# Looking for a fish



## Sk3lly (24 Jun 2015)

I'm looking for ideas for some new fish for my aquarium. My tank is a heavily planted ADA 60p, in an Asian theme. I would like a small grouping of maybe 5 or 6. Ideally active swimmers but not essential. Just something colourful.

I'm not a fan of gouramis, barbs and am looking for something different to tetras.

The fish will be joined by otos, amano shrimp and some easy level smaller shrimp. Maybe orange sakura.

The tank has strong flow in places but also has relatively low flow areas. It is also EI enriched and high co2 dosing. No floating plants and moderately lit.

The killer in my search so far has been the rimless/no cover. I'm very interested in threadfin Rainbows, blue danios, celestrial pearl danios as a group, and a Betta as a centrepiece. Not sure any of these are really compatible in my settings though.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks for your time


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## PARAGUAY (24 Jun 2015)

I know your not a barb fan but consider the Golden Barb a group of five or six in a planted aquarium showing their colour are good enough to rival an ything,active without the traits of the others in the barb family and peaceful.Its often overlooked because of it widespread availability


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## MirandaB (24 Jun 2015)

I would say the CPD's would be your best bet although they don't like really high flow that much and would be better in slightly higher numbers.
I keep mine with rosy loaches which are imo are a very underrated little fish,the males become a beautiful colour especially when in breeding condition 
The betta I wouldn't advise as they really prefer very low flow.


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## Sk3lly (25 Jun 2015)

For me the gold barbs get a little big unfortunately.

The cpd's i would be happy to get maybe 15 or so. Has anyone ever had experience with them in an open top tank? I really dont want them jumping


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## alto (25 Jun 2015)

Local shop had these in a densely mossed open top tank & had very few jumpers - tank is set up so no shadows fall across tank when people walk by (also seem to be minimal vibrations), there is always _some_ ambient lighting, fairly low light, soft acidic water, tank is closer to 20C than 26C (only occupant were CPD's & shrimp, so not much "net traffic")

Off Topic - how is your female ram doing?


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## MirandaB (25 Jun 2015)

Mine are all in open top tanks and I've never had a jumper.
They can be a bit skittish when you walk past the tank but they will dart among the plants,I've never seen mine go towards the surface.
I keep them at 23/24 degrees and they used to be in rock hard water but I've bought that down to a 60/40 rainwater/tap mix now.


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## dw1305 (25 Jun 2015)

Hi all,





Sk3lly said:


> threadfin Rainbows


 Are a favourite of mine, particularly if you can get females as well as males.  They like some flow, mine used to wait in the current for passing food. 

They like very small food items (micro-worms are a real favourite), and the males have a lovely iridescent blue sparkle when they are happy. 

They are shrimp safe.

cheers Darrel


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## Wisey (25 Jun 2015)

Good thread, I'm about to set-up and plant my first aquarium at the weekend so starting to think about the fish I will go for in 6-8 weeks, so this is good inspiration and suggestions for me too.Interesting to see the Gold Barb mentioned, I just saw these for the first time in my new LFS on Monday and really liked the look of them. I did see that they can grow to 6-7 cm, so was thinking that they might be a bit big for my aquarium also. I have a 60x45x45 and was hoping to add a group of 6, would that be too small?


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## scootamum (25 Jun 2015)

Wisey said:


> Good thread, I'm about to set-up and plant my first aquarium at the weekend so starting to think about the fish I will go for in 6-8 weeks, so this is good inspiration and suggestions for me too.Interesting to see the Gold Barb mentioned, I just saw these for the first time in my new LFS on Monday and really liked the look of them. I did see that they can grow to 6-7 cm, so was thinking that they might be a bit big for my aquarium also. I have a 60x45x45 and was hoping to add a group of 6, would that be too small?


 
It all depends really on which 'Gold Barb' you are thinking of.

If you are thinking of _Barbodes semifaciolatus_ then these can max out at around about 7cm.  A minimum tank size of 90 x 30 cm is recommended for these.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/barbodes-semifasciolatus/

There is a dwarf golden barb, _Pethia gelius_ which is a lot smaller.   Minimum tank footprint recommended for these is 60 x 30 cm.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pethia-gelius/

Links have been provided so that you can research both to see if you can meet their requirements.


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## Wisey (25 Jun 2015)

scootamum said:


> It all depends really on which 'Gold Barb' you are thinking of.
> 
> If you are thinking of _Barbodes semifaciolatus_ then these can max out at around about 7cm.  A minimum tank size of 90 x 30 cm is recommended for these.
> 
> ...



Thanks, it was the larger ones I had seen, but didn't realise there was a smaller variety, they don't look quite so bright, but I will have a look.

I'll be following this thread with interest, I am sure there will be other good suggestions coming up. With a black background and quite a lot of background planting planned, I really fancied the gold barbs as they would stand out so well. Hopefully some other good options come along.


