Much thanks

Dobber

Dobber

AC Members
Jan 30, 2005
68
0
0
Madison, WI
After years of trying, and failing, to keep more aggressive cichlids, we went with a change. My wife has always wanted angelfish, so we bought 4 small ones over the weekend, 2 gold and 2 marble. Now that I had those, to go along with my existing pleco and albino clawed frog, I needed to find suitable tankmates. I read many forums and species sheets to narrow down the choices, as well as browsing all the local LFS and inquiring with them.

I have a 29 gallon tank that now includes:

1 Albino Frog
1 Pleco (3-4")
4 Angel fish
3 Serpae Tetra
2 Dwarf Rainbowfish
2 Otto (very very small)
1 Bolivian ram

Thanks to many of your posts, I was able to find some great fish that should grow up together in harmony. I appreciate it.
 
I think your going to need a bigger tank! The angels get quite large - when i first started 2 years ago i didn't realize this either about the angels - i now have 6 in my 55 g - i need to buy them a bigger tank soon! when they get a little bigger they are going to quarel amongst themselves to establish a pecking order - and only having 29 gallons could intensify it - just speaking from my experiences here - goodluck
 
Lmouthbass

Yeah, I'm gonna watch for that, but I've read so many different things on here that we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Some said to have them in schools of 6....others had multiples and had no problems. It really depends on the temperment of the fish, and with all the fish at a young stage, they may all co-exist just fine. I didn't purposely set it up so one of them would struggle, rather, that I'm guessing they'll either work it out or something will happen to one or two of them through natural selection.

Thank you though!
 
Listen to the advice given here....it will save you LOTS of trouble and turmoil in the future.

"I'm guessing they'll either work it out or something will happen to one or two of them through natural selection"

Natural selection is all fine and dandy if THEY ARE IN NATURAL HABITATS. But you are not providing them a natual habitat in a 29g tank. You are FORCING 2 creatures who do not normally coexist in similar conditions.

Think of it this way, would it be natural selection if you and a bear were caged up in 1200sq ft room??

You are being given good advice. You WILL need, at some point in time, a bigger tank. Either start planning or start thinning the heard by taking some back now. You will appreciate your "chosen" fish more later when they behave as though they were intended.
 
Your clawed frog must be fairly small because an adult would be able to eat your otos and your tetra's.

You can't blame fish mortality on natural selection when the choice of fish was poor in the beginning. Your pleco, depending on the species, can get to 18" fairly quickly. Because you don't have enough serpae's to form a school more than likely they are going to nip your Angels fins (and they might even if you did have a school). The dwarf rainbows are peaceful fish but they are schoolers too and would appreciate more company. Unless you "thin the herd" like gsk suggests you are going to run into problems in the very near future. You'll end up getting frustrated and you'll quit the hobby, joining the thousands of other people who didn't do their research before they started stocking their tanks.

Don't rely on just one website when researching. I found a website that said that serpae tetra's were extremely peaceful fish that won't bother tankmates. The next five websites said they can be fin nippers especially when kept in small numbers. This has been my experience with this fish. Make the changes, learn from the experience and move on. :)
 
Last edited:
The research, admittedly, is the hard part. I've consulted many different places, and its been a matter of weighing the evidence and common sense.

I had read conflicting stories about serpaes as well, but I point blank asked about them at the LFS, and they said from their experiences that it would be fine.

I've never had these generic plecos get over 6", and don't like spending 30 bucks on the expensive ones (tried a brown zebra this weekend, but he wasn't a healthy one).....just started with the oto's to see if they'd be better.

The frog hasn't gone after any of the fish......yet. One of the two rainbows shows some aggression (chases the other a bit, and I saw it chasing an oto last night), and I couldn't find a hint of that behavior anywhere. The serpaes and rainbows were direct recommendations by the LFS to my angel question.

Thanks for the advice, both of you.
 
oh yes, common plecs get HUUGE rapidy (mine went from under an inch to over 5 since i got him in september) and if for some reason it doesnt it is becouse of growth stunting. I also have a rubberlip which isnt nearly as big , and he was only 4 bucks! i cant affored a "fancy" plec either but i have seen some cheaper types that were not pricey. also bristlenose are nice but am unsure of the mature size. there are some awesome algea eaters out there who arent tank busters, maybe you could trade him in for a rubberlip or one that will not grow like a weed. (heheheh) hope you have fun with the new set up!
 
By "generic plec" I assume you mean the common plec which tops out at 18". One of the worst things you can do (unfortunately) is believe anything your lfs tells you. As you gain in experience you'll be able to tell good advice from bad, but for now ignore it.
 
After my last post, I was eating lunch and noticed that one of the serpae had died. That, coupled with the last two posts, indicates my afternoon be spent in further research.
I'm wondering if the "pleco" as I've been describing isn't mislabeled at the store....go figure. It looks the same as any generic one I've ever had, and I've had some of them for years and they never got that big....will check into it, and the serpae issue.
Also, looking into the whole angel fish question because I remember seeing some places/people suggesting them in a school of sorts, and the 4 I've got are quite content to hang out in pairs, but those pairs are constantly changing, and quite frequently, all 4 are together in a small space.
 
Think of it this way, would it be natural selection if you and a bear were caged up in 1200sq ft room??



This quote above made me laugh - it is a good point though :laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom