# New fish advice please .



## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi , I currently have 5 Gouramis ( 3 Three Spotted and 2 Pearl ) and a Red Tailed Black Shark in a 4 foot planted tank with a external filter and a temperature which is 26 - 28c , But what esle can i put in with them ? Please help .

PH level is around 7.3 the tank has been running for about a year n' half now just really not sure what can go with the fish i have now .

I was thinking about 4 - 6 Rainbow Fish , will they be good fish to mix with the others ?

Please post any options of fish that i can mix with my current fish .


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Please . . .


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Well, you have a pretty full load there, but perhaps you could add a few Cory's or some other sort of bottom dweller to add a little animation to the tank.

The Red Tail is notorious for being somewhat of a trouble maker, so that sort of limits what you can do.

I'm not too familiar with Rainbow's, so I'll let someone else chime in on them.


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

Cherry barbs, rosey barbs, loaches, clown plecostomus, harlequin rasbora. Those would be some of my choices.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

JanS said:


> Well, you have a pretty full load there, but perhaps you could add a few Cory's or some other sort of bottom dweller to add a little animation to the tank.
> 
> The Red Tail is notorious for being somewhat of a trouble maker, so that sort of limits what you can do.
> 
> I'm not too familiar with Rainbow's, so I'll let someone else chime in on them.


My RTBS' is a very nice/ claim fish made it's home in a large tunnel/ cave thing as soon as it went in the tank about 1 and half year ago swimming in and out of it all day , and does not bother the other fish in the tank .

But my worry is if a put in Corys which spent most of their time at the bottom the shark cold get really bad and be a trouble maker with them going in to the tunnel where she spents most of her time .


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

ranchwest said:


> Cherry barbs, rosey barbs, loaches, clown plecostomus, harlequin rasbora. Those would be some of my choices.


Thanks for you input , i will have a look at them and see whats what . But i have had cherry Barbs before and i'm not to fussed on them .

Also what type of loaches because i know that Clown loaches get very big but i don't know about any others . ?


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

There are a lot of different loaches. Some are very peaceful and some are agitators and there are other behavior tendancies. 

Among the more peaceful are kuhli loaches, horse-faced loaches and clown loaches. I've got a horse-faced loach. It is very cool, but they can get pretty big and they dive into the gravel a lot (though that's what I like about it).

An interesting loach that is an agitator is the skunk loach. They chase one another around and are fun to watch, but they sometimes chase other fish, which is not so fun to watch.

There's a lot of choices. See what you can find on the internet about the behavior and try to picture how that behavior would play out in your tank and whether you'd like that behavior. Of course, individual fish interact with one another in unique ways. Mixing fish is always an adventure.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Not really sure about loaches as my tank is heavly planted and i have had a look on the internet about them and many types like to dig around at the bottem up lifting the gravel/ sand and if that is going to happen in my tank they could up lift alot of my plants .

Fish that i have ben looking at and i'm thinking of are - 
Mollies
Guppies
or harlequin rasbora

and maybe Rainbow fish ifi can find som more info about them see if they will be ok or not .

of cause not all of them in the tank just one or two speices of fish , i do really like the harlequin rasbora i was thinking about 12 of them , will that be ok . ?

Also i know Mollies and Guppies are Livebearers but i can put the babies if they have any in a couple of other tanks i have spare .


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## DanD5303 (Oct 12, 2004)

Three spot gouramis and red tail sharks can be aggressive towards other fish. I'd be hesitant to put small fish in there. I have yo yo loaches in a planted tank and they don't dig deeply enough to disturb the plants. They are very active fish with enough character to be interesting and enough attitude to get along with what you've got in there now. They should be in a group of at least three. Dan


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## tkos (Oct 30, 2006)

I think a good sized school of harlequin rasbora would be good. Not too heavy on the bio load, but fast and agile fish. Colourful and exciting as well. Look also at glo-lite tetras. If the tank is heavily planted then the school will be able to escape if need be.

I think that many of the larger bottom feeders would get attacked by the RTBS. Cories might be okay but it is hard to say.

But I guess it really depends on where you want to visually see the action.

Rainbows come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Careful selection will be needed but can be accomplished. If you are serious about them I would suggest http://bowheads.org/ Great site with a nice forum with some knowledgable people. I am sure you could achieve getting some rainbows in there if you really wanted to.

