What Fish To Start With Before Your Tank Is "done"?

[Evad]

I have a 180gal planted tank. Its cycled and has about 25 plants in it but all small and so it isn't exactly established or full of cute hiding places, shady areas, etc.

Seems like every fish I want has notes in fish forums as "needs established tank" or "needs lots of hiding places" or "needs some shade from the bright light" or "likes older established water conditions".

The centerpeice will be angelfish and I know I want a school of cories, but other than that I am open to suggestions. The real question is "what can I put in my tank right now to keep the cycle going while my tank grows up"

Thanks for any advice you may have

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Danio's are generally very hardy fish as are White Cloud Mountain Minnows and they won't harm the plants and don't seem generally bothered too much about hiding spaces and stuff etc (at least my ones don't) .

 

[england]

it has cycled as you say so the angel fish should be fine,,,then give a few weeks then go for the corys
what iam concidering getting to go with my angels are the colombian tetras, someone has them in his fish shop and they are beautiful
get a nice school of them

 

[Evad]

Danio's are generally very hardy fish as are White Cloud Mountain Minnows and they won't harm the plants and don't seem generally bothered too much about hiding spaces and stuff etc (at least my ones don't) .

The tank is kept at 79 so I am not sure the White Cloud would be happy about that. But I do love those fish

Danios are not known for nipping right?

it has cycled as you say so the angel fish should be fine,,,then give a few weeks then go for the corys
what iam concidering getting to go with my angels are the colombian tetras, someone has them in his fish shop and they are beautiful
get a nice school of them

I found that in the species list. Nice idea I will look into it - again I am assuming no nipping issues on Angels?

 

[Esfa]

Congo Tetras are a great community fish.

Bristlenose plecs are great, although you might have a problem with them uprooting your plants.

If all your fish will be large-ish (at least 4") then you could get a group of reedfish! They are amazing, very interesting.

Goodluck with your tank

 

[OldMan47]

A few angels and even a large shoal of cories will not fill a tank that size. Be careful with cories at such a high temperature, they are not all OK at 79F. You can get details on any that interest you at planet catfish. The temperature range of each species is given there if it is actually known. The high end for cories is typically between 76F and about 80F but many of the more common ones max out at the 76 end of the spectrum. The low end for many cories actually makes them suitable to use with goldfish its so low. I love cories but have had to rearrange things after looking up the limits on newly aquired cories due to the other fish in my tanks.
In my humble opinion, since your two primary residents are not real good at new water, what are the third and forth choices that you intend to have in the tank? Maybe they would be species that can be put into a newly cycled tank without much stress.

 

[ALW]

I suppose it depends on what type of fish you want to keep. In my tank my first fish where Neon Tetras, they are all still alive and very happy. I know most people say that Neons arent very hardy, but mine where.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Penguin tetras are also very hardy and may do better in the warmer temps- but do you plan to keep these fish in the long term or are you just using them for now to fill the tank out a bit while it is maturing?