I need fish advice...

Corax

Corax

Temporarily risen from the dead..
Nov 14, 2001
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Hey folks, I'm posting this in GCC because it has the biggest cross section of all the users on the board, so I'll get opinions from people that keep all the fish I'm considering. Plus, it's the only place I've ever called home on AC.. =)

I no longer have my saltwater tanks. They've been broken down, bleached and are in storage right now. However, I have a need to set a 55 up with some large (6"-ish) , brightly colored freshwater fish. I'm leaning towards mbuna, specially Yellows labs (labidochromis) but I'm also considering goldfish, specifically Ryukins, Discus and Angelfish..

So, my question is... What are some drawbacks to each of these fish? Is a 55 suitable for them? Got any pics of your own setups with these fish?
 
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Don't mix goldfish with tropical fish. The discus need soft water with a lower pH. They have a reputation as being difficult to keep and they are as expensive as saltwater fish.

Yellow labs would be great. You could do a species tank for the Angelfish.
You could put 5 ryukins in a 55.

Kim
 
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Difficult to keep and expensive aren't major concerns, but Discus are a bit drab for my needs. The tank needs to be bright and active, hence the yellow labs are still winning.

And mixing goldfish and tropical never occured to me as an option. That just isn't possible.
 
Discus drab? Is that an oxy moron? :)

5-6 adult discus could be housed happily in a 55g BB tank with daily or (at the very least) every other day 50-75% water changes.

You could also have a nice planted tank with a bonded pair of discus preferably in the 5''+ (they don't have to be proven, just paired).

Adult discus do fine at temperatures of 82F, in fact male discus are most fertile between 82F-84F.

Other fish / critters compatible with discus (by no means a complete list)
cardinal tetras
otos
sterbai cories
bronze cories
glo-light tetras
SAEs
farlowella catfish
blue rams
harlequin rasboras
ancistrus genus catfish
chocolate gourami
amano shrimp
ghost shrimp


Further, discus do not NEED soft water, they do fine in hard alkaline water. It's just simply eggs don't fertilize well in hard water. They are also definately not hard to keep.
 
Yellow labs are my all time favorite cichlid. I plan to have a whole mess of them soon! ;)

Hubby is desperate for a discus tank, but our tap water here comes out at 8.0-8.2, not so perfect for discus....

Goldfish are great too. I did consider some beautiful oranda's for my new tank too, but I've always wanted my yellow labs, so they win!

YELLOW LABS ALL THE WAY!!! :D
 
Joe and Puma, could I really have discus in water that comes out of the tap at 8.0-8.2?? Everything I've ever read says they need very soft water and that I'd need one mother of an RO unit to keep up!

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I'd LOVE to know if Discus are an option!

:eek:
 
I've done the South American biotope thing before, and I really liked it. Rams, various Apistos, etc.. However, the fish that go in it are rather small, and the eyes looking at this tank are going to enjoy a few bigger fish more than many small ones. Water quality isn't a problem, I've got an RO unit from when I did saltwater. Too bad a protein skimmer won't work in freshwater. The sand filter will though.
 
Joe and Puma, could I really have discus in water that comes out of the tap at 8.0-8.2??
Click to expand...

Yes!
 
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