A Black and White Tank!
 

Without realizing it, I now have a black and white fish tank! In my
50-gallon bowfront, I now have: 6 cory cats (not sure of the variety,
but they are quite small, with black and white zebra stripes), 2 tiny
angels (blank and white/silver striped) - they will get bigger, and 3
female dwarf gouramis (all silver). The only source of color are my 2
MALE flame gouramis, who are a nice orange/red with a blue fin. How on
earth did I wind up with such a monochromatic tank?

Any suggestions on what else can I add (eventually - not right now,
since I am adding gradually) that isn't black or white/silver??? I
have SOFT water, with 0-0-10 parameters for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.
Could I add some discus? I know that they can be quite colorful. I'd
like something with some size, since everything else seems small.

Thanks,

- Lisa

Discus will get way too big for the tank. Try some of the brighter tetras

Bob
"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...
Without realizing it, I now have a black and white fish tank! In my
50-gallon bowfront, I now have: 6 cory cats (not sure of the variety,
but they are quite small, with black and white zebra stripes), 2 tiny
angels (blank and white/silver striped) - they will get bigger, and 3
female dwarf gouramis (all silver). The only source of color are my 2
MALE flame gouramis, who are a nice orange/red with a blue fin. How on
earth did I wind up with such a monochromatic tank?

Any suggestions on what else can I add (eventually - not right now,
since I am adding gradually) that isn't black or white/silver??? I
have SOFT water, with 0-0-10 parameters for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.
Could I add some discus? I know that they can be quite colorful. I'd
like something with some size, since everything else seems small.

Thanks,

- Lisa

Your tank is too small for discus. You could add some dwarf rams, they are
very attractive. Plus their are lots of varieties of tetras that are
colorful that would be great in there.


--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...

Any suggestions on what else can I add (eventually - not right now,
since I am adding gradually) that isn't black or white/silver??? I
have SOFT water, with 0-0-10 parameters for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.
Could I add some discus? I know that they can be quite colorful. I'd
like something with some size, since everything else seems small.

For vivid blue - Cardinal or Neon Tetra.

For vivid orange - Tuxedo Lyretail Swords (Platy)

For a flash of red - Glowlight or Lemon Tetras

Personally my tank almost ended up black white and orange ;)

I added 11 Neons, 6 Black Neons, 2 lyertail Swords (male and female are
equally as vivid) and 10 Black Phantom Tetras, which do go black (the
males), but the females and the males have this iridescent green or blue
false eye thing happening which looks beautiful and is a nice contrast in
the tank - the males display and "dance" not unlike the Serpae, but without
the fin or body attacks that sometimes can happen with this little orange
devil ;) The female Black Phantoms are slightly pink, like a Red Phantom.

Other than that I've seen some beautiful Sunset Plays which graduate from
yellow to orange, but I am not going to get them because of the Swords - I
don't want to cross breed these two types of fish by accident.

Oz

"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...
Without realizing it, I now have a black and white fish tank! In my
50-gallon bowfront, I now have: 6 cory cats (not sure of the variety,
but they are quite small, with black and white zebra stripes), 2 tiny
angels (blank and white/silver striped) - they will get bigger, and 3
female dwarf gouramis (all silver). The only source of color are my 2
MALE flame gouramis, who are a nice orange/red with a blue fin. How on
earth did I wind up with such a monochromatic tank?

Any suggestions on what else can I add (eventually - not right now,
since I am adding gradually) that isn't black or white/silver??? I
have SOFT water, with 0-0-10 parameters for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.
Could I add some discus? I know that they can be quite colorful. I'd
like something with some size, since everything else seems small.

Thanks,

- Lisa


I once set up a 60g monochrome tank. I used black substrate, zebra rocks
(black with white stripes), and stocked it with juvenile Bala sharks. It
actually looked rather appealing (imo). Later, anything added with
colour *really* stood out (ie: plants, which are not generally available
in black & white). I vote to move the Flame gouramis elsewhere ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

Oh - I thought tetras were a no-no because of the angelfish. Won't
they hunt tetras when they grow a bit?

- Lisa

Lisa wrote:
Oh - I thought tetras were a no-no because of the angelfish. Won't
they hunt tetras when they grow a bit?

- Lisa


To figure out good tetras to keep, look at the size of the tetra and the
size of an adult angelfish's mouth. Long, slender tetras like neons
fit, while deep bodied ones like lemons or serpaes don't.

Some colorful fish I like that nobody's mentioned are cherry barbs and
gold barbs. They're very active and don't poop as much as livebearers.
They're still small, though.

How about congo tetras? They're larger than other tetras and silvery
but with an amazing irridescent rainbow sheen over them. They do like
soft water. Whether they look colorful or silver depends on the
lighting and their mood. They grow to about 3".

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

"Elaine T" wrote

To figure out good tetras to keep, look at the size of the tetra and the
size of an adult angelfish's mouth. Long, slender tetras like neons fit,
while deep bodied ones like lemons or serpaes don't.

I've never thought of that aspect. Good point ;)

Some colorful fish I like that nobody's mentioned are cherry barbs and
gold barbs. They're very active and don't poop as much as livebearers.
They're still small, though.

But they swim like lighting if they have to. Much faster than an Angel could
get I'm betting.

How about congo tetras? They're larger than other tetras and silvery but
with an amazing irridescent rainbow sheen over them. They do like soft
water. Whether they look colorful or silver depends on the lighting and
their mood. They grow to about 3".

I forgot about these. They are more expensive over here than your average
tetra, but I agree, they look amazing.

You've got me thinking now ;)

Oz

not if you grow up with them and eat maily flake food. My angels could
enhale the neons, cardinals and smaller fish but don't. Just ang out and
wag their heads at me hen they are hungry.

Now a wild caught angel, that might be different.

Bob

"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...
Oh - I thought tetras were a no-no because of the angelfish. Won't
they hunt tetras when they grow a bit?

- Lisa

Robert Flory wrote:
not if you grow up with them and eat maily flake food. My angels could
enhale the neons, cardinals and smaller fish but don't. Just ang out and
wag their heads at me hen they are hungry.

Now a wild caught angel, that might be different.

Bob

I've kept angels and cardinals together too without trouble. I've
always chosen cardinals for keeping with angels because they get bigger
than neons. However, I'm always reluctant to recommend slender fish
with angels in general. I had occasional customers when I worked at a
LFS who bought the really cheap tiny neons (despite our recommendations)
and then complained bitterly when they vanished in their tanks with
grown angels.


"Lisa" wrote in message
oups.com...

Oh - I thought tetras were a no-no because of the angelfish. Won't
they hunt tetras when they grow a bit?

- Lisa






--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

Cardinals might possibly be an option in this situation, since my
angels are very tiny right now. I purposefully picked them out "small"
so that they could mature with their tank mates. They are quite the
characters already - very curious about everything, and not the
slightest bit fearful of fingers or etc. dipped into the tank. They
remind me of my inquisitive bettas in their personalities, tiny though
they are. The big "bruiser" angel at the LFS was both very beautiful
and very tempting, but I am glad I withstood that temptation - I think
"he" would have become a real terror in the tank, LOL.

Thanks all for the good guidance. I will definitely be scoping out the
local fish scene in the near future. Everyone is happy and healthy in
my 46-gallon bowfront so far. But, already, the tank just seems too
small. (Spouse rolling eyes as I type this, and shaking head at the
ceiling. . . ) I wanna BIG discus tank! Wahhhh!

:-)

- Lisa