any one have a larger tank with small fish in it?

[SnakeIce]

one extreme is the large tank with the three or four or less fish and that is pushing it.

who has a tank that would be big enough for the above but you have chosen smaller or smallest for a more mixed comunity, one that has the room for multiple areas of interaction because one does not spill into the other AND

what do you have: the tank, the fish, plants?, ect that fits the small fish big tank idea

just wondering if any one else thinks that just because you can fit it in(ie the tank is big enough to let one survive) doesn't make it more interesting overall.

[Aderynglas]

OOOhh I've gone all misty eyed..

A 6 foot tank and my heavily planted soft water amazon community .........

Well I can dream :D :D

[TKOS]

I for one would rather have many many fishes in a big tank full of plants. Oh yeah!

[beviking]

I have a 90 gal community and the largest fish in it is an upside down catfish at 4.5 inches. Lots of small fish in a large tank makes the whole thing seem more vast. Check my setup in the members aquarium specs. forum. I havn't updated it recently but have added a few more fish. 5 congo tetras, another yo yo loach and hillstream loach. I'm pinched for time at the moment, I'll catch up on it later.

[SnakeIce]

glad to know that I am not alone in wanting to see the group behavior of my fish even if they are not schooling fish

I have my dreams as well :)

[CHINABOY1021]

i cant stand big fish. unless i got a gigantic tank that makes the fish look smaller.

i really really like this tank.
http://www.adana.co.kr/images/e/1.jpg

http://www.adana.co.kr/images/e/3.jpg
http://www.adana.co.kr/images/e/5.jpg
http://www.adana.co.kr/images/e/4.jpg

shoot, drool got on keyboard.

[RTR]

I'm not big on communities, but I am very big on large tanks with small fish - for the same reasons already stated by beviking. My preference is for a large school of small fish, with enough open space to maintain the school. Other fish and inverts would be limited to workers - cleaning crew. A 4-6 foot tank, especially if it is two feet front to back, with neons or cardinals or small rasboras and not a lot else is mind-blowing, and hypnotic.

[SnakeIce]

wow nice picts
new hights to dream for lol

[beviking]

Yeah, awesome pics! I need more than one species in a tank though (personal preference). I updated my tank specs. My tank is nowhere near those above (too many different species and not THAT big) and many will think too many fish/species in it (self included!) but for now it will do. Eventually, I think I'll end up with 2 schools and a couple variants but there are SO many fish!!!!!

[beviking]

Originally posted by RTR
... A 4-6 foot tank, especially if it is two feet front to back, with neons or cardinals or small rasboras and not a lot else is mind-blowing, and hypnotic.

Took me this long to realize that was a nice jab RTR. Being my tank is only 18" front to back. Smooth, real smooth! ;)

What if he didn't mean it that way? Oh well, just being paranoid...might as well jump on the nut train with the rest of America! :rolleyes:

[tricksterpup]

I am currently thinking on setting up a 75 gallon Native Florida tank. Most the fish i am thinking on getting are under 2 inches. here is a dream list for the tank.
Elassoma okeefenokee (Pygmy sunfish)
Heterandria Formosa (least killiefish)
Lucania goodie (bluefin Killie)
Fundulus chrysotus (golden topminnow)
Gambusia Affinis holbrooki (Eastern Mosquito Fish)
Leptolucania ommata (Pygmy Killie Fish/Lemmon Killie)
along with some grass/glass shrimp.

The largest fish would be the Gold Top minnow at almost 4 inches, but for my color schoolers i would use the Blue fine Kille, very pretty little fish. The smallest fish would be the least kille fish, smallest of the live bearers, they are about an inch big for a large female and the males are about 1/4 of inch big. They are really cool. I would be afraid they would get lost in a tank that big. :) hardly see them in their 5 gallon tank.

