# Fish for 60x20x20 tank.



## Henry (7 Apr 2013)

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a species of fish that would be suitable for the above dimensioned tank. It works out at about 25 litres. I'm looking for something Cichlid like, but theres nothing small enough. The dwarf puffers in there are being moved to a tank with more snails, since they're looking a little thin. Any recommendations?


----------



## OllieNZ (7 Apr 2013)

A pair of N. Brevis would be worth a look.


----------



## BigTom (7 Apr 2013)

A trio (1M, 2F) or small group of any of the _Dario_ species would probably do well in a tank that size. Finding/correctly sexing females is very difficult though.

_Elasoma evergladei_ would be another good shout.

If you can provide a good blackwater environment and extremely soft water then _Parosphromenus_ or many of the smaller wild betta species (_coccina_, etc) would suit, or _Trichopsis pumila_ for something a little less fussy.

Killifish worth a look as well but I'm a bit out of my depth in terms of recommending individual species. _Epiplatys annulatus_ perhaps?

Many of the above often will only eat live foods though, be warned.


----------



## Henry (7 Apr 2013)

I should have mentioned this is a planted tank.

I have a large harem of N. multifasciatus, but they're not suited to a planted setup. I've also got a few different species of killifish, including E. annulatus, but they don't have the behaviour I'm looking for. I have been considering Dario dario, but they're like hens teeth round my way. Maybe I'll get on mail order.

Keep the ideas coming


----------



## Henry (7 Apr 2013)

Just looked up those Parosphromenus. WOW! I get the impression they'd be a bugger to source too though. Shame, since they're stunning fish.
Damn fish shops and their guppies and such!


----------



## Steve Smith (7 Apr 2013)

I saw today that my local Maidenhead Aquatics (Coventry) has some lovely Licorice Gourami (Parosphromenus deissneri) in.  Very tempted to use some of these in a new setup which will be 40x20x20 (so only two or 3 perhaps, depending on research about what they need)


----------



## BigTom (7 Apr 2013)

SteveUK said:


> I saw today that my local Maidenhead Aquatics (Coventry) has some lovely Licorice Gourami (Parosphromenus deissneri) in. Very tempted to use some of these in a new setup which will be 40x20x20 (so only two or 3 perhaps, depending on research about what they need)


 
They need very soft and clean water, low pH and exclusively live foods. Wonderful fish, but best suited to a species only setup where the focus should be on breeding them (they're increasingly threatened in the wild from habitat destruction). Also, almost all Paros are sold as _P. deissneri_, but in fact _deissneri_ have never been commerically imported to Europe. They will probably be part of the _Bintan/'Sentang'_ complex, but there are a lot of different species and forms which can be tricky to distinguish unless collection locality is known.

Lots of info over on PP - THE AQUARIUM: Keeping and breeding Licorice Gouramis


----------



## Steve Smith (7 Apr 2013)

Thanks for the info Tom.  Perhaps not suited to what I'm thinking in that case, but I'll have a read non the less


----------



## dean (24 Apr 2013)

You say you're looking for cichlids?
60x20x20 is big enough for most apistogramma species and there's loads of them 
Or
Egyptian mouthbrooders - Pseudocrenilabrus multicolour


----------



## dw1305 (25 Apr 2013)

Hi all,


BigTom said:


> They will probably be part of the Bintan/'Sentang' complex, but there are a lot of different species and forms which can be tricky to distinguish unless collection locality is known.


I've had a "pair" (2 males) of P. "Bintan" for the last 18months in a similar tank at the back of the lab. I'm still looking for some females, but without success so far. I very rarely see mine (once or twice a week maximum), and they are incredibly fussy feeders, even with live food (_Daphnia_ isn't suitable etc). They appear incredibly stealthily from the undergrowth, and just seem to drift forward, but they can disappear incredibly quickly, and I've never got a good photo.





