Coldwater schoolers and centerpiece fish?

[Piranha86]

Ok, actually, I did some reading through the thread (I just kind of posted that without reading it because the title intrigued me.) I'm under the impression that those sunfish are smaller, and more peaceful and/or less aggressive.

But really for a coldwater centerpiece, I think a paradise fish would be really cool for that. This summer I'm setting up a small pond on our deck for them.

As for schoolers, you could go with the obvious white clouds or zebra danios, but there are some more interesting fish that could go there. Celestial Pearl Danios appreciate water 70-75*F. Another cool cool-water (tehe) fish would be Goldring Danio (Danio tinwini). They would be happy at 65-75*F.

Goldring danio: http://seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Danio&species=tinwini&id=1347

Paradise fish: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/parad.htm

Celestial pearl danio: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/barbs/celestialpearldanio.php

Just my 2 cents.

 

[pbeemer]

When I saw the title, I immediately thought white clouds and a paradise fish. I'm kind of thinking a sunfish would kill somehting. They're the equivalent of a north american cichlid.

actually, i suspect that a non-dwarf sunfish could take down any cichlid its own size without much effort.

however, many of the sunfish are reputedf to be pretty easy-going with other fish as long as:

- they aren't too crowded in a small tank (they really like their room)

- the other fish isn't the same sunfish species (or a close look-alike)

- they are reasonably well fed and the other fish aren't so small they can't be resisted.


remember that sunfish species come in a wide range of sizes, ranging from dwarf (1.5 - 2.5") to small (4 - 6") to medium (say 6 - 9") to the big sportfish sizes (12" +). figure out what size you think would be appropriate (twice the length of your other fish as a WAG ? ! ? ) and start cruising the various native fish sources looking for an attractive species in that size range

Jonah's Aquarium has an interesting discussion on the compatibility of various sunfish with other natives here:

http://jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite/fishcompatibility.htm

also remember that they strongly prefer a planted aquarium where they can curl up in the shade and unwind

 

[user_name]

To be honest, it all depends what I can find at the PVAS auction. I'm surprised that there aren't very many sub-tropical colorful centerpieces out there.