Tropical fish ideas...

[TexP5]

Heathen, we've tried the "overcrowding" thing and it generally results in the newest fish becoming the newest lunch! HA.

I only have a 30 gallon tank so your guess of 7 fish is exactly what I have been doing. I've lost four fish in my several attempts to do this. I have one EXTREMELY dominant fish that just doesn't tolerate the new guys very well.

 

[iLisa]

Neons.. get lots of 'em because they are schooling fish and do better in groups..
btw- I have a 20 gal. with tetras, neons, mollies, pleco, and a lil' froggie..
and I was just told at a fish store yesterday that you can have one fish per gallon of water..

who here likes real plants opposed to plastic ones??

 

[GoBlues]

I'm currently feeding the fish "Nutrafin Max" as their daily flake food... and yeah, I do put a couple of algae disks in every other day... but the sharks don't go near them... Also, I throw a shrimp pellet in daily for the loach... he loves those things.

Anyone had good experiences with red-tail sharks?? They're by far my favorite fish... but I can't keep them in there... they just die off on me... could be the mix of fish.

Please keep in mind... I'm not a fish enthusiast... I just go by what the dudes at the pet store tell me I can mix.

 

[Natey]

My buddy has a salt water coral tank. There's all kinds of colorful coral, a couple of starfish and a seahorse. It's pretty cool, but a ton of work!

 

[iLisa]

yeah.. and salt water is much more expensive.. fish are very pricey.. if one dies, you cry a lot more.. lol

 

[Heathen23]

Heathen, we've tried the "overcrowding" thing and it generally results in the newest fish becoming the newest lunch! HA.

LOL classic Cichlid issue. My horrilble experiment style of overcrowding (actually recommended by a breeder) has to be done all at once. It's harder to manage the water properly but I found it to be the only way to keep them from becoming overly recluse and mean. And yes, if you dump a few lonely soles in there with several existing africans you just bought expensive fish food. Most books seem to say that african tanks shouldn't start with less than 50 gallons anyway because of the lack of space and the difficulty of balancing the water (harder to balance the water of a small tank because amonia get's out of hand very quickly....peeing fishy bastards!).

I'm actually a fan of a somewhat quiet tank. I'm not saying stark but I tend to go overboard with rocks and plants because I like a natural look.

As a general note about tank space; never forget that when you pile in tons of rocks and plants you are taking away from the "gallons" of space you have for the fish. However, gallons aren't as good of measure as length and width considering very few fish take advantage of height which can make up much of the tank measured tank space.

Simply put, tall tanks suck for having a good aquarium. They may have 100 gallons but longer IS better. LOL

For those who mention how large the sharks and pleco will get... just how long does this take?? Like I said earlier... I've had the fish for about 8 months and they honestly don't look any bigger than when I bought them?!?!? I'm hoping they start growing... maybe I'll take the advise and not add any more... but man, the tank just looks so empty!!

Water quality has more to do with growth than food. Fish appearance is influenced by food (as is growth) but water quality is why a fish typically grows to a certain size in a tank. Fish pee like mad creating amonia. Amonia is toxic to the fish. The fish grow and pee more = less clean water = stunted growth. There are other factors but this is the biggest factor from my understanding.

If the amonia balance is high then your fish won't grow quickly. If the balance is under control then your fish will grow at a decent pace. I would highly recommend you call a good fish store and ask if they do free or cheap water tests. If they are a good store they will do it for free then recommend a little balancing kit that you can use at home to help you get your fish healthy and growing.

 

[Heathen23]

Neons.. get lots of 'em because they are schooling fish and do better in groups..

Neons are great cheap fish. I'm not a big tropical fan anymore but some of the hardier South American tropicals (not SA Cichlids) are great fish. The biggest problem is they are so overbred in the states that it's too easy to get crappy batches.

1 gallon per fish? Depends upon size. Protege 5 gurly is 100% right about 1 gallon per inch of fish if you want to do it buy the books.