I'd really like to have a go with _Dario dario_ or _D. hysginon, _but I've never seen any females so far.



dean said:


> 60x20x20 is big enough for most apistogramma species and there's loads of them


Only _Apistogramma borellii_ is really small and peaceful enough, but even then it is too small a tank.


dean said:


> Egyptian mouthbrooders - Pseudocrenilabrus multicolour


No, not even for a pair, they are very territorial and aggressive and grew to about 9cm.

cheers Darrel


----------



## BigTom (25 Apr 2013)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've had a "pair" (2 males) of P. "Bintan" for the last 18months in a similar tank at the back of the lab. I'm still looking for some females, but without success so far. I very rarely see mine (once or twice a week maximum), and they are incredibly fussy feeders, even with live food (_Daphnia_ isn't suitable etc). They appear incredibly stealthily from the undergrowth, and just seem to drift forward, but they can disappear incredibly quickly, and I've never got a good photo.


 
Annoyingly I'm in a very similar situation. Just lost my second and last female without getting them to breed successfully, so now also have two bachelor males left. Bit of a sore point to be honest.


----------



## Henry (25 Apr 2013)

I've got hold of what are supposedly Dario dario/Badis benegalensis, Maidenhead in Blackpool have males and females. I bought a pair but the male seems to be B. assamensis. He subsequently died, however; I knowingly bought bad stock hoping good water quality would revive them. Alas, the poor mite bit the dust.

Once I've replaced the male, the tank will be stocked with a pair of Dario dario, 8 Pethia gelius, and 4 Rosy loaches (latin name in dispute). The barbs and loaches school together beatifully, and the female D. dario is surprisingly happy to swim in the open. They are very active and interesting fish. They constantly hunt, so be sure to fill the tank with cyclops or daphnia. They also bother shrimp for fun!


----------



## BigTom (25 Apr 2013)

Henry said:


> I've got hold of what are supposedly Dario dario/Badis benegalensis, Maidenhead in Blackpool have males and females. I bought a pair but the male seems to be B. assamensis. He subsequently died, however; I knowingly bought bad stock hoping good water quality would revive them. Alas, the poor mite bit the dust.
> 
> Once I've replaced the male, the tank will be stocked with a pair of Dario dario, 8 Pethia gelius, and 4 Rosy loaches (latin name in dispute). The barbs and loaches school together beatifully, and the female D. dario is surprisingly happy to swim in the open. They are very active and interesting fish. They constantly hunt, so be sure to fill the tank with cyclops or daphnia. They also bother shrimp for fun!


 
_Dario_ and _Badis_ should be very obviously different from each other, the size difference is considerable. Don't think I've ever seen _P. gelius_ before, nice find.

The rosy loaches (now reclassified to _Petruichthys_ from _Yunnanilus_, _Tuberoschistura arakensis_ was never a valid name) are awesome wee fish. I found mine were pretty quiet until I upped the numbers to more than 10, but they do enjoy schooling with anything else that moves (including shrimp, much to their annoyance). Did you get both sexes? I'm going to have a go at breeding mine once I've cracked the _Sawbwa_.


----------



## Henry (25 Apr 2013)

The Dario I got are about an inch long. I imagine this is fully grown. The male was probably doomed from the moment it went in it's shipping bag, so never displayed it's true colouration. Poor thing 

The P. gelius are absolutely brilliant fish. They're pretty hardy, school nicely, display tasteful but pretty colouration (pictures don't do them justice; gold, with black patches are almost bee-like). They pick at everything for food so they're fun to watch. I feed mine almost exclusively on cyclops, so I'm expecting a spawn at some point. If you get the chance to buy some, buy at least 8, since they're incredibly shy in smaller numbers.

I intend to get a few more of the rosy loach, but at £3.50 a pop, they're not really within a student budget! For now, they seem happy enough pretending to be barbs


----------



## MirandaB (28 Apr 2013)

I have recently got 6 of the rosy loaches and and wish I had room for a lot more,though I might set up a biotope later in the year.
Fantastic active little fish,always on the go and they seem to love surfing the flow from the filter


----------

