Tropical Freshwater Fish

What are the names of some very colorfull tropical fish that are not aggresive and go well with others? I got some Bala sharks and clowloaches and some neon and fire things, the last name starts with an "M" I think.

 

Thats a link to what they look like. I think thats them the ones i said "start with an "M". Thats what the lable at the fish store said.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.popular-freshwater-tropical-fish.com . . .

EDIT: just fixed the url so it doesn't make the page scroll

 

Well off the top of my head for very pretty non-aggressive fish I can think of a couple....

Ram Cichlid- My favorite out of all colorful fish. 2 can be kept in a 10 gallon. They breed fairly easy too.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... _records=1

Discus- Awesome and beatiful fish when adult and maintained healthy.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... _records=1

Cardinal Tetra- A very pretty tetra in my opinion. I love the shiny blue and red.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... _records=1

Giant Danio- A very active, colorful, and fun to watch fish.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... _records=1

What size tank are you housing these new fish in and what is your Bala Shark in? Please note Bala's need at least 90 gallons (alot bigger when totally mature). If it is a little bugger it really doesnt matter yet. Discus get large too. Please make sure you have the requirements for the fish I listed and have fun and experiment to your likeings.

 

Thanks so much man, the sharks right now are very small like 2in only got two of them. The tank is 30 gal. I got it all set up heater and stuff. Its all good to go. Just need to stock it up with some more fish.

 

How many of each fish do you currently have and how large are they all? Is your tank fully cycled (if you don't know what that means, it probalby isn't and you're in for some problems and definitely shouldn't be adding more fish at this time).

Like Fishkin said, your balas are going to outgrow that tank so unless you can upgrade to about a 100 gallon within a year, you would be better off returning them now. Your clown loaches will also get rather large, but they're one of the slowest growing fish so they will be okay for several years.

The dwarf gouramis (what you posted pics of) will do fine in a 30 gallon.

-Chelle

 

Yeah the tank has bin cycled for 24 hours, I also added Stress Zyme (Makes good bacteria), AmQuel (Removes Ammonia, Chloramines, and Chlorine), NovAqua (All around Water Conditioner), Aquarium Salt, and some plant food for the live plants. I am planning on geting a 100 gallon tank in April 2005 and making the tank I have now a saltwater tank. I have had the tank for abuot 2 weeks now and just did a 50% water change. All the fish seem to be doing fine, I have:
2 Bala Sharks = 2.5 - 3in
3 Clow loaches = 3 - 3.5in
2 Fire Gourami = 2in
2 Neon Gourami, red and blue striped and the other is all blue alibno I think. = 2in
2 Pearl Gourami blue with 2 block spots, = 3 - 4in

 

If you dont cycle the tank what can happen? Just want to know?

 

Your tank probably isn't cycled. Those bacteria in a bottle products tend to be worthless unless they're kept refrigerated and just letting the tank run for 24 hours won't cycle it. For a tank to completely cycle w/o out the aid of seeded filter media, it whould tank about 4 weeks.

So, you are essentially cycling it with fish. This is dangerous because during the cycling process, the levels of ammonia and nitrIte get high enough to kill fish (or at the very least make them very sick). If you're going to continue cycling it with fish, you need to buy test kits for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte and test the water every day. Do enough water changes to keep the levels as close to 0, 0, and <20 (respectively) as possible. Otherwise your fish could die. AmQuel will help some by making the ammonia less toxic, but you would still have the problems with high nitrItes.

Also, unless your treating for something specific like ich, there is no need to add salt to a freshwater aquarium. They are freshwater fish, not brackish.

And concerning your stocking, if you return the bala sharks, you tank will be not quite fully stocked right now with the fish at their current size. But in a couple months as the blue goruamis and loaches grow, you will be pretty much at capacity (w/o the balas). Keeping the bala sharks in there will make it really overstocked in a few months.

So, my advise is to return the bala sharks now and wait until you have the 100 gallon. You and the fish will be a lot better off that way. Don't add any more fish. Buy those test kits and keep a close eye on the water parameters and do lots of water changes.

-Chelle

 

Ok ill buy a kit tommorow when I go to the store. Ill give you the results then.

 

Well I went to PETsMART and had my water tested. It was all fine nothing is wrong with it he said. I asked him if I should by a test kit and he said there was no need for it since the water was fine. Just to bring it back on my next water change and get it tested again. :lol:

 

Yes, you can do that, but it is a whole lot more convenient to be able to test your own water whenever you want. And if your tank is cycling, you're going to be needing to test it really often so it will be a pain in the butt to have to go to the store all the time.

If you are going to get the store to test it, get the actual numbers. Don't just accept "It's fine." Most employees that work at the large chain stores like that don't know squat about fish. It's just a crappy job to get them a little bit of spending money. So what they say is fine, may not be fine at all.

-Chelle

 

Well I get my paycheck tommorw so I'm going to get a testing kit and some plants. Should I get the test strips or the whole chemical kit?

 

The liquid testers are a lot more accurate than the strips so I'd get those.

-Chelle

 

lol, bit of a late reply but yeah thats a dwarf gourami, the females are a silver color and the males are nice neon type colors (not dyed) They can go in as small as 10 gal. depending what type of dwarf it is. I had one though it died shortly after, thats when i got a blue gourami, that wouldnt be a good idea with neons though.

 

If you do plan on fetting discus. I should prewarn you that they get quiet big and are very water sensitive.

 

Yeah I know, It will be some what tricky but I think I can pull it off.