Choosing the right fish!

ktkt22

ktkt22

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Dec 26, 2007
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I recently set up my 33g tank - fake plants, sand substrate, and cycle "complete" and added:
1 marble angel fish
2 gold gourami
2 small common plecos

I need some advice on what other fish would work well with those. I really like angelfish but wasnt sure how multiple angels would get along, and only got 2 gold gouramis for the same reason. (Man at the store told me when I asked about how many of each fish to get "you can get any number of any fish 1, 2, 3 however many you want" but i knew he was not so bright ) I would like another type of fish that I could get a bunch of ( maybe 5 ) but not sure what would be good. Here are some fish I was thinking of:

Black Skirt Tetras
Powder Blue gouramis
Neon Rainbowfish
Red fin rainbow shark

Would all or any of those be compatible with the fish I already have? Can I get more angelfish or gold gouramis?

ANY advice would be GREAT!

Thanks!
 
you are going to have problems with your 'common' pleco..even the smallest common will get to big for your tank.(the smallest 'common' will reach 10-11")if you can trade the commons for a rubbernose ot bn you will be better off.
the single angels may be okay. but keep an eye on it with the 'gold' gourami( color morph of the blue gourami) these can get a bit nippy at times.they also get 4-5"
from the sound of it..this tank is new?
if this is the case monitor the water parameters. do you have a test kit.
this is a good kit to start with
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4345+4454&pcatid=4454
once the tank has completed the nitrogen cycle you can then look at varying the stock.
cycle 'complete' may not really help the formation of bacteria you need for the nitrogen cycle.
you should monitor the warer parameters as low levels of ammonia and nitrite may begin to form..these are toxic to the fish.
 
Hmmm I thought it would be best for me to get more than one pleco to help with the algae ... they are very small but I guess I will try to take them back and get something more size appropriate. I havent found many others in the local stores except the gold nugget which is too expensive for me! ($30)

My water has been fine for a while now - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, low nitrates ... i cycled the tank for about 3 weeks until everything was right.
 
There realy isn't much "need" to have an algae eating fish in your tank. It can be benificial if you water contains elements that stimulte algae growth, but id by no means necessary. In fact, plecos can be very dirty fish and can actually contribute more to poor water conditions than to keeping algae down.

As mentioned above, "common" plecos will likely out grow your tank, and quickly at that. There are varrieties of plecos that people call common that can reach 2 feet in length.
 
ktkt22 said:
I recently set up my 33g tank - fake plants, sand substrate, and cycle "complete" and added:
1 marble angel fish
2 gold gourami
2 small common plecos

I need some advice on what other fish would work well with those. I really like angelfish but wasnt sure how multiple angels would get along, and only got 2 gold gouramis for the same reason. (Man at the store told me when I asked about how many of each fish to get "you can get any number of any fish 1, 2, 3 however many you want" but i knew he was not so bright ) I would like another type of fish that I could get a bunch of ( maybe 5 ) but not sure what would be good. Here are some fish I was thinking of:

Black Skirt Tetras
Powder Blue gouramis
Neon Rainbowfish
Red fin rainbow shark

Would all or any of those be compatible with the fish I already have? Can I get more angelfish or gold gouramis?

ANY advice would be GREAT!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

In this tank I would probably remove the plecos and choose either the angel or one gourami. Keep in mind that any variant of Trichogaster trichopterus will max out at 6".

Then I would add either 8 black skirts or 6 praecox and about 8 corys.
 
I would return the common plecos and replace it with a bristlenose pleco that maxes out at 5 inches or so. Choose either the angel or the gourami as the centerpiece fish and then use smaller fish in the aquarium to accent the centerpiece fish. Be careful with the blackskirts around either the angel or the gouramis since they are known to be nippy and cannot seem to resist the long flowing fins of the angel or the feelers of the gouramis. Gouramis can also be nippy and get aggressive to other fish in certain situations since they tend to be quite territorial.

Marinemom
 
Thanks for all the help!!

I think that I am going to go ahead and return the plecos and get about 6-8 black skirt tetras!! I"ll probably leave it at that for now (maybe get the bristlenose).
 
FYI

I've found what I want for now!!

Tank consists of:

1 Marbel Angel
2 Gold Gouramis
1 botia kubotai loach
8 black skirt tetras


They are all getting along just fine!:headbang2:
 
ktkt22 said:
I've found what I want for now!!

Tank consists of:

1 Marbel Angel
2 Gold Gouramis
1 botia kubotai loach
8 black skirt tetras


They are all getting along just fine!:headbang2:
Click to expand...

You might want to reconsider the loach. He's small now, but can get 5", and I've read that kubotai can be very active. He should also be kept in a group of at least 4, as loaches are very social animals. Other loaches would be kuhli and dwarf chain loaches (dwarf botia is another common name).

Watch the gold gouramis. They are known to be agressive, especially to each other. They could kill the angel, even if they are peaceful now. You might want to take one back, because as has been mentioned, they reach 6" full grown.

And I'd like to put in that you shouldn't trust any advice from your LFS if they told you you could put in as many fish as you want. Whether it's ignorance or they want you to buy lots of fish and keep replacing them when they die, who knows. It doesn't matter much, either, because no matter what it is you shouldn't listen to that LFS any more.
 
Thanks for the advice!!

Oh and the LFS that I went to where the guy OBVIOSLY didnt know what he was talking about - I haven't been back and don't plan to. Luckily there is another store close that has a good selection (and better staff!)

I got the loach because I got some trumpet snails and i heard that loaches help control them. I was thinking about adding another loach because they are better in numbers, but just 1 loach was $20 so I'll have to add to that one slowly!! I did not know they get to be as big as 5" but since the tetras are so small I think I would be ok with 1 more loach. ??

I'll keep an eye on the gold gouramis - I haven't seen them chase other fish - just each other. But thanks for the heads up!
 
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