Need fish help

[Steph_D]

I have become quite the fish nut in the past few months. They're awesome pets! They don't bark, meow, shed, or pee on the carpet :aktion033: They also don't bite the mailman :bgrin

I currently have 8 tanks with fish in them. I have 3 10-gallon tanks with guppies, gollies (guppy/molly crosses), tiger barbs, red eye tetras, upside down catfish and the assorted corys and algae eaters. We have 2-2 1/2 gallon tanks and other smaller tanks with betas in them. Tomorrow I'm picking up a freebie 29 gallon tank with 2 plecos in it. What I'm looking for advice on is what kind of fish to get for it.

I'd like a community tank, but I'm not sure what would go together. Angelfish are gorgeous, but from what I'm reading they tend to get a little big and I wouldn't be able to have very many in the same tank. I'd like to get something that's bigger than a guppy (but won't get too big), not super aggressive, and will live in a community tank with other fish. I researched jelly bean parrot fish, but read that they sometimes get super aggressive, especially when they're guarding eggs/fry.

Any ideas on what would go good together?? I would like to stick with the warm water tropical fish, but not salt water fish because I have absolutely no experience with them.

 

[Sterling]

If you don't want any aggressive fish stay away from the Cichlid (sp?) family.....they are considered the grumpy fish of the tropical community. Angel fish are considered in the Cichlid family, but I have had them and they seem to be milder than others. But they are also very delicate. Gouramies are also considered Cichlids, and the ones I had were not agressive, there are the kissing gouramies, pearl...etc.... Keep an eye on your Tiger Barb and any type of barb as they can be fin nippers, so if you see any quick action in your tanks and notice some of your fish missing some fins, your barbs will more than likely be the culprit.

I have always liked the Neon Tetras...they are school fish and to get the most out of them and enjoy their beauty it's best to get more than a couple. I've always loved the Swordtails, Baloon Mollies, Wags and Platys...they're easy to breed and they are livebearers. Cory cats are my fav too.

The Parrot fish is also a Cichlid...cute but may be aggressive. Good luck with your new tropical fish hobby....salt water can be beautiful, but also a challenge and can get very expensive. My fav have always been the livebearers for the indoor fish...I love waking up to livefry...for outdoor ponds...definitely Koi and Orandas!

:

 

[rabbitsfizz]

One of the reasons Angel Fish get so big is they fail to live up to their name, and eat all the other fish!!!

 

[tifflunn]

I have a 29 gallon with a pleco 10 inches 2 clown loaches about 6 inches and a massive angel fish about 12 inches- ( Moving to a much bigger tank real soon!) They all get along fine. the clown loaches drive the other two nuts when they get active- but they just kind of bump into the angel and pleco and they move on over. I have had Angel fishes a couple of times now- I find that if they are a tad smaller than there tank mates(keeping in mind there mature size) they seem to do fine because they are a bossy and can be agressive fish. Mollies and sward tail are good too. Good Luck

 

[justaboutgeese]

Lightly battered and fried.

 

[tifflunn]

:risa_suelos: :lol:

Lightly battered and fried.

 

[Marty]

Angel fish are way too aggressive.

How about some irredecent sharks?????

I have this shark fetish. I just love those sharks.

 

[Buckskin gal]

I love the Angel fish and didn't find them to be aggressive unless they were mating. Raised hundreds of them and sold like hotcakes to the pet stores. I have had tropical fish for years and I love some of the African cichlids also. Some can be very mild mannered and they are so much fun to watch them breed and raise their babies. They incubate them in their mouths. Right now I have the Electric Yellows and Blue Dolphins together and they get along great and have babies ever so often. I have found most tropical fish to not be so agressive if they are kept well fed. A lot of people just starve them. They are very relaxing to watch and enjoy...more so than t.v. alot of the time. Mary

 

[runamuk]

I Tomorrow I'm picking up a freebie 29 gallon tank with 2 plecos in it. What I'm looking for advice on is what kind of fish to get for it.

I'd like a community tank, but I'm not sure what would go together. Angelfish are gorgeous, but from what I'm reading they tend to get a little big and I wouldn't be able to have very many in the same tank. I'd like to get something that's bigger than a guppy (but won't get too big), not super aggressive, and will live in a community tank with other fish. I researched jelly bean parrot fish, but read that they sometimes get super aggressive, especially when they're guarding eggs/fry.

Any ideas on what would go good together?? I would like to stick with the warm water tropical fish, but not salt water fish because I have absolutely no experience with them.

Salt is tough and spendy.....

OK for a nice community in a 29 I would suggest.......schools of tetras...you could do 5 neons...5 zebra...5 of another variety.....if you get bigger ones (not huge) you could also add some barbs or go a different route and do a shark tank with groups of red tips and bala's......then there are gouramies which are very attractive and gentle and do well in pairs and come in a multitude of varieties kissing ones are very cute........the other option is to go cold water and have fancy goldfish............all these fish can live with the pleco's......rule of thumb no more than 1 inch of fish per gallon of water....so remember to count the pleco's size and under stock a bit to allow for growth.

