Trying to decide on new fish

[Mark]

I have the fun sort of problem that's nice to have for an aquarium
hobbiest. I'm on a "new fish" search. My tank is nice and stable and
needs some new fish. I've been putting it off because of Christmas
activities and out of town travel, but now I'm ready. To prepare,
I've been doing a lot of reading, both online and books, trying to
decide which fish to add to my tank. I thought I'd toss my thoughts
out to start some discussion and add your folks' opinions to my
knowledge base.

I have a 40g tank (plastic plants) that currently has in it:

2 angelfish
4 serpae (sp?) tetras
4 juvenile swordtails (born in the tank, their parents unfortunately
deceased)
1 albino cory catfish
1 (extremely shy) pleco

I think I may have a conflicting list of desires for the next group of
fish, which is why I'm having problems deciding. My desires for the
next fish are (no particular order):

- more color (Cardinal or Neon Tetras fit that bill)
- mid to top dwelling (don't know yet what fish for this)
- active fish (don't know if I'm more interested in small schooling
fish or a few larger fish that are active) maybe I should call this
one "fish with personality"
- won't nip my angels' fins (does that eliminate tiger barbs, or will
a larger school of tigers help curb this problem?)
- the angelfish won't eat them (I've read this is a problem for Neon
tetras)

I've considered Cardinal or Neon Tetras, Tiger Barbs, Clown Loaches,
Harlequin Rasboras. What else should I throw in for consideration?

I can't get them all. How do you guys decide what to get next?

[Carlos]

consider a biotope environment. what kind of biotope would you like to
recreate, thats how i decided several times over the years.

i see that you are getting somewhere reading. you have two angels, then
consider a south american biotope and research on that. make a list of all
the fish that live in that environment and start from there.

consider also moving from plastic to natural. and expand on a new lighting
system for those new plants.

adding rich tanins and vitamins will complete that environment.

best of luck.




"Mark" > wrote in message
om...
> I have the fun sort of problem that's nice to have for an aquarium
> hobbiest. I'm on a "new fish" search. My tank is nice and stable and
> needs some new fish. I've been putting it off because of Christmas
> activities and out of town travel, but now I'm ready. To prepare,
> I've been doing a lot of reading, both online and books, trying to
> decide which fish to add to my tank. I thought I'd toss my thoughts
> out to start some discussion and add your folks' opinions to my
> knowledge base.
>
> I have a 40g tank (plastic plants) that currently has in it:
>
> 2 angelfish
> 4 serpae (sp?) tetras
> 4 juvenile swordtails (born in the tank, their parents unfortunately
> deceased)
> 1 albino cory catfish
> 1 (extremely shy) pleco
>
> I think I may have a conflicting list of desires for the next group of
> fish, which is why I'm having problems deciding. My desires for the
> next fish are (no particular order):
>
> - more color (Cardinal or Neon Tetras fit that bill)
> - mid to top dwelling (don't know yet what fish for this)
> - active fish (don't know if I'm more interested in small schooling
> fish or a few larger fish that are active) maybe I should call this
> one "fish with personality"
> - won't nip my angels' fins (does that eliminate tiger barbs, or will
> a larger school of tigers help curb this problem?)
> - the angelfish won't eat them (I've read this is a problem for Neon
> tetras)
>
> I've considered Cardinal or Neon Tetras, Tiger Barbs, Clown Loaches,
> Harlequin Rasboras. What else should I throw in for consideration?
>
> I can't get them all. How do you guys decide what to get next?

[Reg]

Mark wrote:
> I have the fun sort of problem that's nice to have for an aquarium
> hobbiest. I'm on a "new fish" search. My tank is nice and stable and
> needs some new fish. I've been putting it off because of Christmas
> activities and out of town travel, but now I'm ready. To prepare,
> I've been doing a lot of reading, both online and books, trying to
> decide which fish to add to my tank. I thought I'd toss my thoughts
> out to start some discussion and add your folks' opinions to my
> knowledge base.
>
> I have a 40g tank (plastic plants) that currently has in it:
>
> 2 angelfish
> 4 serpae (sp?) tetras
> 4 juvenile swordtails (born in the tank, their parents unfortunately
> deceased)
> 1 albino cory catfish
> 1 (extremely shy) pleco
>
> I think I may have a conflicting list of desires for the next group of
> fish, which is why I'm having problems deciding. My desires for the
> next fish are (no particular order):
>
> - more color (Cardinal or Neon Tetras fit that bill)
> - mid to top dwelling (don't know yet what fish for this)
> - active fish (don't know if I'm more interested in small schooling
> fish or a few larger fish that are active) maybe I should call this
> one "fish with personality"
> - won't nip my angels' fins (does that eliminate tiger barbs, or will
> a larger school of tigers help curb this problem?)
> - the angelfish won't eat them (I've read this is a problem for Neon
> tetras)
>
> I've considered Cardinal or Neon Tetras, Tiger Barbs, Clown Loaches,
> Harlequin Rasboras. What else should I throw in for consideration?
>
> I can't get them all. How do you guys decide what to get next?


Depending on your water parameters, consider rosy or cherry barbs.
Barbs tend to be active. Also a number of rasboras. you mentioned
harlequin. I've got harlequins and r. espei. I prefer the r. espei
because of the nice shiny "lambchop" shaped copper patch. my r. espie
and r. heteromorph tend to stay in the top 1/3 of the tank in an active
school.
Maybe rainbows? I've never had them, but I understand many species show
great colour as they age (and get out of those stressful dealers' tanks).
Clown loaches might get a bit big for a 40g. I've seen them 8" and
larger. If you want loaches consider botia almorhae (yo-yo) or the
smaller botia striata. The almorhae tend to be quite boisterous
initially, but i've noticed mine becoming more sendentary over the past
6 months. They're about 2 years old now.

[Gail Futoran]

"Mark" > wrote in message
om...
> I have the fun sort of problem that's nice to have for an
aquarium
> hobbiest. I'm on a "new fish" search. My tank is nice
and stable and
> needs some new fish. I've been putting it off because of
Christmas
> activities and out of town travel, but now I'm ready. To
prepare,
> I've been doing a lot of reading, both online and books,
trying to
> decide which fish to add to my tank. I thought I'd toss
my thoughts
> out to start some discussion and add your folks' opinions
to my
> knowledge base.
>
> I have a 40g tank (plastic plants) that currently has in
it:

I'd get a few more Cory cats since they like the company and
your tank is big enough that more Corys can help with
clean-up.

> 2 angelfish
> 4 serpae (sp?) tetras
> 4 juvenile swordtails (born in the tank, their parents
unfortunately
> deceased)
> 1 albino cory catfish
> 1 (extremely shy) pleco
>
> I think I may have a conflicting list of desires for the
next group of
> fish, which is why I'm having problems deciding. My
desires for the
> next fish are (no particular order):
>
> - more color (Cardinal or Neon Tetras fit that bill)
[snip]

Keep in mind schooling fish like to school, which means more
than one "specimen" fish. Better to have just a few
species, but the right number of each species of fish.
They'll be happier (less stressed) hence healthier.

I like having female Bettas in my tanks. They're very
colorful, they don't bother the other fish (or each other -
much), and they swim all over the tank, from bottom to top.

Gail