know substitute for studying a project thoroughly but it does not help to get a little help from time to time ("why try to re invent the wheel?)

So I was looking in various places on the WEB and came across this place which has a compatibility calculator for tropical fish I would appreciate it if some of you could comment on it as to is it reliable

http/www.tropicalfishandaquariums.com/Co...ility/index.php

One is vary aware that there have been people who have managed to keep all sorts of combinations well that are commonly thought to be incompatible and that it is a bit of a science of its own.

As mentioned I am reading and studying a lot of possible combinations of what to put with my soon to be 6 Zebra Danios I really want some colour in my Tank but as it is a minefield of information I would appreciate some thoughts from the experienced of you out there in TFF world.

Any thoughts links would be SINCERELY appreciated

Regards Ian .

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Onebto,

There is a site, freqently mentioned by beginners here (thinkfish?), which often seems to recommend considerably heavier stocking levels than most TFF members usually recommend for beginners. My own feeling is that any place you can get an -idea- (a recommendation of two species that are supposed to be ok together, say, or a warning about a problem a particular species might have etc.) then its good to take that idea to your "home base" where you have begun to get a feeling that some of the members are good at this or that advice and discuss it some. On TFF of course, there are forums that get closer down to individual species level where hopefully some of this dialog can take place.

As a "re-beginner" here I found myself surprised at how complicated the process of choosing a community could be. The way I now tend to organize it roughly in my mind is:
1) Make short lists of fish that interest you. Take notes when you visit shops.
2) Work on figuring out minimum schooling sizes for each species if that is applicable.
3) Work out whether there are any peculiar size or other environmental factors for a particular fish. (for example, some fish may need lots of horizontal "darting" space, some may need heavy cover, some may need vertical height, etc.)
4) Finally, with the species that still seem to be passing all the tests, work on "cross-species compatibility" which of course may take more discussion and luck on finding anyone with direct experience.

Another confusing bit to keep in mind is that although most species have a general "personality" or "behaviour" that hobbyists can describe, there are some species (gouramis and certain cichlids come to mind) where each individual fish may have a somewhat unpredictable "personality," which of course throws a bit of a wrench into ones plans sometimes. Of course that also can be the wildcard that makes you really enjoy a particular fish in your aquarium!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Davo86]

Well the site gives me the following list that is compatible with zebra Danios.

Bala Shark, Betta (Siamese Fighting), Black Neon Tetra, Black Skirt Tetra, Bleeding Heart Tetra, Blind Cave Tetra, Bloodfin, Bosemani Rainbow, Buenos Aires Tetra, Cherry Barb, Chinese Algae Eater, Clown Loach, Colombian Tetra, Congo Tetra, Corydoras Catfish, Croaking Gourami, Diamond Tetra, Dwarf Gourami, Dwarf Neon Rainbow, Emperor Tetra, Fancy Goldfish, Featherfin Squeaker, Flame Tetra, Flying Fox, Gardneri Killifish, GloFish, Head-and-Tail-Light Tetra, Kissing Gourami, Kribensis, Kuhli Loach, Lemon Tetra, Molly, Otto Catfish, Pearl Gourami, Penguin Tetra, Platy, Pleco (Common), Rainbow Shark, Red Base Tetra, Red Eye Tetra, Red Tailed Shark, Rosy Barb, Rummynose Tetra, Serpae Tetra, Siamese Algae Eater, Silver Dollar, Silver Tip Tetra, Sparkling Gourami, Swordtail, Three Spot Gourami, Tiger Barb, Tinfoil Barb, Upsidedown Catfish,

from the list the betta shouldn't really be there, or the fancy goldfish IMO
or the CAE
Larger Silver Sharks or Tinfoils may snack on small danios

apart from thats i'd say its ok, although Danios are generally fine with most community species anyway so that isn't really a good test of the accuracy of the site

here is a few more tests i chose

- Search Results: The Blood Parrot Cichlid should be kept in groups of pairs or more and is compatible with the Angelfish, Featherfin Squeaker, Firemouth Cichlid, Green Terror, Kribensis, Leopard Pleco L114, Peppermint Pleco L030, Pleco (Common), Salvini Cichlid, Severum, Silver Dollar, Sunshine Pleco L014, Texas Cichlid,

- The Blood Parrot Cichlid should be kept in groups of pairs or more and is not compatible with the Oscar Cichlid

- The Fancy Goldfish should be kept in groups of any amount and is compatible with the Cherry Barb, Chinese High Fin, Corydoras Catfish, GloFish, Kuhli Loach, Otto Catfish, Rosy Barb, Upsidedown Catfish, White Cloud, Zebra Danio,

- The Zebra Pleco L046 should be kept in groups of any amount and is compatible with the Altum Angelfish, Angelfish, Chocolate Zebra Pleco L270, Discus, Featherfin Squeaker, Flash Pleco L204, Gardneri Killifish, Glass Catfish, King Tiger Pleco L066, Lemon Spotted Green Pleco L200, Leopard Pleco L114, Peppermint Pleco L030, Pleco (Common), Queen Arabesque Pleco L260, Starlight Bristlenose Pleco L183, Sunshine Pleco L014,

- Search Results: The Zebra Pleco L046 should be kept in groups of any amount and is not compatible with the Neon Tetra

from this it is quite clear that the compatibility lists are just one guys opinion of what can and can't go together. but given there is no definite answer to what can and can't be stocked together everyone is going to have a different perspective on the answers

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah there's various comaptibility calculators floating around, my advice is don't take them as gospel but they can give a general idea. the problem is they are almost always made by just 1 person, even the most experienced fishkeepers have not kept every possible species or every possible combination of species, and their experiences are not necessarily representative of what normally happens. so you can't expect them to get everything perfect.

by all means develop a stocking list using it as a guide, but then post it up here and we'll sanity check it for you.

for some more info on working out fish compatibility read the link in my sig 'guide to stocking lists'

 

[onebto]

Thank you all wise words that make a lot of sense

 

[mancin]

I also referenced that site when I was doing research for stocking for my tank. I ended up going a little overboard (although I like to think of it as prepared) and made an Excel Spreadsheet and did a cross compatibility chart as well as compared required temperature, pH, # of fish suggested (for any schooling fish), adult size, and what level they typically hang out in.

I really like Tiger Barbs so I first brought up what was compatible with those, and then once I found some I was interested in, I cross checked them against each other to make sure (hopefully) everyone would play nice. So far so good!

First hand experience, or knowing someone with first hand experience, would seem to be better, but like Miss Wiggle said, at least tools such as this give you a place to start!