Anyway, what is the fun on having a large tank taking up half the room of your place and having just one or 2 fish sit in the middle of it. I love seeing small fish dart around chasing each other. I have some small unknown killies that came in with some ghost shrimp at the pet store that are always chasing each other and flashing their colors.. very fun fish and were under 50 cents.. cool fish and at a great price.

jim

[SnakeIce]

I like your idea tricksterpup. I would point out a few things though, the gambusia are as a family rather agressive and pugnacious which might stress your least killies. I suppose you could do it if you had more killies and some thick plant growth

the other thing is that the least killie (heterandria formosa) is not the smallest livebearer, just the smallest kept in aquaria. the poecillia minor takes the spot as the smallest livebearer. look both up in http://www.fishbase.net by genus and species and you will see that the guppy related one is the smaller and from what I have found the smallest

[Skittyfish]

My 72 gallon planted has a lot of small fish, largest being a 5" female bristlenose. I have Kribs, cardinals, serpaes, clown loaches (yes, I know they will get bigger, but right now the largest is only about 3 inches long), some pygmy cories, and I don't remember what else, but it is in my tank specs.

[brianfl]

After some rearranging the last couple of weeks, I have a 120 us gal (4x2x2) that has one blue gourami, 5 bosemani rainbow, 3 ancistrus, 4 brochis splendens. I like lightly stocked tanks and I like to see the fish swim as natural as possible in an aquarium setting. I had more but didn't like the look and since have transferred many outside. I have a freshwater pond (~3300 gal).

[tricksterpup]

Originally posted by SnakeIce
I like your idea tricksterpup. I would point out a few things though, the gambusia are as a family rather agressive and pugnacious which might stress your least killies. I suppose you could do it if you had more killies and some thick plant growth

From what I am told, many times, that heterandria formosa can be found schooling with Gambusia. But yes, this is something i would want to try out in a smaller tank before putting them together in a larger plant tank.


The other thing is that the least killie (heterandria formosa) is not the smallest livebearer, just the smallest kept in aquaria. the poecillia minor takes the spot as the smallest livebearer. /

In the Northern United states they are the smallest. ;) But i have not heard of poecillia minor and had problems finding them on that site. But again, I only know what I read. But now i am very curious about P M and would love to have them.

jim

[RTR]

No slam intended, beviking ---I got my big tanks for big puffers (T. fahaka and T. mbu), later decided they look much better with the smallest fish I could get that would still show from across the room (fairly big room). And they do look better to me than the 75 and 125 did by a wide margin - pure personal opinion.

Inadvertent slam, I promise! :o

[beviking]

Sometimes the inadvertent ones are the best! I agree that the bigger tanks look better. Problem is, my wife agrees, BUT she thinks they look better somewhere else! Something about taking up too much room, blah blah blah.... I never really get what she's saying. :rolleyes:

[SnakeIce]

the only way i know about poecilia minor is that i have a book called Atlas of the Livebearers of the World and it contains full or partial in this case descriptions of every livebearer exept endler's.
The website I gave is a scientific comunity colaboration and rather dificult to find your way around imo but if you want the official word on a fish that is the place to go.

Poecilia (Pamphorichthys) minor, fishbase common name: mini-molly
native to the amazon basin in Villa Bella, Mato Grosso

not kept in aquaria or even available or even any description of what it looks like. no habitat info or life cycle info

it would be cool if the aquarium hobby made enough waves so that this fish would be studied and/or made available to fish keepers

I am in the same boat with you on wanting to know more about them trickster

[tricksterpup]

Ice,
There are so many colorful live bearers out there that are no longer in the trade or are not sold at the LFS.
I mean, when was the last time you saw the common guppy sold at petsmart or petco?
Its usually far and between when a LFS will have Limas, Goodieds or even Merry Widows. From what I hear these guys are popular in Europe and other countries.

I am trying to get myself as many different types of livebearers as I can, so that way I can pass them on to others. :)

jim

[NJ Devils Fan]

I have a 72g planted tank with serpae tetras, rummynose tetras, red eye tetras, a lemon tetra, and some neons. There also is a cory, a 5" common pleco, a 4" bristlenoste pleco, a 3" king tiger pleco, baby yo yo loaches and an adult yo yo.