communal fish

[Dave_D]

Can someone put me in the right direction for a list of the best communal fish please

Im adding to my collection soon as I have just upgraded to a larger set up (4ft) and want more fish

At the moment I have 1 silver tip, 1 angel, albino shark, and a Siamese fighter with no problem, but I dont want to add the wrong fish to cause problems later on

Thanks

[Freya Louise]

hi im a keen aquarist, i would firstly recommend some more sharks, they thrive in groups and express much more natural and varied behaviour, i have golden barbs aswell the shoual nicely and grow to a fair size often avoided by bigger fish, although most barb/cara/carchin??? types are nice in larger aquaria as they are quite hardy. carefull of the tiger barbs although the look nice kept in small groups they are fin nippers
as a specimin species im really fond of my red headed chiclid, im not a cic fan but hes big, pretty and relaxed what more would you want. and of course catfish are good the synos are a nice addition and a group of 6 plus corys always makes a massive difference keeping the tank clean

i think the best website i use is linked to my site, check it out. n let me no if not, ill find it for you....
p.s avoid loaches at all costs, you will never get them out again and their eat everything....

[Freya Louise]

sorry just reread your original post, take loads of caution with the angel and fighter, u are likely to loose them to many fish, if you want to stick to the smaller community species stock up and maybe concentrate on plants, they can make a large tank look really effective and entice fish to breed, i would make the most of having a quiter community as more fry are likely to survive, consider some live bearers, swordtails get to a good size and produce fantastic colours when you buy a varied breeding stock, and their quite cheap aswell

[Marinam2]

Angels are killers in diguise they love to pick off and torment fish with decorative fins and small fish too.

Marina

[MJ75]

Originally Posted by Freya Louise

hi im a keen aquarist, i would firstly recommend some more sharks,

Can I just point out that the aquarium trade uses the trade nae shark for several different species. Some are communal such as silver (or bala) and are OK together. Others such as red tailed black sharks can be territorial and will fight particularly once they mature. Don't add a tank full of RTB's or even red finned sharks. You run a very real risk of fighting when they grow. See past the tanks full of juvenille speciens in your LFS.

Many loaches (By the way, the sharks you refer too are very cloely related to loaches ) are peaceful. It all depends on individual species.


Best
MJ

[Dave_D]

I did used to have a red finned shark, but killed it accidentally when I made a huge error in my previous set up, which I got advice on as to how I did it, and then rectified it. My 2nd lot of fish are the lot I have now, and have had them for a few months now

Along with that I received more info as to why I shouldnt really have a red finned sharks, this is why i now have an albino as they are supposedly more docile, and so far, to this day, I havent had any cause for concern

I am trying to add nice vivid colours to the tank, like blue's or red's, as at the moment, most of the fish seem to be the same colour really

[Frase]

dwarf gourami's. Mollies, Platies...

Not sure how'd they'd get on with your current fish (fighter/.angel/albino) though.

[MJ75]

Originally Posted by Dave_D

Along with that I received more info as to why I shouldnt really have a red finned sharks, this is why i now have an albino as they are supposedly more docile, and so far, to this day, I havent had any cause for concern

It doesn't know it's an albino. Size is an issue rather than colouration. When they grow thats when problems can start depending on what you keep it with.

[Dave_D]

Originally Posted by MJ75

It doesn't know it's an albino

lol! Thats so true! Anyway, this is why, since I want to add now, I would rather try get it right, rather than getting fish that are all good now, only to give me a huge headache later on!

At the moment, he is about 10cm or so long...And I do believe he will still carry on growing!

[Frase]

ive never kept them but i think generally as long as they are given their own lil holes n stuff to live and protect etc they are pretty ok? one per tank or so and lots of hiding spaces and the like for all fish?