Posts by fishboy75
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There definitely are. Can have a single angelfish and some Bolivian Rams. They have quite the personality in a smaller package; easy to keep and entertaining. Could also have an Angel with a Rainbow cichlid. There are quite a few options depending on what you like.
Guess the answer depends on how capable a fishkeeper you are. The blue rams and the variations are said to be fairly delicate and harder to keep. Need warmer temps and lower pH. I have never kept them. Bolivian Rams might not be as colorful but they sure are entertaining. I would start with 6 of them and see how many pairs you wind up with. Even if you get 3 pairs that will be more than enough room for them to each have their own territory. You can keep many other kinds of community fish with them but are you asking about another type of cichlid? Might not be too many different ones of those. The keyhole cichlid would work and you could keep a pair of those as well.
Keyhole cichlids and Bolivian Rams can be kept together along with most any smaller community fish. Countless tetras, barbs, danios, rasboras, loaches, Cory cats, etc. Not really sure where to direct you online as I love to look through my old books I have but any Google search of peaceful tetras for community tank should give you an idea. Then just switch to peaceful barbs, loaches etc. You would also be able to keep a pair of blue acara but that will limit what else you can keep with them. For dither fish I would recommend Giant danios or Buenos Aires tetra as they are cheap, hardy and fast enough to escape a breeding pair and not expensive to replace if you should lose one.
Yes to the first question. Keyholes are very shy though so will do better with a planted tank and some shaded areas and less active tetras and barb species.
For the blue acaras I would specifically stay with Buenos Aires tetras or giant danios and not rainbows. They are all active and hardy but if the acara's start breeding and decide to go after them, a $3 Buenos Aires or a giant Danio won't hurt as much as a $12- 15 rainbow. There are cheaper, less colorful rainbows but the other Buenos Aires and giant danios are much better fits.
For the blue acaras I would specifically stay with Buenos Aires tetras or giant danios and not rainbows. They are all active and hardy but if the acara's start breeding and decide to go after them, a $3 Buenos Aires or a giant Danio won't hurt as much as a $12- 15 rainbow. There are cheaper, less colorful rainbows but the other Buenos Aires and giant danios are much better fits.
What colors are you interested in? What would you say your level of fishkeeping is? And where will you be buying your fish from? Local aquarium, big box store or online?
Well there are so many ways to make this tank colorful and interesting. This is with the Keyhole and Bolivian Rams in mind. Some colorful tetras that I like are Bleeding Heart, Lemon and Black Phantom. All will occupy the middle area of the tank, the lemons closer to the bottom. When kept in proper condition they look amazing. Black phantoms are a cool fish and fun to watch. The males will spar with each other constantly but there is no damage done. Silver Hatchetfish would be a good fish for the top but be careful because they are great jumpers. Another cool fish to include is the Upside-down cat. If you have some driftwood in there they will usually hang out upside down under it and feed upside down as well. Loaches you could look at are the zebra loach and Kuhli loach. Zebras are pretty active and have a cool, striated pattern. Kuhlis are eel like. You probably won't see them often but that makes it more exciting when you do. They are a terrific scavenger of left over food. And there are so many different types of Corydoras catfish to choose from. No community of peaceful fishes are complete without them. So that's a little list to start you off. Btw don't just blow off the Petcos and Petsmarts; they can vary greatly in quality and selection from store to store. Also, where in Jersey are you? There is a very good store in North Jersey and might be worth the trip for you. PM me if you want the name and I also have an online suggestion for you.
Honestly, it all depends on a couple things. Your filtration and also your willingness to do water changes. I have a very overstocked tank right now. I'm currently doing 80% water changes twice a week and its a 265 gallon tank. I like to keep nitrates 20 or less. I dont even test every week now; I can just see i need a water change after 3 or 4 days. More of a concern to me would be visual. Do they look cramped or does it look like the fish have enough room to swim and not have to avoid bumping into each other. Basically, does it look natural? So thats probably a few too many. And I know you're just playing around but if you're interested in the Upside down cats you could keep a single one. I had 4 in a 180 and they didn't seem to enjoy each others company much. They had different spots they hung out and would chase each other away.
I'm a big fan of Eheim for its simplicity and durability. I have a 2213 that is about 30 years old and still in use. I just broke it out of storage earlier this year after almost 20 years when I setup some quarantine tanks and it still works great. For any of my tanks that are 40 or larger I always use 2 filters, even if its not necessarily needed. That way I don't worry if one should fail for some reason and that I don't affect the biological bacteria too much when I clean one filter. So if you're able to throw even a smaller hang on the back filter or another canister even better. If the 2217 is all you're going to use then I would recommend you stock a little more lightly than the proposed stock list above. Again, testing the Nitrate weekly should give you an idea of when and how much water you will need to change. If nitrates are staying under 20 for more than a week at a time you may be able to add more fish.
As far as the tetras schooling together, I would guess not. Sometimes when you have individual, different tetras they may shoal together a little. But from my past experience when I had larger groups of different types of tetras in the same tank, they stayed mainly with their own group. If they were frightened during a water change or from a larger fish then sometimes they would group together temporarily but that was about it.
Its possible the Upside down cats I had were all male and thats why they didn't particularly care for each other. There was never any physical damage, just a chase away when one got too close so you could definitely try 3. They arent going to physically hurt each other, I just didn't get the feeling they enjoyed or needed each others company. Others may have different experiences.
As far as the tetras schooling together, I would guess not. Sometimes when you have individual, different tetras they may shoal together a little. But from my past experience when I had larger groups of different types of tetras in the same tank, they stayed mainly with their own group. If they were frightened during a water change or from a larger fish then sometimes they would group together temporarily but that was about it.
Its possible the Upside down cats I had were all male and thats why they didn't particularly care for each other. There was never any physical damage, just a chase away when one got too close so you could definitely try 3. They arent going to physically hurt each other, I just didn't get the feeling they enjoyed or needed each others company. Others may have different experiences.
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