suggestions on fish

[mudskipper26]

i am getting a tank for christmas like a 38 gallon bowfront or something like that. I am curious on what kind of FW fish that are not so common i could keep in this tank(no guppies, tetras, danios or things like that)

[Gourami Swami]

you could keep a pair of convicts (but not much else), a single foremouth or convict with some other fish, a pair of apistogramma, a single blue acara with some smaller fish, maybe a smaller spiny eel like a pea**************** eel

And I dont know why your hating on tetras... Exodon tetras and vampire tetras are bad@$$ed!

[mudskipper26]

could i keep a black knife fish? i dont think i could tho

[mudskipper26]

nvm i cant, they get very big

[mudskipper26]

could i have more suggestions besides cichlids, thank you tho

[Ringo]

No black knife fish get to big for a 38G. Around 10 inches.

Hmmm.... I've also been looking for some odd fish to put in a 38G.
I just got a few hillstream loaches, there pretty neat, don't get to big. Around 3-4inches IF they grow after you buy them.

Maybe some gobies or something

[emc7]

Small rainbowfish

[mudskipper26]

i was looking on dr fosters, these are fish i like and would maybe have(i kno i cannot keep all these fish together so tell me which ones are good ideas and which ones i should take out, thank you), one Royal Farlowella Cat, 3-4 tiger barbs or green tiger barbs, 2 or 3 hatchets, one Starry Night Pleco(i think thats also called a bristlenose pleco?) one badis, one african b-fly fish, a couple ghost catfish, 3 sliver dollars, one Goo Obo Gudgeon, one Prehistoric Dragon Goby, a couple kuhli loaches, one Striata Botia Loach. thank you if you respond

[Gourami Swami]

Originally Posted by Ringo

No black knife fish get to big for a 38G. Around 10 inches.

More like 15-20

That tank would be overstocked, and there are some incompatible fish in there
FOr starters, dragon gobies get big and are brackish water fish.

Farlowella cats get big too, but I would say you could keep one in a 38

Also, You need to cut down on the species and get more of them. get 6 hatchets, no tiger barbs IMO.

No silver dollars... They get vig and need more room to swim around

The gudgeon should be okay
get either straitia loaches or kuhlies (though kuhlies like sand) and up the number a little

[JustOneMore20]

I second the rainbowfish idea. You could have a group of Dwarf Neon Rainbows or a couple schools of the Blue-eyed rainbows like Furcatas or Gertrudae.

If you want barbs or hatchets, get more than 3-4...get atleast 6, 8-10 would be better though.
Loaches and glass catfish prefer groups as well, so get more than 1 or a couple.

[mudskipper26]

i decided i like barbs are there any that dont nip a lot? is the pleco ok, is the badis and butterfly fish ok with this types of fish?

[Gourami Swami]

badis will be eaten IMO, butterfly will be okay if nobody nips him

If it is a true bristlenose pleco, it should be fine

[JustOneMore20]

I have not heard that Odessa barbs are nippy...and they fit your unique fish description.
Checkered barbs would be fine too.
And Cherry barbs aren't nippy either, but they don't really school. They just like a small group.

The Tiger barbs will be ok as long as you don't plan to have any long finned fish in the tank. They may bother the African Butterfly Fish, but they may not. If you have them in a large enough group (atleat 8), they should focus more on themselves.

I am not sure if the Badis will be ok or not. I don't know enough about them.

The Bristlenose will be ok too.

[mudskipper26]

sweet, i am very excited about my new tank, tanks are addicting kinda like chips, i got one but i had to have another one thats bigger

[Ringo]

If you have plenty of cherry barbs they will school, not very tightly but they'll stick together.

[mudskipper26]

so let me list my tank and tell me if im wrong.
1-Farlowella cats
6-odessa or tiger barbs(are green tiger barbs the same cause those are my favorite barbs so far)
1 butterfly fish
1 bristlenose pleco
4- ghost cats
1- Goo Obo Gudgeon
2-hillstream loaches
1- badis
5-kuhli loaches
could i also get hatchets with all these fish described or is this pushing it. is the list to much w/o the hatchets anyway?
btw i do like weird fish, i go for the strangest ones and i think i have em right now, mudskippers, boy are they strange fish.

[Gourami Swami]

Forget the barbs IMO, and get the hatchets or look into serpae tetras

Also, forget the badis, it will probly be eaten. Also, I wouldnt do the pleco, they are poo machines. You are pretty good then as far as bioload is concerned IMO

[Ltrepeter2000]

If you do get hatchets you need to have a solid lid as they are jumpers. You may also find that you are not as happy with the mix of colors and looks that all these different species present. What else is going into the tank? Driftwood, plants, substate type, etc? This is always important as it can help deflect some of the aggression in some species and provides areas to hide. If you are going to do the butterfly than I recommend having some tall stem plants for it to dart into near the surface to cut down on nipping.

I would not get Tigers or Green Tigers in a group of 6. You need at least a shoal of 10 of them to focus their nipping on each other instead of other fish.

You may also find that your lower water is overloaded with fish as the loaches, goo obo gudgeon, farlowella cat, bristlenose will all tend to stay closer to the bottom of the tank. You probably should find a rainbowfish that you like that will stay smaller or a tetra to provide a second shoal in your midwater area of the tank. The Serpae tetras are a pretty hardy fish to provide that balance.

I would have to be the third person to tell you not to get the Badis as I dont predict good things if its placed in this tank.


I would recommend a tall piece of driftwood just off center. This will provide the pleco its preferred meal. Also recommend if you are going to be keeping such a heavy fish load that you balace that with some plants. This will help with sucking up some of the chemicals released by the fish as well as provide hiding places if the barbs become nippy.

Two cents
Rob

[Ringo]

I was the same way, I wanted to get as many differant types of fish as I possibly could, now I am regretting it and trying to get rid of half the fish in my tank to add some differant fish to my tank, and try and get a differant effect.
I have some fish that were given to me (why I took them I don't know) and theres just one or two of them in the tank.
The tank would look alot lot better if them random fish were not in there.

If your going to get any fish, try and get as many as you can, of the species.
Not just one or two of a whole bunch of differant species.
Keep the schools bigger, and the species of fish in the tank smaller, believe me it will look much much better that way.

[mudskipper26]

new revised list
5-hatchets
4-ghost cats
10-true rummynose tetras
1-Goo Obo Gudgeon
1- Royal Farlowella Cat
maybe some shrimp
3-kuhli loaches
should i have another mini group or is this a good final list.