I want colorful fish!

G

gardiner

AC Members
Oct 9, 2007
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Hello Aquaria Central! I've been reading your forums, and I find you people knowledgeable and helpful.
(My vacation story: I read the horror stories, so before a weekend trip, I showed Mom exactly how to feed. Two hours after I left, neighbors brought presents . . . on Sunday I found 8 of 6" Koi in my tank! After thanking my neighbors, I dumped the Koi at the lfs, and none of my fish died, despite an ammonia spike.)
 I'm new to aquaria, and my freshwater fish just aren't colorful enough! I'm seriously considering switching to saltwater.
I've kept a 55g for 8 weeks, with a 7" bullhead catfish, a 6" African knife , a 4" oscar, 3 of 3" clown loaches, and a 2" blood-red gourami. Oscar is friendly, knife wiggles nicely, and loaches cavort in a school. Gourami adds some nice pink, and cat is nocturnal--boring.
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Above pics are from Aqualand Pets Plus, resembling my fish closely.

My friend has a saltwater blue damsel that outshines my whole tank!
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I'd love to have the typical clownfish and blue tang.
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I like the purple, such as the royal gramma, and the blackcap basslet.
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I've looked for colorful freshwater fish, but found nothing so vibrant!
Have any of you seen a green saltwater community aquarium fish? The queen trigger is too aggressive and the Napoleon wrasse is too big.
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How about SW community tank stocking schemes? Boruchowitz ends his FW book with stocking suggestions, but I haven't found similar for SW.
So, hello again, and thanks for reading. Please let me know where I might find SW stocking schemes, or possibly even a green SW community fish. (diurnal, hardy, peaceful, 3" to 7")
 
your 55 gal is way overstocked imo, knifefish get like 30" and dont stunt.
 
I would look at blue/green reef chromis:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=115

It really depends on what type of tank you want to set up too. Do you want to do a reef tank or just fish-only? Do you want big fish or little fish?

Based upon your other selections above the green chromis would make a good addition especially since they like to school when you have them in larger groups.

How big is your tank?
 
Thanks for the feedback.
Are there any FW fish to match the splendor of the SW?
BMorgan, thanks for the Blue/green reef chromis suggestion.
Grins, I like the look of that Green wrasse.
My dream is to get a 55gal FOWLR with fish above niblet size, ie at least 3".
My fish are still young, so my current bioload is only 28" of fish. I'm using a wet/dry, pumping 600gph at 4' head in a 55gal tank.
I didn't think I was overstocked; lemme count up again.
Bullhead cat reaches 8" grown. I'm hoping my African knife will stay at 8", but I read that the Clown knife grows to 18", and the Black ghost knife can reach 20". Maybe Oscar will reach 14". Hmm, the 3 Clown loaches
might be 8" apiece. The lfs guy said the Red dwarf gourami should stay small at 2".
So that's 8"+8"+14"+3x8"+2"=56" of fish. But if oscar starts swallowing his tankmates, I can just chalk it up to experience.
Using a rule of 1 inch of fish per gallon of tank, that's about right for my 55 gallon tank.
I was just joking earlier about the Napoleon wrasse. Apparently they can reach 180kg.
I couldn't mix clownfish with damselfish, could I? My friend thinks damselfish are just for cycling.
 
I don't think the inch per gallon rule applies to SW or was ever correct for FW either.
Maybe if you just look at bioload...............but even then, probably not.

Look at it this way. If you have a 55g tank and put one fish in it that is 55 inches long, the biological bacteria may be able to process his waste but what will his quality of life be like? How would you like to be in a cage where your movement was extremely limited?
 
the one inch per gallon rule is not reliable it is ridiculous in my opinion. it is a way for fish stores to sell more fish by saying you can put more in there. i also think it is way out dated.
 
The 1" thing is more a guideline than a rule and one needs to still take other things like compatibility and swimming behavior into account. I'm of the opinion the FW tank is overstocked as well.

On the salty side of things I've even heard of some using the 1" guideline and that makes my head spin. Insane amount to stock a marine tank with.

You're not alone in being drawn to the colors of marine fish. You've done well to check into what kinds are available. But don't be surprised after researching the habits and needs of some of these fish if you end up stocking some less colorful species that are known for either their persoanlities or the jobs they do. Many marine fish are bought with a purpose in mind and whether the tank you have is the best environment for them.

You can certainly mix damsels with clowns. In fact, clowns are a type of damsel. You should know however that some damsels are really quite aggressive and not the friendliest of tankmates for peaceful species. As for your friend's thoughts on what damsels are for, that train of thought is sadly not uncommon. Thankfully most now cycle their tanks more humanely with other ammonia sources and do not add livestock to their tank until the tank is ready for them.
 
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