You could do angels they will only get as large as the amount of space they have however they have tail envy and will nip off the tails of other fancy tailed fish...also they don't do real well with barbs as barbs like to eat tails as well.....a pair of smaller angels will do well with larger tetras and makes a very attractive tank.......

thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed the fish room and my fish clients way back when...

:

 

[mininik]

"thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed the fish room and my fish clients way back when..."

I always loved the kids who would come in with fifty cents to buy a few feeder goldfish or guppies but would want the certain one way in the back at the bottom of the tank that winked at them... oh no, it wasn't that one... there he is... no, no... the other gold one... be careful... not that one... over here! Quick! :new_shocked:

 

[Sterling]

Tiff your angel sounds like one I had years ago.....he got pop-eye and died...I was sooo bummed!! He was my "baby"!!! Had him for many years.

I always loved the kids who would come in with fifty cents to buy a few feeder goldfish or guppies but would want the certain one way in the back at the bottom of the tank that winked at them... oh no, it wasn't that one... there he is... no, no... the other gold one... be careful... not that one... over here! Quick!

:lol: Gosh Nikki....you talking about me????

: They sell feeder goldfish at Pet Smart in separate tanks, for a quarter each. I go in there and whenever I see a Sarassa Comet in the mix I make the clerk go chasing after that special "homely" one I want to rescue...LOL...little do they know I know it will turn into a big beautiful Godlfish! :risa_suelos:

 

[runamuk]

"thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed the fish room and my fish clients way back when..."

I always loved the kids who would come in with fifty cents to buy a few feeder goldfish or guppies but would want the certain one way in the back at the bottom of the tank that winked at them... oh no, it wasn't that one... there he is... no, no... the other gold one... be careful... not that one... over here! Quick! :new_shocked:

OH yeah that was always cute

:

one of my best memories of what I considered a great pet store involved a fish......this guy came in to buy a pet mouse to put in a fishbowl.....I told him no I wouldn't sell him a mouse...so he proceeded to decide he wanted a betta and it would be a better choice anyway since he was going to be in china for 3 weeks :new_shocked: I asked if he had someone to feed the fish while he was gone and he said no it would be fine...so I told him to come back when he returned because I do not sell animals knowing they will die ..his comment was it's only a fish...my comment was yes and that fish is perfectly happy to LIVE here for 3 more weeks................yep mean old me wouldn't sell a 3.99 betta because I knew it would die for sure

: oh and my boss was perfectly happy that I lost that sale

:

 

[Shelley]

Fish are great but be careful...they can be very addicitive! Before I knew it I had 23 tanks running! It took over my life and now I am down to 2 tanks, a 40 gallon with my four remaining angels (at one time I had over 100 but sold them off) and a 125 gallon Discus tank. At one point I had 17 breeding pairs of angels!

I never had much luck keeping community fish alive. It does seem that some of the tetras lived forever. The neons always seemed to disappear one by one. If you have mollys and platys remember that they like a more brackish water than most other community fish.

Angels do much better in an angel specific tank. I have had luck keeping coreys with them.

I also did African cichlids for years, they are some of the most beautiful of the freshwater fish, but as said earlier they are aggressive and you should not mix them with community fish. I even had trouble introducing new africans into the tank as they are very territorial and if they decided they didn't like the newcomer they would kill it by the next day. Pretty aggrevating to pay $20+ for a fish and have the others decide they don't like it! They will rearrange the gravel to their own liking and destroy your plants.

These last angelfish are getting pretty old, (5 yrs. +) and once they are gone I will take down the 40 gallon and just keep the Discus tank running.

Whatever fish you select, make sure you buy them from a reputable fish store, not from a Wal-Mart or such. They will be much healthier. And once you get your tank established, set up a quarantine tank for newcomers. New fish can bring diseases home with them and it is not fun to lose several of your favorite fish because of one sick newcomer. Been there, done that, lost several hundred dollars worth of Discus. :no: Keep up your water changes and make sure you don't change all your filter elements at one time...it's hard to accept that bacteria is a good thing, but in this case it is.

:

Have fun with it!!

Shelley

 

[RainSong]

Try looking at fish on www.aquabid.com

One small peaceful cichilid (Yes, it can happen) is the German dwarf blue ram.... GORGEOUS fish, and someday I want some. They usually have an auction or two on the site- alot of the auctions have pictures, and some have links to info about the fish, so even if you aren't going to buy, you can see and learn

 

[Shelley]

Yes, Rams are gorgeous and they are peaceful! They are a South American cichlid, not an African. Some people even keep them with Discus. Aquabid is a good place to go see all the different kinds of fish.

Shelley

 

[Cronewolf]

: Swordtails They will also breed with mollies. Barbs Ghost knife fish. When I worked In fish many years ago The recomedation was to stick with either live bearers or egg layers together.

