centerpiece fishies?

[olivesaxer]

the system:
135 gal on a 37 gal w/d with a 100 gal side tank -plants, rocks, etc = 200+ gal

the inhabitants:
38 pristella tetras
14 lemon tetras
8 clown loaches
5 red-eyed torpedos
4 sailfin mollies
4 miniature cats
2 placos
an armada of snails.

I have been looking for a showstopper edition to the tank, the LFS has some wildcaught angels that are beautiful. I know that they are notorious tetra-hunters, but my tetras are all about twice the size of the average neon. Will this still be the case? Is there something else that would be compatible with my system?

suggestions?

thanks!

-P

[Nolapete]

I wouldn't put wild caught anything in that tank.

[olivesaxer]

any reasons?

[jpappy789]

What do you mean by "miniature cats", corys? And what type of plecos???

Rams or apistos would be GREAT centerpieces!!!

[Nolapete]

A multitude of reasons. One being the lack of immunity of the wild fish to all of the pathogens all of those fish in your tank have been exposed to. Angels, whether wild caught or captive bred, would not do well in your tank with the current inhabitants.

[olivesaxer]

i have an "asian placo", and a bushynose.

Not sure what the cats are, they hang out in the wood constantly (except at dinnertime), they are about the size of your thumb, high dorsal fin, and colored like a common pleco (black with green blotches).

and good call on the wild-caught. in the LFS, they are currently in a tank that's in-line with all the other FW tanks... and they seem fine. We'll see.

rams are cool, but the ones i have around here are smaller than any of the other fish in the tank...

[jpappy789]

i have an "asian placo", and a bushynose.

Not sure what the cats are, they hang out in the wood constantly (except at dinnertime), they are about the size of your thumb, high dorsal fin, and colored like a common pleco (black with green blotches).

and good call on the wild-caught. in the LFS, they are currently in a tank that's in-line with all the other FW tanks... and they seem fine. We'll see.

rams are cool, but the ones i have around here are smaller than any of the other fish in the tank...

Well there are no such things as asian plecos, all are originally from CA/SA. Possibly a mislabeled hillstream loach, which are not in the same family.

And realtive size of fish, in your case, should not matter. Rams can be fiesty and would do more than hold their own if they needed to. None of the fish you have would be able to do any damage to rams, even juvies.

[olivesaxer]

no, my concern was not their ability to hold up--- the only aggression i have seen in this tank comes from the loaches and that is only because they get into EVERYTHING. The mollies nip eachother from time to time, but I haven't seen anything else from anyone else.

the "Asian Placo" is relatively small (in terms of placos), moss-green with yellow markings.

My major issue here is something that draws attention to the tank. My schooling fish are just that, schoolers. I guess i was looking at the angels as being the jewels of the tank... but perhaps something else interesting could be there instead.

[jpappy789]

no, my concern was not their ability to hold up--- the only aggression i have seen in this tank comes from the loaches and that is only because they get into EVERYTHING. The mollies nip eachother from time to time, but I haven't seen anything else from anyone else.

the "Asian Placo" is relatively small (in terms of placos), moss-green with yellow markings.

My major issue here is something that draws attention to the tank. My schooling fish are just that, schoolers. I guess i was looking at the angels as being the jewels of the tank... but perhaps something else interesting could be there instead.

oh I get what you were saying:duh:

hmmm...any interest in pearl gouramis or were you looking for cichlids in particular?

if you want cichlids I would highly recommend apistos if you can find any :)

[Lupin]

the "Asian Placo" is relatively small (in terms of placos), moss-green with yellow markings.
Where are the pictures? This sounded like hillstream loaches to me.;) There are several species of hillies that exist, not just one.

The major issue for this one is if they're really hillies, they're in trouble with competition for food. Algae should not be the only food in their menu.

[AznDork42]

have you thought about discus? those are usually great center pieces, and i don't think they're aggressive, and doubtful they can fit any of your fish into it's mouth, except possibly any fry, but then again, discus aren't that fast, good luck

[tanker]

What's wrong with a few regular Angels, Festivums, Seviums. ect?? Angles will only eat the torpedo shaped tetras (neons, cardinal, ect). I have 4 fairly large angels in my tank with Cardinals without any problems, but they have been together for years.