I need another fish or two to as a final touch to my tank--but what?

TeaPea

AC Members
Aug 26, 2002
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Brightwaters, NY
Well, I thought I was stocked on my 29G with the addition of a school of Cardinals last month--but they all died. So I added 5 platy's and called it a day, but two of them died (they're the ones that brought ich to my tank, which I have cured).

Now that everyone's healthy and happy I think my tank needs one or two more "feature fish", but I just can't decide what!! The problem with my current set up, alot of times when you look in the tank you literally see nothing but my one lone leopard Danio swimming around. It needs a fish that isn't shy! My husband thinks we should get a few more Danio's since they're always visable but they just aren't atttractive to me. Plus they can be annoyingly fast swimmers.

Here's what I have now:
29G:
2 dwarf Gouarmies (They spend most of the day sitting up top)
3 Sun wag Platy's (spend alot of time in the plastic plants)
4 Cory Cat's (When they're active they are so cute but when they're resting they literally look dead!)
1 Bushynose Pleco (I hardly ever see him at all!)
1 lone Leopard Danio (who was supposed to go back to lfs a long time ago but I couldn't catch him!)

Please don't suggest more neons or cardinals because I was heartbroken when they all died. I want something fairly hardy, I'm a first timer ya know! Other than that I'm open to suggestions! Thanks alot guys!:)
 
Any fish in the RAINBOW family is nice Ex: Boeseman rainbow (male is Very colorfull). or sone dwarf neon Rainbows.
 
You could go with boesemanis... But if it's schollers you're looking for...I'd say, add 4 - 5 celebes rainbows (very pretty, schoolers) and you're good to go.. ;)
 
I don't think very lively fish will be appreciated by the gouramis. Something more sedate is probably called for. I have a school of bleeding heart tetras in my 48" planted tank and they look awesome - very visible, very attractive.
 
Those are nice too..... anything from the Rainbow family is nice. They are one of the few australian fish...

They breed every morning (mine does anyway) and show their colors off the best at this time of the day. For the boesimans, its a BRilliand orange yello color in the back and a spectacular blue color in front and many colors in between.
 
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You have one Leopard Danio? Hmmm get oh about another 11 and you should be good. I had 12 Zebra Danios in my 29G and they were everywhere!! If you want a feature fish, get a rainbow fish or a blue eye. I have a forktailed Blue eye in my 20G and he is one of the prettiest fish I have ever seen. Their pectoral(sp?) fins are clear with a yellow strip at the top of the fin and it looks like wings. It looks like he flies around the tank rather than swim.
 
Can't go wrong with Zebra Danios. I bought 5 in July of 2001 and 4 of them are still alive and well! They're very zippy little guys, and will add lots of motion to the mid/top of your tank!
 
...which will totally freak out the dwarf gouramis. I would not put fast moving surface fish in this tank.
 
Checker Barbs

Very hardy, go well with gouramis, inhabit the middle of the tank. Cichlids are usually mentioned as needing a dither fish, to keep them out and about, and I found out the same was true with dwarf gouramis. Barbs make great dither fish, they are esay to feed, easy to sex (the males have a black ridge on a reddish dorsal fin), fairly available, and the colors are rich, yet subtle.

My favorite shoaling fish...

Val
 
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