[Dru]

The cycle has finally run through on my tank (rio 125). On tuesday im going to buy some fish :lol:. I currently have some black neon tetras and cardinals (which are in my other tank). I was just wondering if you had any suggestions on some fish which would situate mid to top tank.

Cheers

Andrew

8)

 

[Lupin]

Hatchets or White Clouds for surface. More tetras for the mid level. What about the bottom?

 

[Dru]

I have seen a lovely albino plec. I also love those red torpedo barbs but my tank aint big enough . I quite fancy a fighter fish but ive had real trouble with them in the past.

 

[Lupin]

Be careful with the plecs. Most are quite large for your tank. Bristlenose and pitbull plecs will fit the tank. Fancy some otos? Cories? Kuhli loaches?

As for bettas, I don't think the betta's fins will remain in the same shape with the tetras in the same tank. Most tetras love to nip the betta's fins. Hatchets and white clouds on the other hand are excellent. Try penguin tetras. They stay on surface most of the time and although reasonably large(6-7 cm), they suit well in tanks often seen chasing each other and stalking insects crawling on the top rim of the tank. They don't jump. They just wait until insects fall to the water.

Pencilfish are also good additions and so are blue rams and apistogrammas. Female blue rams have pink bellies for added information. They are hardy once acclimatized and I prefer that you buy them last in the list as most don't do well in tanks at early stages.

Other tetras that can be taken into consideration are lemon tetras, rummy-nose tetras, red phantoms, black phantoms and glowlights. Rummies should be bought last. They are one of the most sensitive tetras and the red coloration on their wee heads serve as indicators of your water parameters. Anything off and the red color fades.

I would avoid the serpaes, red-eyes, Buenos Aires and black skirt tetras if I were you. They are not worth trying and I'd rather you be safe than sorry if these species begin wreaking havoc by nipping everyone's fins.

Good luck!

 

[Dru]

Thanks for that. how many fish do you think i could fit in my 125 l tank

 

[Rue]

Zebra danios are actually underrated...they stick mainly to the top and are very entertaining...always on the go...

They also look much nicer once they're settled in your tank...their colours come out more...there's also a long-finned and golden variety...

 

[Dru]

are dinos they shole fish?

 

[Reun]

danios are schooling fish...so are white cloud mountain minnows...and hatchets...and most of the smaller surface level fish.

I would fill out your schools of tetras, then add another school of surface level fish, or, you could always go with a couple gouramis...gouramis spend most of their time at the top of the tank, and make very nice centerpiece fish, they also tend to intimidate tetras and other schoolers, meaning the fish will stay in tighter schools, instead of them spreading everywhere. some of the show tanks I have seen around your size have a couple of moonlight gouramis and they accent the tank beautifully.

Be carefull if you get white cloud minnows though, because they like cooler temperatures, while most fish are comfertable at 75 degrees, they are comfertable more in the 65 degree range...they can survive temperatures up to 78 degrees, just dont expect them to live long.

as for bottom feeders, I would stay away from the larger plecos, they get way too big, they are also poop machines, it will outgrow or pollute your tank way too fast.

My suggestion if you want a pleco is to get the bristlenose variety, these only grow 4" or so, making them a little more managable in smaller tanks, and they are very common, most fish stores have them or can order them with ease.

also, to help keep the bottom of the tank clean, get a school of 7 or more corys, they will snarf up the left over food that sinks to the bottom and add some entertainment to the bottom of the tank. stick to the albino,bronze,or peppered cory varieties, much less finicky about water parameters and darn near bullet proof!

 

[Dru]

cheers :wink:

 

[Reun]

forget what i said about the school of corys, i just realised you rio 125 tank isnt 125 gallons...its 125 LITERS...my bad...

for what i said about adding a school of corys! i would keep only a school of 6 each of your tetras, 1 bristlenose pleco, and one beta or gourami...even at that you are pushing your tank to the limit, and I wouldnt add any more fish.

you will have to do at least a 25% water change once a week. sorry for the mis information

 

[scottysgirl]

125 liters equals 32 gallons. I think you could fit more fish in then that. Is the tank planted or is it going to be? I have about 20 fish in my 30 gallon, it is quite heavily planted and nitrates never get above 10 ppm with weekly 30% water changes. Of course, most of the fish are quite small. What kind of fish are you interested in? I think hatchets would be good in there.

For my two cents--I love rams, rummynose tetras and pencilfish as blue suggested

 

[fish_4_all]

I would say hatchets or danios for surface fish. I am actually going to try and breed danios as soon as my LFS needs swordtails. I want to get some flightless fruit flies to feed them on the surface, should be a lot fun to see them snatch them off the surface. As for bottom dwellers, why not shrimp if you don't get a fish that is likely to eat them? A pleco will likely munch them and my cories love ghost shrimp so it really can't be both fish and shrimp. In my experience anyway.

 

[Dru]

Are hachetts the weird shaped fish?

 

[Amphitrite]

Yep, here's a picture of one:

 

[Dru]

They look really good are they shole fish and what size do they grow to. How much do they cost.

 

[Amphitrite]

I haven't actually kept these fish myself, so I can't tell you whether they are a shoaling fish or not, but I don't think they would be.

They grow from an inch, to an inch and a half - and have a tendancy to jump - so make sure you have the tank hood on at all times.

As for cost, I can't imagine they would be that expensive - it would probably depend where you're located

 

[Lupin]

They look really good are they shole fish and what size do they grow to. How much do they cost.

They don't shoal much. Most of the time, they stalk under surfaces for insects. 4-5 cm is the max size. A cover glass is very important. These fish can easily fly out of your tank with their gliders(pectoral fins).:blink: