Community setup with guppies

T

Twokids

AC Members
Jan 3, 2007
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Australia
Hi all,
I've just ordered a 6x1.5x2 for my cichlids so my 4x1.5x2 is now free so I can set up a community tank.
I've already promised my daughter that her 10 guppies and 2 siamese flying foxes could move into the tank, what else should I get that would get along with them? As the tank is deeper than standard, I would like fish for different levels of the tank.
I don't want to make the mistake of overstocking the tank. Please don't give me suggestions of fish that will need to move into a bigger tank when they get older. I already have 2 tanks on the go and I'm not allowed any more :sad:
I'd possibly want something in the tank that would control the number of guppy fry.
I'd really appreciate if you could give me a complete list with numbers of each type of fish you would put together in a tank of this size.
Thankyou for your help,
Twokids
 
do you know how many liters the tanks are? my math is poor...
 
Angels maybe? It's been a while since I used litres
 
Approx 80-90 gallons :)
I think it was 360 litres

I just measured the tank. It is 120cm long, 66cm high and 45cm wide. My maths is horrible, could someone please tell me how many litres/gallons that would make it?
 
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Best thing to do is tell us some fish you're interested in, and we'll give you more info.
 
For bottom fish. I would recommend Dojo Loaches. They are active, funny and adorable :) They are also extremely peaceful and your other fish will love him. When its feeding time my guppy and platies will crowd around him waiting for the bits of pellets he spits out. They also don't mind company so you can get more than one. Its a nice charactor to have in your tank.
 
Well I was thinking;
10 x guppies - upper level
10 x tetras - upper level
2 x flying fox - lower level
2 x bristlenose - lower level

I don't know what to have for the middle level. I want something that's good to watch.
I don't really know a lot about community fish. My other fish moving into the bigger tank are two oscars, a jack dempsey and a firemouth.
 
What kind of filtration? I'm assuming it's good since you had cichlids in there, but I figured I'd ask just to make sure.
Here's a few suggestions

Top:
6-10 marbled hatchetfish (you could use silver or any other kind too I just like these 'cause they're small(1.5 in) and the color is interesting)
pros: Small, stay at top
cons: They WILL jump, you'll need a tight fitting lid

Middle:
4 bolivian or blue rams (3-4 in)
pros: small and peaceful, will probably eat guppy fry
cons: Can't think of any, can anyone else?
6 guppies, as long as they're fullgrown. If too small the rams may try to eat them.

Bottom:
5 corycats (1-4 inches depending on species, usually about 3)
pros: good scavangers, very active, peaceful. Can get very heavybodied but not big enough to require new housing such as your cichlids. Most stay fairly small anyway.
cons: Don't do much but eat and shoal all day, other than sometimes swimming to top for gulps of air. Interact with other fish but not as much as some species.
1 bristlenose pleco(4-6 in):
pros: Peaceful, eat algae (though will probably require supplementation with algae wafers and veggie matter)
cons: None that I can think of, other than the fact that they don't do much sometimes.

There are obviously other combos, but that's the one I'D choose (well my bottomfeeders would be different, but I listed easy to find ones). Spacewise you wouldn't definately wouldn't be overstocked. I listed all small fish so there's no danger of you having to move any. Of course the fish I listed will need a heater.

We just have riverfish in our 90 gallon with very heavy filtration. If you want coldwater suggestions I can do that too.
A note on the dojo: They're not technically tropical fish and they can reach 10 inches or more in a well filtered tank with lots of room. They can live in a heated tank but it will probably shorten their lifespan.
 
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