Freshwater fish recommendations.

[Munch]

Hi everybody well since I am going to get a vision cage for my bearded dragon I will soon have an empty 46 gallon bowfront. So I thought I should get fish, I was thinking about putting plants in the aquarium, oh yeah freshwater fish only. So I am going to put corydoras catfish and some danios and a tinfoil barb. Any other recommendations? Btw It is a 46 gallon so I have a good bit of space, and since I am going to put plants in, what would you recommend with fish. P.S. I do not have a lot of money to spend.

 

[Hobo]

Forget the tinfoil barb. They get to be several inches large (up to 13 or so), will make a meal of your plants and other fish, are best kept in schools, and will outgrow your tank in short order.

Join a good fish forum and do some research, there's a lot more to it then just plunking some fish in a tank of water, and initial cost can be fairly high sometimes, especially for lighting and filtration. Once you've read some, I'm sure you'll be able to easily figure out a stocking plan that'll work with your budget; most good, hardy beginner fish (like your cories, danios, livebearers tetras, etc.) are fairly cheap.

 

[Formerphobe]

You might also want to confirm that the tank has no leaks. When a tank has been kept dry for awhile, sometimes the seal will fail. Best to find this out sooner rather than later.

 

[Akai]

Man I really really want a Ghost Knife. I've been eyeing one at my LP for awhile now.

 

[friendttyy]

Guppies are quite cheap but keep them at a ratio of 1 male to 3 females and they also spawn fas.

 

[skar]

Hi everybody well since I am going to get a vision cage for my bearded dragon I will soon have an empty 46 gallon bowfront. So I thought I should get fish, I was thinking about putting plants in the aquarium, oh yeah freshwater fish only. So I am going to put corydoras catfish and some danios and a tinfoil barb. Any other recommendations? Btw It is a 46 gallon so I have a good bit of space, and since I am going to put plants in, what would you recommend with fish. P.S. I do not have a lot of money to spend.

Read about the nitrogen cycle That will help you Alot. If you plan on keeping tropical peaceful fish that are smaller, Bolivian rams are really cool.
I also enjoy seeing ghost shrimp and snails they seem to add surprises.

 

[Xander505]

Pygmy sparkling gouramis (Trichopsis.pumila) stunning little gouramis especially when displaying. Better than tetras IMO, better personalities and more interesting as display fish. I have a school of 12 in my planted 40 gallon wild betta community with 4 giant fan shrimp and a pair of Indian whisker shrimp.

 

[Munch]

Pygmy sparkling gouramis (Trichopsis.pumila) stunning little gouramis especially when displaying. Better than tetras IMO, better personalities and more interesting as display fish. I have a school of 12 in my planted 40 gallon wild betta community with 4 giant fan shrimp and a pair of Indian whisker shrimp.

What king of plants did you use.

 

[Xander505]

What kind of plants did you use?

Amazon swords, anubia, dwarf chain swords, java moss tied to driftwood, phoenix moss and two 3"x3" riccia mats floating on the surface, to serve as a refuge when the fish feel scared or as a bed. The wild bettas seem to enjoy sleeping in the riccia, often burrowing into it.
I dose every 2 days with Seachem Flourish in addition with Seachem Flourish Excel, really does good for the plants
As for substrate, I use Seachem Flourite black sand (2") capped with a 1" layer of Fluval plant stratum.

 

[Munch]

Thank you very much.

 

[ShredderEmp]

How about some crayfish? I know that they can come in some really neat blues, whites, and even oranges.

 

[Galapoheros]

I like the salamander look-a-like fish, ...lungfish, Dinosaur Bichirs, fish like that are interesting to me.

 

[Antimony]

micro galaxy rasboras or tinwini danios are my favorites but they can sometimes be pricey.

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Crayfish might be chancy in a community tank because crayfish pinchers have been reported to pinch the fish in tanks where the crayfish had little else to hunt and the fish were confined too close to them.

 

[ShredderEmp]

Crayfish might be chancy in a community tank because crayfish pinchers have been reported to pinch the fish in tanks where the crayfish had little else to hunt and the fish were confined too close to them.

They are very interesting though and will clean up any uneaten food particles/dead fish.

 

[cantthinkofone]

double on the ghost knife. oh man are those nice.i had a sword tail or whatever they are called and it was sweet. red body with black tail and a long spine coming from the tail. not a big fish person.

 

[Celtic Druid]

My parents kept both a fresh and saltwater tank for a good while. Cichlids are some of the most beautiful fresh water fish, and fun because you can feed them guppies. The only problem with them, really, is depending on the species they don't get along with others very well. But I know there are some fish-community friendly ones out there, and it's one of the largest families of fish.

 

[Entomancer]

The biggest piece of advice I could give is to only pick fish from the same region, like the swamps of Borneo, or the Amazon river, or the Congo jungle.

If you don't, you may dramatically increase the chances of a problem happening. When it comes to fish, the goal is to prevent problems from happening, because once a problem happens (dead fish, aggression, whatever) it can often result in a cascade of other problems.

I'd like to say more, but I don't have a lot of time at the moment. If you want a really great, easy-to-use resource for looking up fish species, use seriouslyfish.com. Best freshwater fish database out there for aquariums.