New Tank Setup need fish suggestions.

[ronyee1]

Greetings Fish Gurus!,

Please Help! I want to know what kind of predatory fish I can safely keep in a heavily planted tank and what major modifications should I make to my setup.

since alot of questions seem to suffer from lack of info here is my full disclosure.

the hardware first:
I have just setup a new oceanic 58 tank with a topsoil/vermiculite substrate with play sand on top of it. Empereror 400. I also have a 250w Metal Halide bulb for lighting and diy CO2 running into a DIY venturi. I plan on dosing with trace and macros.

the inhabitants:
3 amazon swords I used to cycle the tank, a school of 12 very small neons, 3 guppys, 3 corys. (In the switch to a predatory tank I would not mind moving any of these fish out)

the background: In college I ran a successful one with low-mid light plants and the same substrate and CO2 setup with actually a fair amount of ground cover with sword grass. I also had two other non planted tanks. THAT BEING SAID, I havent had a fish tank in over 6 years and alot of what I am doing is by memory and searching forums like these, so I feel very lost currently.

The money issue: I have gotten everything actually pretty cheap. The tank/stand/filter/heater/light all cost 150 total. My fiance unfortunately does not share my same passion/obsession and has put some strict financial guidelines for this so it will be a slow process with stuff like CO2 commercial injection being probably saved over for birthdays and holidays


HUGE THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Ron

 

[coupedefleur]

You might give some thought to what type of predator you're looking for.

Leaf fish and other ambush predators sneak up on their dinner. The leaf fish that have mouths that open into a tube are really cool to watch. They float along like a dead leaf, then SLURP the feeder fish is gone. There are a lot of other fish that fall into the category of ambushers.

The other extreme I will call "open strike" fish. Think of a big old Oscar- it will practicaly jump out of the water to eat the feeder fish you introduce. Pluses here include a more dog-like attachment of the fish to you.

Figuring out what sort of "action" you would like will narrow your selections down. In a heavily planted tank, I'd vote "ambush".

 

[RISK2123]

i have a few red tail barracudas. i dont actually see them eat too often but i really like em otherwise. they are pretty skittish, but awesome to watch!!!

 

[ronyee1]

Thanks for the great suggestions. I think I would prefer the open strike action but if I couldn't acheive that I would be happy with the ambush. That being said what do you guys thinks of Birchirs? I thought givng them a alot of places to hide would make it a great place for the to hunt in a heavily planted tank with just two of them as the main attraction.