# suggestions please



## Chris Tinker (30 Aug 2019)

love these little fish of mine...

so wife has complained....... my corys hide... a lot... no one but me knows they are in the tank.

the rams are low swimmers so not obvious enough for the wife

wife has demanded a fish to be seen... any one got a fish to reccomend?

i plan to get 5 rummy nose to make my total 10.

i have 6 bolivian rams

6 cory kensi 

6 amano shrimps..

not sure what to get with them.... helppppp

i have gone brazil themed.

sand is the base, planted, i have wood, high lighting and co2

ph is 7 
temp 25.5
hardness seems to be about 5-15 
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5-10 

300 ish litres
4ft tank x 45D x 56H (if i recall correctly)
i have 
eheim pro2 2128 600ltr
eheim pro4 350 300ltr
external heating. 


I am thinking may be angel fish, stocking allowance says i can go up to 4.. which would allow the wife daughter me and the son to have a respective fish...

but please make suggestions


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## Tom Michael (30 Aug 2019)

The obvious choice would be a large shoal of small tetras - what ever you like the most. Rummies are popular - personally I find their shoaling behaviour and fast swimming back and forth a bit too much. Bentosi are underrated and display really interesting behaviour.


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## Zeus. (30 Aug 2019)

Green Neon tetras


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## Harry H (30 Aug 2019)

Yes, second green neons, a large shoal brings joy!


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## Chris Tinker (30 Aug 2019)

generally think the wife wants something bigger. easier to see....

are green different? quick google looks  slightly different...


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## Zeus. (30 Aug 2019)

The Green Neon tetras are the smallest and very brightly coloured and also not green. Big fish just make your tank look small IMO, smaller the fish the bigger the tanks looks


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## richard brown (30 Aug 2019)

Angelfish look great in that tank btw, I have a pair that look great in it.

@alto told me the tanks height suits the angelfish and he was not wrong.

I think they would actually look a little better in your tank imo the layout would suit them more.


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## richard brown (30 Aug 2019)

Just to add to my last post, they are great characters too, always come to the glass when I go near the tank, one even let me brush its fins with my hand.


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## Chris Tinker (30 Aug 2019)

Zeus. said:


> The Green Neon tetras are the smallest and very brightly coloured and also not green. Big fish just make your tank look small IMO, smaller the fish the bigger the tanks looks



unfortunately i think that would be like feeding water to my hungry wife haha.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (30 Aug 2019)

Not a huge fish but pencil fish have really impressed me with their characters and definitely stay near the surface.


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## Chris Tinker (30 Aug 2019)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> Not a huge fish but pencil fish have really impressed me with their characters and definitely stay near the surface.


coral red ones are stunning... bet thats an order though .. never seen them in a lfs


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## tam (31 Aug 2019)

Maybe up the rummy noses even more - that will make a more impressive shoal that's more obvious from a distance.


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## alto (31 Aug 2019)

These seldom look like much in the shops but are rather nice (spectacular) in a decent sized group in 120cm (& longer) tanks, they are an active fish in a decent sized tank but will just hover about in a 60cm
_Thayeria_ _boehlkei_
- they should mature closer to 3in than 2

If you decide to go angels, begin with 5-7 small juveniles - angels grown up with smaller tetras etc tend to be less predatory once mature 
I’d choose either standard or veil type fins, depending on tankmates 
Angels can easily be harassed by nippy tankmates - even if there’s minimal damage, it will dampen their behaviour (which can be quite interesting)


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## Chris Tinker (31 Aug 2019)

alto said:


> These seldom look like much in the shops but are rather nice (spectacular) in a decent sized group in 120cm (& longer) tanks, they are an active fish in a decent sized tank but will just hover about in a 60cm
> _Thayeria_ _boehlkei_
> - they should mature closer to 3in than 2
> 
> ...




if i start with 5-7 id need to get rid of 1-3 when they grow up ... i dont really like the unknown over stocking idea... i thought there was only altum and scalara


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## Conort2 (31 Aug 2019)

Chris Tinker said:


> coral red ones are stunning... bet thats an order though .. never seen them in a lfs


Bloody expensive aswell, expect around 15-20quid per fish!!

Maybe some of the more medium sized tetras? Red phantoms, black phantoms, rosy tetras or maybe lemons? Abit bigger and showier, the males display to each other all the time.

Cheers

Conor


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (1 Sep 2019)

The standard dwarf Pencilfish are gorgeous and whilst more expense than most, not prohibitively so....


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## alto (3 Sep 2019)

Chris Tinker said:


> if i start with 5-7 id need to get rid of 1-3 when they grow up ... i dont really like the unknown over stocking idea... i thought there was only altum and scalara


Veil and standard just refer to fin length/height

If you source Asian bred angels, they tend to mature smaller especially if half black veil - one of my favourite color, fin type - while the fins may measure ~30cm tip to tip, body size remains closer to 6 - 7cm IF you don’t overfeed ... angels excel at _Starving Here!!!!! _so vigilance is needed

I’d keep a group of at least 5 angels rather than 1-3 (bound to end up with someone overly harassed re typical cichlid behaviour) - tank is certainly large enough to keep these plus some other shoaling species and some Corydoras  without overstocking tank IF you don’t overfeed and with regular maintenance 
(I can’t imagine not doing weekly water changes on any fish tank)

Though if keeping the angels, I’d skip larger tetra species (such as the penguins) 

I had a nice group of N eques  interesting fish but I’d not keep again without a hood/lid


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## Edvet (3 Sep 2019)

How about some emperor tetras Nematobrycon palmeri.


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## Coys (20 Sep 2019)

Edvet said:


> How about some emperor tetras Nematobrycon palmeri.



A beautiful fish, but I found that mine. particularly the males, tended to find a favourite corner, rock or plant and lurked there all the time. 

I also tried rosy tetras, but they tended to hide among the plants a lot of the time, but I have recently gone for groups of diamond tetras (8) and Colombian tetras (12) and so far they are free swimming their groups, the diamonds in mid water and the Colombians in the top third.


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## Onoma1 (20 Sep 2019)

Large group of ember tetras. They are playful, bold and unlke the green neons do not spend most of their time hiding! I saw a shoal in one of the Aquarium Gardens Aquascapes and was blown away them.


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## Onoma1 (20 Sep 2019)

Depending on which side of Leeds you are Gorden Riggs in Walsden has Dwarf Pencil Fish at 1.99 and Embers at 3 for 5 pounds.


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## alto (20 Sep 2019)

Coys said:


> A beautiful fish, but I found that mine. particularly the males, tended to find a favourite corner, rock or plant and lurked there all the time.
> 
> I also tried rosy tetras, but they tended to hide among the plants a lot of the time,



Interesting
When I kept M palmeri they were constantly shoaling about the tank (and their activity wasn’t really appreciated by the altums )
More recently I had a shoal of 15-20 “white fin ornate tetra” (there are a couple of species that ship under this label, all within the “rosy clade”), mine were loads of fun to watch, constantly displaying and swimming in various formations - they would hide very occasionally, eg, during a water change


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