mcrudd Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Hi there, I am a beginner with a 160 litre blueplanet vista tank. I currently have one female bristlenose 6cm and one male bristlenose 9cm, three swordtails one is male and two is female as well as three little zebra danio's sadly the other three have gone to the big fishbowl in the sky. My tank is about 90cm long and quite deep, do you guys have any suggestions what I can add to make my tank more intersting. Just some info, I do not have life plants only fake ones. I am thinking of getting some chocolate zebra's three but only once I saved up for them. I wanted to get 3 black mollies but HFF is currently out of them, so now I am stuck, maybe you guys can help out Since I am a beginner please don't suggest violent or nippy fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Chocolate zebra's are really nice but they need good hiding places and are not often seen once they have these. I have 3 and very rarely ever see them. What about a few angel fish. I understand they like deep tanks and they are reasonably peaceful as long as you don't have fish with long flowing fins in the tank with them. How many I don't know as I don't keep these myself so am not certain how much room they require. More zebra's or neons/cardinals? What sort of fish do you like the look of? The best thing would be to get a selection of fish that swim in the different levels of the tank i.e. some for the bottom of the tank which it sounds like you have covered already, some that swim in the middle level of the tank like the zebras and some that swim at the top of the tank - an example would be hatchets but they are not cheap unfortunately and they also jump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Like adodge said most people go for a couple of larger 'focus' fish, a school or two of something quicker moving and then some bottom crew. I think pearl gouramis are stunning fish once bigger and they are often overlooked when young because they are so colourless, angels can also be nice but may limit you as to what you can put in the tank if they developed attitudes when they are older? Maybe a contrasting school of say regular neons and some black neons could look cool, or you can just stick with one sort for a more 'natural' effect. Rummynoses are also cool but a little more pricey, penguin tetras in a large enough school can be quite a sight too. Do you like the corydora catfish? They can be very lively and there are several species to choose from at present. I suggest browsing, look until you find something you like, research it and then go from there. The LFS's are a good place to start looking but make sure if you are talking to someone they arent just spinning you something to get you to buy their fish, a day spent LFS browsing could give you a few starting points. fishprofiles.com has alot of profiles with pictures, NZ cant get everything but it might give you some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrudd Posted March 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 Chocolate zebra's are really nice but they need good hiding places and are not often seen once they have these. I have 3 and very rarely ever see them. What about a few angel fish. I understand they like deep tanks and they are reasonably peaceful as long as you don't have fish with long flowing fins in the tank with them. How many I don't know as I don't keep these myself so am not certain how much room they require. More zebra's or neons/cardinals? What sort of fish do you like the look of? The best thing would be to get a selection of fish that swim in the different levels of the tank i.e. some for the bottom of the tank which it sounds like you have covered already, some that swim in the middle level of the tank like the zebras and some that swim at the top of the tank - an example would be hatchets but they are not cheap unfortunately and they also jump. I love pleco's and staring at the tank looking for them is the most fun LOL. I have thought of Angels but apparently they get attitudes the bigger they get, so I skipped them, especially since my danio's are the longfinned ones. I am not sure what hatches it, but I got some harlequins today, they are fun to watch especially since my remaining danio's try to school with them Like adodge said most people go for a couple of larger 'focus' fish, a school or two of something quicker moving and then some bottom crew. I think pearl gouramis are stunning fish once bigger and they are often overlooked when young because they are so colourless, angels can also be nice but may limit you as to what you can put in the tank if they developed attitudes when they are older? Maybe a contrasting school of say regular neons and some black neons could look cool, or you can just stick with one sort for a more 'natural' effect. Rummynoses are also cool but a little more pricey, penguin tetras in a large enough school can be quite a sight too. Do you like the corydora catfish? They can be very lively and there are several species to choose from at present. I suggest browsing, look until you find something you like, research it and then go from there. The LFS's are a good place to start looking but make sure if you are talking to someone they arent just spinning you something to get you to buy their fish, a day spent LFS browsing could give you a few starting points. fishprofiles.com has alot of profiles with pictures, NZ cant get everything but it might give you some ideas. The fish person at Animates said that Gouramis get a bit nippy and territorial if they get bigger so I skipped them, I am deffinetly considering the rummynoses, they are quite cute. I bought some Harlequins (6) Black Mollies (3) and glass catfish (3) will get another 3 next week...they are a bit expensive LOL Thanks so much for both of your suggestions, it was greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 12, 2010 Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 I have both harlequins and rummynose in my big tank and they look great when they are in a big school of 20 or more. I don't know where you get them from but at one of my lfs the harlequins are often discounted. Unfortunately I can stare all I want at the tank and still don't see my chocolates. Thats probably because theres so much plant and wood there that its a bit like a forest growing at the back of the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrudd Posted March 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2010 managed to get these guys on a photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 I quite like the glass catfish. Its a good picture of them/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrudd Posted March 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 The Harlequins and Mollies are too hyper to get a pic of them Will wait for them to settle then I will show them to you too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 I could never get a good pic of my Harlequins - dainos were just as bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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