larger community fish

Pallen81 said:
i had a 15" Black Ghost Knife in a 55 Gallon Tank and he was very happy. He had his cave to hide and thats all he needed. They are nocturnal though, that could be a big negative to some people tank.

what about some butterfly fish. they are awesome and will get along with most fish.
I notice you say "had" a BGK. So why don't you have him anymore?
 
I don't know if they have the right "personality," but the suggestion of larger rainbowfish is a good one. A mix of turquoise, axelrodi, bosemani, etc., would look stunning. Are you familiar with uaru cichlids? They aren't usually as tough on plants as other med-lg cichlids and are fairly peaceful (not as passive as discus, however), but still have that cichlid-style inquisitive/interactive personality. Festivum cichlids would be OK with most types of plants (although the one I had years ago used to bite holes in the Amazon swordplants--as do clown loaches).

"Roseline sharks" (actually denisoni barbs) would be awesome and much better than tinfoils in your tank. The downside is that they are expensive. Clown barbs would work, too. They get fairly large (but not 8") and color up beautifully. Tinfoil barbs will destroy all of your plants, besides being too big for your tank. Most barbs will do some plant munching, but on a much smaller scale.

Discus are probably the ultimate planted-tank inhabitants. Their reputation as being fragile and disease-prone is untrue if you start with good specimens (admittedly a challenge in some locales) and keep up with your maintenance. Years ago, I tried keeping wild-caught discus and had nothing but trouble. But I've had good luck with the tank-raised ones.

Giant gouramis--the ones that look sort of like dwarf gouramis on steroids (Colisa fasciata; NOT the monstrous Osphronemus gouramis)--would be good, as would pearl gouramis. Adult pearl gouramis are really beautiful. Moonlights or snakeskins would be OK, but I think they get kind of ungainly and ugly when full grown (8" or so).
 
debaric said:
danios are probably the most boring fish in the hobby, im looking for fish that have personality

I assumed that you were looking to do what was good for your clown loaches. I did not suggest that danios had good personalities. I suggest them because they will provide movement to the aquarium which will give the clown loaches a sense of security. The clown loaches should provide enough personality and should be the highlight of your tank.
 
so they make good dither fish? gotcha.

I love rainbowfish but the problem with em is that they are so **** expensive by me. Blue rainbow, boesmani, and red rainbows are 30 bucks a piece! thanks for the suggestions everyone
 
I'm with pugman on the rainbowfish. Peaceful yet full of energy, great schoolers, personality especially if you keep males and females, hardy and great in a planted tank. My adult rainbows don't get on too well with my java fern though they take a bite then spit it out...repeatedly (kinda stupid LOL).

Man $30 sounds really steep. Are they full grown? I payed between $5AU and $10AU for all my rainbows, they were all less than an inch though. The smaller the cheaper. Watching them grow and develop their colours/personality is half the fun.
 
yea this place called "absolutely fish" which is supposed to be the best retail fish store in the northeast. they sure do have a nice collection of fish, supplies etc. but they are ridiculous with their prices. Their rainbows are a good size but certainly not full grown adults. They tend to have the more rare species of fish.
 
Pallen81 said:
maybe get a black ghost knife, clown knife, africian knife or something along those lines. i think they are awesome and they get big.

i don know bout black ghost knife but clown knifes get around 24 inches, too big for a standard 125 gallon
 
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