top swimming fish

[Connie]

I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
TIA.

[Steff]

Hatchet fish are good top swimming fish .


"Connie" > wrote in message
...
>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
>ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
>such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
>clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
> TIA.
>

[Derek Benson]

On Thu, 19 May 2005 14:12:42 -0500, "Connie"
> wrote:

>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
>ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
>such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
>clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
>TIA.
>

Kongo Tetras. Danios, any species. When I've had Pearl Gouramis they
tended to hang out mostly at the top, IIRC. Hatchetfish of course, but
the tank must be covered EVERYWHERE, or they'll fly out of there.

-Derek

[Lisa]

Congrats on the cycling. My gouramis (Pearl, Gold, Dwarf) always like
to hang out under the bogwood and other assorted "cave-like" features
in my tank. In my 50-gallon community tank, the gouramis are only
top-swimming fish when food is introduced. :-)

I have not YET found a real "top-layer" fish! Even my angelfish (who
is now a real bruiser in the tank - getting huge) likes to hang out in
the plants about mid-tank.

Question: will ANY FW fish be a "top-swimmer" in a community tank, if
given adequate hiding places via plants/structures lower down? My
angel is the closest that I have, currently - he likes the plants that
reach about 3/4 to the top of the tank, and will weave/hover among
them. He doesn't seem nervous about getting attacked out of cover.
Just curious.

- Lisa

[NetMax]

"Connie" > wrote in message
...
>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need
>some ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are
>middle, such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all,
>and cories, clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top
>swimming fish?
> TIA.


Lots of top feeders, but there really aren't many top swimmers.
Hatchetfish are a possibility, but these fish are not for everyone. They
can be sensitive and fragile when moved, you need to have several to even
notice them sometimes, and they can stay quite still and unremarkable.
Marble Hatchetfish are more attractively marked but stay relatively
small. Silver Hatchetfish grow larger but are.. 100% silver. Those are
the two found commercially, though a few other exist. Arrowanas are true
top swimmers, but even the smallest type most would grow larger than your
aquarium ;~).

I think your solution will be in having some mid-water pressure causing
your top-feeders to spend more time at the surface. This is typically
accomplished in one of three ways, i) space, ii) population or iii)
territory. For 'space' if you put more 'stuff' in the middle of the tank
(driftwood, plants etc), then the open-water swimmers (typically long
thin fast fish) will migrate upwards where they have more room, leaving
the middle to the shorter stubby fish. For 'population' having a
gregarious group of fish in the middle (ie: gang of tiger barbs), or very
active swimmers (ie: Giant danios) will cause more docile and/or
singletons above or below, to avoid the action. For 'territory' simply
add a territorial fish who will claim a chunk of area and the 6-8" above
it. The trick is to find a fish who is only half-hearted about keeping
the area clear, so he will shoo others out, but not damage anyone. Ymmv
significantly as it involves some skill and luck. A possible candidate
is a Neolamprologis leleupi or something from the Apistogrammas (a male).
The leleupis are usually bright yellow (sometimes towards a shade of
orange). They can be extremely intolerant of other fish of the same
color and they have the ability to kill fish larger than themselves.
However they are generally very tolerant of other dis-similar fish.
Apisto males will map out their territory and depending on species and a
bit of luck, will try to discourage other fish from wandering through.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Dick]

On Thu, 19 May 2005 14:12:42 -0500, "Connie"
> wrote:

>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
>ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
>such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
>clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
>TIA.
>

My 5 inch Blue Gouramis swim at the top most of the day. I have
three, 2 male and one female. They each have a territory, the 2 males
one to a corner with the female wandering about. At night they all
settle to the bottom. In another tank, a large black angelfish tends
to occupy the top, but still swims down and "owns" a fair amount of
open territory.

It is funny to turn on the lights first thing in the morning (still
dark outside) and find all the fish camping out somewhere on the
gravel. I am thinking particularly of my 75 gallon tank which is
heavily occupied during the day, so you can imagine the "carpet" of
fish I find every morning.

dick

[Richard Sexton]

In article >,
Connie > wrote:
>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
>ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
>such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
>clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
>TIA.
>
>

There's a few neat killifish that are impossible to kill, active,
breed like rabbits and are cheap. The gold form of Aplocheilus lineatus
("golder wonder killi") is a starter but gets large (to 4") and have
huge mouths. Not agressive but they will eat anything that fints in their mouths.

Epiplatys dageti is another one, much smaller 1.5" or so.

For real small tankmakes Epiplatys annulatus.

Aplocheilus panchax is around from time to time.

Pics:

http://images.killi.net/m/MON/
http://images.killi.net/l/LIN/gold/
http://images.killi.net/a/ANN

--
Need Mercedes parts ? - http://parts.mbz.org
http://www.mbz.org | Mercedes Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | Killies, killi.net, Crypts, aquaria.net
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Old wris****ches http://watches.list.mbz.org

[Dr Engelbert Buxbaum]

Connie wrote:

> I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
> ideas on top swimming fish.

Zebra fish spend a lot of time near the surface

[John Thomas]

For soft, acidic water, you might try marbled hatchet fish, although the
little geeks enjoy flying out of the water from time to time, so you
have to be conscientious about keeping a lid over them at all times.

You might also want to consider silver hatchet fish, although some have
reported them to be less hardy. Here's a rundown of some of the
available species: http://www.mongabay.com/fish/gasteropelecidae.htm

P.S. I've taken to doing a head count after every time I open the lid on
my community tank. Fortunately, they're good about flopping neatly onto
a napkin after they've launched themselves out of the tank, and I
haven't lost one yet.

[JD]

Try guppies and platies...


"Connie" > wrote in message
...
>I have a 29 gal tank, which is finally CYCLED - YEA!! Anyhoo, I need some
>ideas on top swimming fish. I have read up on most, and alot are middle,
>such as gourami, barbs and tetras. Mollys and platys are all, and cories,
>clown loaches are bottom (as well as most cat fish). Any top swimming fish?
> TIA.
>