Need to restock- Which fish would you suggest?

[redtail11]

Ok, I need to restock my 90gal next week. What would you recommend, and why?

Typical water:
PH 6.6-7.0
KH: 4-6 degrees, [71-107ppm]
GH: 10-12 degrees, [179-215ppm]
Temp: 78F

Plants: primary swords
Current fish: catfish
Foods: dried and occassional frozen worms and frozen shrimp

Ideally I'ld like:

-- length: 2-5 " at maturity
-- Community desposition
-- Normal lifespan: 3-5+ years
-- Variety of coloration

And your suggestion is?

[Raskolnikov]

What kind of catfish do you have?

[redtail11]

What kind of catfish do you have?

common cords: bronze and spotted

[Raskolnikov]

Rainbows, perhaps?

[carttman]

I would put in different species of catfish because I'll like their prehistoric look. My first pick would be 5 Pictus cats though.

[themadblimper]

Angelfish are nice, and are very colorfull. They would get along fine w/your catfish, and you have ideal water parameters. May live a little longer than 3-5 years tho...

[redtail11]

Angelfish are nice, and are very colorfull. They would get along fine w/your catfish, and you have ideal water parameters. May live a little longer than 3-5 years tho...

At one time I had 6 angels. A pair tried to breed and killed all other non-catfish except one strong angel. After failing to breed, the pair was so weakened, they surcomed.
Wife got too attached to them and didn't want to go thru the grief experience again. But I have been looking at angels.

Tonight I'm going to the store I got the rainbows from, as they usually have some not common fish.

thanks for the suggestion.

[Raskolnikov]

How about some redline barbs?
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puntius_denisonii.htm

I've been seeing the prices come down on these lately, and they'd look capital in your 90g.

[themadblimper]

Congo Tetras are also nice. A shoal of about 7 would be a sight to behold. They grow to about 3 inches at maturity.
Or you could get a pair of firemouth cichlids. Since they are relatively easy to sex, getting a male and a female shouldn't be a problem.

[Snow Dog]

How about 8-12 Tiger Barbs? They school nicely and are beautiful fish with unique behavior such as "standing on their head".

[redtail11]

How about some redline barbs?
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puntius_denisonii.htm

I've been seeing the prices come down on these lately, and they'd look capital in your 90g.

that's a nice fish, thanks for the hint

[redtail11]

Congo Tetras are also nice. A shoal of about 7 would be a sight to behold. They grow to about 3 inches at maturity.
Or you could get a pair of firemouth cichlids. Since they are relatively easy to sex, getting a male and a female shouldn't be a problem.


I've been looking at congo tetras. Aren't firemouth's likely to be aggressive?

[redtail11]

How about 8-12 Tiger Barbs? They school nicely and are beautiful fish with unique behavior such as "standing on their head".

I had 6 tigers, but they are a bit sensitive to our water here.

the rainbows I had were bo... rainbows, so might get a couple of those.

[PinkBloodParrot]

Silver dollar doesn't get over big, cory cat can be great as well, and small type of gouramie too, and variety of small tetra. What kind of catfish did you have?

[PinkBloodParrot]

ah okay I find out what your catfish are, bronze and spotted.

[Ghost_knife]

Gourami are fun, Knives are very cool too

[PinkBloodParrot]

Hi, which knife are you talking about? clown knife will grow huge and eat smaller fish, but ghost knife will be okay, only that it grows quite long. My ghost knife now is about 7 inch in length.

[redtail11]

Gourami are fun, Knives are very cool too


Gourami-- how do you prevent the constipation bloating and death?

Knives-- I thought they required more frequent live food???

[indiginess]

Gourami-- how do you prevent the constipation bloating and death?



constipation in any fish can be dealt with by preventative measures.

1) skip AT LEAST one day a week in feeding... helps the fish complete digestion before the next meal. also keeps the tank in better shape, cause even a neon will cruise the substrate if its hungry. feeding every other day is not unreasonable with most community tanks.

2) include a good veggie flake in the feeding rotation. make them get their fiber.

3) epsom salts can added to the tank periodically. they 'relieve' fish the same way they do humans. this method i wouldn't recommend unless you suspect a problem... the first two should make this unnessary.

hope this helps... i'm glad youre making a go of it again.

[themadblimper]

Aren't firemouth's likely to be aggressive?

Firemouths are less aggressive than other cichlids, but it may not be something you want to risk. It all depends on the individual fish. I've seen some living in peace with neon tetras, while Ive seen one take on a fish twice its size (an oscar) and win. :devil:

They would leave your catfish alone though.

[EcoPit]

How about some redline barbs?
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/puntius_denisonii.htm

I've been seeing the prices come down on these lately, and they'd look capital in your 90g.
I will second this nomination. There is a display tank with a small school of red line barbs at a lfs near me, and they are absolutely gorgeous. The store has had trouble getting them in for sale though, and when they finally got some they were $50 each.

[redtail11]

Thanks I'll try gouramis again, I really like the looks of the fish in a tank.

I'll check with LFS for red line barbs too, they sound very interesting. thanks