# Favorite planted tank fish



## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Just wondering what everyone's favorite fish are for planted aquariums. I really love cichlids, but they can tear up a tank. I was overjoyed to find out about apistogrammas, small size, peaceful temperment, don't tear up anything and have all the characteristics of cichlids that I like. Lay eggs, guard their fry, and males protect their territory. Bad thing about them is that they seem to be pretty delicate and very expensive. I think mine had some kind of stomach parasite, they bloated and floated. Will try them again sometime just want to make sure my water parameters are just what they need. Here is a list of some of my favorites. 
Apistogramma cacatuoides, Emporer tetras, Cardinal tetras, Otocinclus, Golden algae eaters, tatia perugiae, kuhli loaches, Angelfish and never tried them but have always loved the way discus look, just cost a big chunk of change for a nice group.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Apistogramas broke my heart. I had a trio of _A. borelli _for about 4 months--long enough to fall in love with them. Then they all dropped dead for no apparent reason.

While visiting a LFS with a very knowledgable friend, we saw gold _Lamprologus ocellatus_. My friend was familiar with them, and told me they are very hardy. So I bought a group for my 40 gallon heavily planted tank.

These fish are a shell-dwelling cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, and are usually kept in the typical Rift lake set up: a moonscape of white gravel, white rocks, white shells, and no plants. I hate those tanks.

So I got some nice BROWN escargot shells from a restaurant supply company, and put them in my planted tank where the shells blended with the brown gravel.

I've had the fish now for about 6 months, and they have thrived in my planted tank! They are much bolder than the Apistogramas. They do require shells, but seem much less "attached" to their shells than ones in the usual unplanted Tanganyika tanks. They swim all over the tank, even coming to the surface for food, which they are not supposed to do. They are not destructive or aggressive. They show all kinds of interesting social behavior without fighting. And they are beautiful shades of gold, orange, and blue-lavender.

Check them out!


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Will check them out thanks!


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Also love killifish, but man did I find out you need a screen over your tank.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Thanks Michael, looks like a pretty cool fish. How well do they do with tetras and other community fish? That is one of my favorite things about apistos.


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## TarantulaGuy (Apr 15, 2009)

For smaller tanks I can't recommend Celestial Pearl Danios enough. I love love love mine, they're beautiful little fish. And they breed readily too. I woke up this morning to another batch of fry swimming around the tank, tiny little guys. Peaceful, and won't disturb your plants.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

travisk said:


> Thanks Michael, looks like a pretty cool fish. How well do they do with tetras and other community fish? That is one of my favorite things about apistos.


They are fine, in fact less problems with inter-species aggression than I had with the apistos. Currently, they live in a tank with silvertip tetras, spotted cories, bristlenose plecos, Endler's livebearers, pearl gouramis, and red cherry shrimp. I know they will eat the smallest shrimp, but the colony is increasing anyway. And I suspect they would eat baby Endler's, but I only keep males in that tank. Remember, these are really small fish--a big male is only 2.5" long.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I also love cichlids. Apistos, kribs and wild kribs, flag cichlids, and other south American dwarf cichlids like convicts are great fish. Angels are nice too. I kept some multies like you Michael but they are very cold intolerant and all died when we lost power for 3 days. I lost about 60 of them, along with 100 kribs from 3 different lines. But at least some kribs lived, so I can keep the lines going.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

What kind of diseases often affect apistos? I know my apistos stopped eating, started getting a swollen stomach and their scales seemed to be raised. By the time I noticed they were dead within a day or two.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

One of mine had the symptoms you describe, called dropsy which is actually a form of kidney failure that can result from multiple causes. The others looked just fine, just not alive.


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Ya, it was a tough pill to swallow. I will try them again in the future, first I want to find out about the illnesses and be well prepared next time.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

If you love Apistos but hate the price, kribs or rams are probably your ideal fish... 

That said, my favorite really depends on the kind of setup... a tall, jungle-like tank looks wonderful with angelfish drifting around, while an iwagumi-type setup looks stunning with a nice school of tetras. I have a soft spot for loaches, but they tend to be diggers and don't really like brightly-lit tanks, so they're best suited to a driftwood-and-anubias scheme... in short, different fish look good in different circumstances.


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## Polarize (Jun 28, 2011)

How about pygmy sunfish? One of the really pretty ones I've found on the web: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/medaka-ken/k.t/gazou/page.top.file/elassoma-okefenokee.sj-04.0.jpg

Looks colorful, small, and cute.

Or maybe even a colorful strain of endlers? Harem of female bettas?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Me and Asuka just ordered some of those sunfish. They'll be coming in a week or so. I'll post pictures of mine when they come.


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## Tetraholic the 3rd (Nov 15, 2011)

i really love apistos, cardinal tetras, congo tetras, harlequin rasbora, SAEs, and i absolutely love my bengal loaches. these fish are all beautiful.


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## EdCal (Jul 19, 2011)

Congo Tetras, Rams and angels


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Just bought some Neolamprologus multifasciatus on friday. So far so good, set them up in a 20 long. Trying to figure out plants to put in the tank since they need harder water.


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## niccomau (Dec 31, 2011)

Rainbowfish! The smaller variety like Melanotaenia praecox, and Melanotaenia Maccullochi are cuties! Plus they school


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## igolf2 (Oct 3, 2011)

Two words....... Dario Dario


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## travisk (Oct 27, 2011)

Anyone into catfish? I know you rarely see them but when you do it is a surprise in a planted tank. I've heard debauwi cats are pretty active and don't get very big. Anyone ever kept these in a planted tank? Tatia perugiae look awesome but seem to only come out at night or feeding time, same with bumblebee cats.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

discus are nice but you really got to keep up with maintence.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Pretty fish, but they are so picky its unbelievable. They aren't really suited to planted tanks.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

fishyjoe24 said:


> discus are nice but you really got to keep up with maintence.


i have discus, once i got my tank balanced i don't worry.
last month i changed water only one time. NO maintenance. just trimmed the grass and plants,
i keep an eye on them all the time,
and they are adult, that's it, juvenile discus are more sensitive and can't tolerate anything, i have a bad experience with them,
but i have a pair of adult so i dont worry much.


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## DrEd (May 5, 2009)

some of them don't eat well (or too shy to fight for the food). they won't survive long if kept in a community tank with other fishes.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk


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## DeChaoOrdo (Jan 7, 2012)

Raphael cats are by far my favourite fish in my tanks large enough to hold a decent group of them. The midnight serenade aside, they keep the substrate so immaculate and the joy when they decide to come out during lights on makes me love them so. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, I suppose. A close second is the rubbernose/bulldog plec. 

In smaller setups, kuhli loaches and killifish are my go-tos. I suppose I just love the oddballs.


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## Coursair (Apr 18, 2011)

+ 1 for Celestial Pearl Danios 

I have CPDs, Dario Dario, Threadfin Rainbows and Corydoras habrosus .

All fish I love and would own again.


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## PlantNerd (Feb 8, 2010)

hm it varies drastically but lately its been

sparkling gourami
dario dario
Anytime of angel I've kept just about all of them
discus <--altho they are a LOT of work I don't regret owning the pair I had for over a year, I only had to let them go cause I was moving and wouldn't be able to set up the tank fast enough.


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