I have become quite the fish nut in the past few months. They're awesome pets! They don't bark, meow, shed, or pee on the carpet :aktion033: They also don't bite the mailman :bgrin

I currently have 8 tanks with fish in them. I have 3 10-gallon tanks with guppies, gollies (guppy/molly crosses), tiger barbs, red eye tetras, upside down catfish and the assorted corys and algae eaters. We have 2-2 1/2 gallon tanks and other smaller tanks with betas in them. Tomorrow I'm picking up a freebie 29 gallon tank with 2 plecos in it. What I'm looking for advice on is what kind of fish to get for it.

I'd like a community tank, but I'm not sure what would go together. Angelfish are gorgeous, but from what I'm reading they tend to get a little big and I wouldn't be able to have very many in the same tank. I'd like to get something that's bigger than a guppy (but won't get too big), not super aggressive, and will live in a community tank with other fish. I researched jelly bean parrot fish, but read that they sometimes get super aggressive, especially when they're guarding eggs/fry.

Any ideas on what would go good together?? I would like to stick with the warm water tropical fish, but not salt water fish because I have absolutely no experience with them.

 

[Happy Valley]

Kuhli Loaches are the neatest little bottom feeders! I have 8 in my 30 gallon tank, along with two Angels (about three inches top to bottom not counting fins), 5 black skirted tetras, 2 sunset gouramies, 4 algae eaters, a pictus cat and a banjo cat. I have several live plants, too. Looks great and is a cinch to care for, just a 25% water change every 3-4 weeks, using distilled water.

When I can get my hands on a couple of clown loaches I'll add them, too. I enjoy their antics. You just can't beat the Kuhlies though. They are Neat

Stacye

 

[runamuk]

Well you all have gone and done it now.......all this fish talk reminded me that I have my toad tank......we haven't had a toad in about 8 years...but that 10 gallon tank is still sitting there....so now I have a hankering for a few fancy goldfish...great just great...tank doesn't even leak after all these years (yes went and tested it yeterday

: )......so now I need some gravel and a back filter (love the sound they make)....then just add fish and some food.....I don't have to fiddle with chlorine treatments as I have well water so if I fill it and run it about a week before adding fish it will be fishy paradise :bgrin :bgrin and my cats will love their own personal TV :bgrin :bgrin ....ok so did we figure out where to find those cute panda fish

: :bgrin

 

[luvmycritters]

[SIZE=12pt]I know all about the fish bug - have had it for over twenty years now.

: I started out with the atypical cichlids and though every one is warning against them - I have always loved them. Since you have so many smaller comunity tanks going already - why not start out with a small cichlid comuntity? You could start with just a few angels ( which actually are very mild tempered when small. ) Or you could start with one or two severums - they are really neat and hardy to boot. They are very similar to the angels, but more hardy. Any of the scavengers ( placustomus, loaches, cat fish ect. will mix in well with just about any of the cichlids, not to mention tetra's and other fast moving schooling fish such as dano's. ) The larger chiclids become very tame as well, much like gold fish, they will come to the tank top and take food from your fingers. I think these fish are the coolest of the tropicals - though they do require different care. For axample - rocks are a great decoration - plants are not. Chiclids LOVE TO DIG! If you are at all interested in these fellows, pm me and I can give you my personal experiance.

Good luck![/SIZE]

Lori

 

[runamuk]

[SIZE=12pt]I know all about the fish bug - have had it for over twenty years now! I started out with the atypical cyclids and though every one is warning against them - I have always loved them. Since you have so many smaller comunity tanks going already - why not start out with a small cyclid comuntity? You could start with just a few angels ( which actually are very mild tempered when small. ) Or you could start with one or two severums - they are really neat and hardy to boot. They are very similar to the angels, but more hardy. Any of the scavengers ( placustomus, loaches, cat fish ect. will mix in well with just about any of the cichlids, not to mention tetra's and other fast moving schooling fish such as dano's. ) The larger chiclids become very tame as well, much like gold fish, they will come to the tank top and take food from your fingers. I think these fish are the coolest of the tropicals - though they do require different care. For axample - rocks are a great decoration - plants are not. Chiclids LOVE TO DIG! If you are at all interested in these fellows, pm me and I can give you my personal experiance.

Good luck![/SIZE]

Lori

I am laughing here as I remember those silly ciclids acting like fishy bulldozers completely re arranging all gravel and decorations :bgrin :bgrin I'd fix it and they'd re do it...I'd fix it...and they'd redo it....."fine silly fish you win your house looks like the local garbage dump but that is fine with me" :bgrin :bgrin yes I made that statement to fish......I am not ashamed to admit I used to talk to the fish

:

: .......my very favorites in freshwater tropical were the discus loved those fish but man can they be tempermental......if you can get their tank just right then just leave well enough alone they will do great ...mostly it is getting tank conditions correct...personally I would never have discus in anything smaller than a 50 gallon and honestly would prefer a 100 gallon brackish tank :bgrin