I would stay clear of the mollies with that setup. The big ones are too big, the smaller ones might get attacked.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

DanD5303 said:


> Three spot gouramis and red tail sharks can be aggressive towards other fish. I'd be hesitant to put small fish in there. I have yo yo loaches in a planted tank and they don't dig deeply enough to disturb the plants. They are very active fish with enough character to be interesting and enough attitude to get along with what you've got in there now. They should be in a group of at least three. Dan


Ok thank you ill have a look at Yoyo Loaches i don't think i have a look at them before , but about my Gouramis and Shark there are all very claim towards each other in the tank but i do under stand what you are saying about small fish with them .


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

tkos said:


> I think a good sized school of harlequin rasbora would be good. Not too heavy on the bio load, but fast and agile fish. Colourful and exciting as well. Look also at glo-lite tetras. If the tank is heavily planted then the school will be able to escape if need be.
> 
> I think that many of the larger bottom feeders would get attacked by the RTBS. Cories might be okay but it is hard to say.
> 
> ...


Ok thanks for that site and yer i think i have chanced my mind on the Mollies and Guppies now .


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

djarmstrong said:


> Ok thank you ill have a look at Yoyo Loaches i don't think i have a look at them before , but about my Gouramis and Shark there are all very claim towards each other in the tank but i do under stand what you are saying about small fish with them .


Small fish would probably be okay if they are fast, quick and agile. I think Harlequin Rasboras would be okay, but I'd try them a half dozen at a time to be sure.

In my experience, smaller loaches that dive the gravel don't usually uproot plants. My horse-faced loach (which died today, ouch) was about 4 or 5 inches (small for that type fish, they can get to 8 or 9 inches) and would spend most of his time under the gravel. He never uprooted any of my plants.

I think you're correct to stay away from mollies and guppies. If I had to choose a livebearer for that tank it would be platties. Not saying that's at the top of my overall list, but they'd probably be the best livebearers.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

djarmstrong said:


> My RTBS' is a very nice/ claim fish made it's home in a large tunnel/ cave thing as soon as it went in the tank about 1 and half year ago swimming in and out of it all day , and does not bother the other fish in the tank .


That's very true with them as younger fish, but as they grow I hear story after story about them being a menace in the tank. Just thought I'd post that as a heads up.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

JanS said:


> That's very true with them as younger fish, but as they grow I hear story after story about them being a menace in the tank. Just thought I'd post that as a heads up.


OK thanks for the tip , but when you say grow up , how big is that ? , because mine is 4.5inch now .


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Yoyo loaches can get mean. They can run the whole tank. I have one. Along with him I have 2 clown loaches, 1 botia, and a ruby tailed shark. The yoyo is agressive to everyone but the botia. He messes up my small fine rooted plants. I've been trying to catch him for months. Think hard about a yoyo. I'm sure there may be some nice ones out there but there are many mean ones.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Probily a long shot because of the RTBS but ill ask any way , What about putting in a couple of Discus in , Would that be ok or not .


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

Just keep in mind that discus are advanced, difficult fish. I've never tried mixing discus with your types of fish, so maybe someone can address that issue.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I second the warning about yoyo loaches. I love mine but that's because they are in a group in a tank with other fast-moving, relatively rambunctious fish (giant danio and cherry barbs). The cherry barbs are too fast to be caught and the giant danio are bruisers. No way I'd put the loaches in with my gouramis, sounds like a recipe for harassment. 

My opaline and blue gouramis are doing well with serpae tetra, angelfish and cories. I don't have any experience with the RTBS so I don't know what would get along with one of them. If you do go for a school of smaller fish make sure you don't get a fin-nipper. The long pectoral fins of a gourami can be tempting to some of the small fast fish.


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

My experience is that RTBS's are not easily predicted. Many fish they just ignore. The ones they don't like, though, they can really pursue. I wouldn't categorize them as really aggressive or really dangerous, but they do warrant caution.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Thanks for everyones help ,

But has anyone got any fish ideas that will be fine wih my current fish , ? Pay day is coming ( about week n half ) and really want to get some new fish but don't want to rush out and buy the wrong fish .