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## Sk3lly (25 Jun 2015)

alto said:


> Local shop had these in a densely mossed open top tank & had very few jumpers - tank is set up so no shadows fall across tank when people walk by (also seem to be minimal vibrations), there is always _some_ ambient lighting, fairly low light, soft acidic water, tank is closer to 20C than 26C (only occupant were CPD's & shrimp, so not much "net traffic")
> 
> Off Topic - how is your female ram doing?


Thanks for the info!

Yea she is still alive. Im having to pipette food right into the area she rests in now. She is still eating well and is still very much interested in the food. Im hoping she may hopefully start to fight off whatever this is that is causing this. Im not convinced she will though as im beginning to think its something more than bacterial infection. This is why im now investigating new stocking ideas. Will be a shame to see her go. Shes been my favourite fish ive kept no doubt! So many enjoyable hours watching her shrimp hunt, snail poach and just generally boss the tank!



MirandaB said:


> Mine are all in open top tanks and I've never had a jumper.
> They can be a bit skittish when you walk past the tank but they will dart among the plants,I've never seen mine go towards the surface.
> I keep them at 23/24 degrees and they used to be in rock hard water but I've bought that down to a 60/40 rainwater/tap mix now.


Id love to do a large school of CPD's, with maybe a few threadfins if they are all compatible. I dont mind skittish as im often sat for a while staring at my tanks so im sure they will come out of hiding eventually



dw1305 said:


> Hi all, Are a favourite of mine, particularly if you can get females as well as males.  They like some flow, mine used to wait in the current for passing food.
> 
> They like very small food items (micro-worms are a real favourite), and the males have a lovely iridescent blue sparkle when they are happy.
> 
> ...


These are my favourites out of all the fish i suggested at the start. 

Ive heard they can jump though?? Any thoughts??


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## dw1305 (25 Jun 2015)

Hi all, 





Sk3lly said:


> Ive heard they can jump though?? Any thoughts??


 I kept mine in a tank with a cover (but not a tight fit), and it has a lot of plants. They never showed any inclination to jump, but they are quite nervous fish, so I wouldn't be surprised if they  were jumpers. They aren't a surface living fish, so they may be all right in a heavily planted tank.

I've lost Marbled Hatchets, _Epiplatys annulatus_ and _Copella arnoldi _ from tanks with incomplete covers, but they are all surface dwellers and there are specific circumstances where they are likely to jump out (feeding for the first 2, spawning for the latter).

The only other fish that leapt out on a regular basis were _Apistogramma trifasciata_ "fry". I subsequently found out that the males are homicidal to one another from a very young age. If you separate the males (by behaviour), before they are obviously sexable, the problem goes away. I also had 2 male _Apistogramma_ "Blue-steel", and they were extremely aggressive as well. <"I found a female, but they never spawned">,  but I would assume that similar problems would occur with them.

The other _Apistogramma_ I've kept are fine together as sub-adults males either calm, (_A. borellii_ and_ A. cacatuoides_), or more aggressive but not homicidal (_A. agassizii_).

cheers Darrel


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## Crossocheilus (25 Jun 2015)

I had a some threadfins for a while, all of which did fine in a low tech temporary tank (open top), but when put into my high tech I noticed that many of them pumped their gills (presumably due to high co2) while no other fish did. Through a combination of unexplained deaths and maybe one jumper (can't remember) I only have one left. However she doesn't seem to have any problem with the CO2 so it may just depend on individuals/quality. I also noticed much less displaying between males in the high tech. They also may have struggled to compete with my trigonostigma espei for food, being somewhat timid feeders.

However they are certainly very beautiful fish that I would throroughly recommend and I would love to breed them someday.


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## Sk3lly (25 Jun 2015)

Thank you Darrel and Crossocheilus for your experiences. Maybe i just try out 5 and just see how they do? I will turn my lighting and co2 down when i first introduce them, and slowly increase it back to normal levels. Hopefully this way they can get used to it better


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## alto (25 Jun 2015)

Threadfins (like many fish) really do better in larger groups, try for 10 or so ... it really will improve your chances of a successful outcome


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## greenmac75 (25 Jun 2015)

Sk3lly, I have kept CPD in open top for about a year with no inclination to jump


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## Sk3lly (25 Jun 2015)

alto said:


> Threadfins (like many fish) really do better in larger groups, try for 10 or so ... it really will improve your chances of a successful outcome


But I also like the cpd's and we're hoping to get both? Not sure if I can house two sets of 10 tbh. I do take your point on board


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## Sk3lly (25 Jun 2015)

greenmac75 said:


> Sk3lly, I have kept CPD in open top for about a year with no inclination to jump


Thanks. I think the CPD's are becoming a dead cert for me


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