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

How about Rosey Barbs? Mine were sold as "Neon" Rosey Barbs. They're very pretty and very active. They are hearty eaters, including eating some tank algae, flake food and frozen brine. They seem to be getting along with my Pearl Gouramis in my 5 ft. 100 gallon tank. I paid $5.99/pair at my LFS, which is a bit of a high priced store, so they don't offer many fish cheaper.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

As long as your RTBS has a place to call his own (hiding rock, ect.) he will probably be fine with other catfish that are smaller, like corys. I have had many RTBS over the years and I have kept them with corys, clown loaches, khuli loaches, plecos. You have to have enough area for them to have their own territories and hiding places. You only have 6 fish in a 4 foot tank! What is the volume of your tank? As far as other swimming fish are concerned you could have larger tetras like, serpaes (a small school), congos, diamonds, bleeding hearts, also rosy barbs. I have kept many kinds of community fish with gouramis, and RTBS. Just make sure you have good filtration. I always have a heavily stocked tank. I am vigilant about my water changes and I keep my filters cleaned on a regular basis. I have a heavily planted tank. I don't have a lot of problems.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Tex Gal said:


> As long as your RTBS has a place to call his own (hiding rock, ect.) he will probably be fine with other catfish that are smaller, like corys. I have had many RTBS over the years and I have kept them with corys, clown loaches, khuli loaches, plecos. You have to have enough area for them to have their own territories and hiding places. You only have 6 fish in a 4 foot tank! What is the volume of your tank? As far as other swimming fish are concerned you could have larger tetras like, serpaes (a small school), congos, diamonds, bleeding hearts, also rosy barbs. I have kept many kinds of community fish with gouramis, and RTBS. Just make sure you have good filtration. I always have a heavily stocked tank. I am vigilant about my water changes and I keep my filters cleaned on a regular basis. I have a heavily planted tank. I don't have a lot of problems.


Thanks alot , for the volume of my tank do you mean the amount of water in it , i was told be one of my LFS it is about 300L ( UK litre ) I have been thining of the last couple of days if i buy about 5 Corys ( not sure what type yet ) and 12 harlequin rasbora but buying 6 at a time , or should just buy all 12 at once . ?

thn later one in a few month a few more little fish .


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Well if it were me, I would add many more fish to that size tank. I don't think it matters whether you add the rasboras one at a time or all together, just make sure you don't get little babies, gouramis love a live lunch. Have fun with your choices!


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

Tex Gal, I like the way you think. More fish! Lots of plants, lots of fish.

I think it works out best to limit the number of species of non-bottom fish. Too many species of schooling fish looks too busy to me.

In my 100 gallon tank, I have 3 Pearl Gouramis, 5 cherry barbs (and their fry) and 2 Neon Rosey Barbs. I plan to add about 6 Honey Dwarf Gouramis and schools of Harlequin Rasbora and Cardinal Tetras. Maybe one Dwarf Gourami. That's still pretty busy, so no more than that. If I want more fish, I'll add to the Harlequins and Cardinals.

Then, I'll finish off the load with bottom fish. I have Otocinclus and Borneo Suckers. I hope to add maybe Denson's Barbs, maybe SAE's, maybe Tiger Oto's, horse-faced loaches and maybe a few others.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

My choice has been made - 3 to 5 Corys and 12 to 15 Harlequin Rasbora , then i think ill have a look at whats in at the shop and ask them what fish they think will be good in tank too .

But if anyone else has ideas for me , please post .


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I'd go with at least 5 corys, they really like to be in a group and will be much less stressed and act more naturally having more friends around.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Can i mix Corys ?

Meaning having diffrent speices say three Panda Corys and a couple of Bronze Corys together .


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I believe that most corys will school more with their own type instead of forming a mixed group. I've got 2 types in my 44 gallon tank and they usually hang out in separate groups. They mix occasionally but prefer their own. The pandas and bronze should get along fine and they may or may not choose to hang out together.


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

If you're going to have 5 corys, I know that at first it is appealling to have two types. It has been my experience that when I do this sort of thing I eventually feel that it was a mistake. One type looks better long-term and they pal around together better.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

Ok just asking , but i think i will be getting 5 or 7 Panda Corys .


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## hoplo (May 14, 2007)

I'd hate to rain on your parade but the RTBS would be competing with the corys for food and being slow feeders they will lose out. Red Tail and rainbow sharks also have a bad tendency to bully smaller and slower tankmates so I'd go with fast fish like tiger or rosy barbs.


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## djarmstrong (Feb 12, 2008)

hoplo said:


> I'd hate to rain on your parade but the RTBS would be competing with the corys for food and being slow feeders they will lose out. Red Tail and rainbow sharks also have a bad tendency to bully smaller and slower tankmates so I'd go with fast fish like tiger or rosy barbs.


I was thinking that at the begining about the RTBS and the Corys but alot of people say that they will be ok together , so i will still buy some and if the shark does bully them i do have a smaler 2 foot tank i could put them in . My shark is a very claim/ nice fish any way but i see your point with it when they feed . i Have had Tiger barbs before and all they did was to nip the Gouramis fins alot so i dont think i would want that again and Rosey Barbs not 100% liking them .


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