friendly fish

[leonsmith]

Hello all looking at tank today am happy with the plecs i have which are 4 L128, 1 watermelon panaque, 1 rusty plec, 1 L 368 with all these spending most of there time arround the bottom in caves etc, the centre of the tank is looking empty would like to put a fish in there that will swim up and down that area. would like something that grows to about from 3 -5 inch and is peaceful with all the plecs, any ideas or suggestions would be great thanks

[MatsP]

Corys? May not grow big enough in common varieties, but they are definitely friendly and active during the day.

Large tetras may be another idea - Colombian tetra perhaps? Do you have tap-water or RO water in your tank - if you use tap-water, then Colombian tetra are probably a good choice - they seem to dislike very soft water.

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Mats

[leonsmith]

Okey thanks for that mat, will take a look at those fish

[Buddy09]

You might consider Torpedo barbs, Puntius Denisoni...I probably mispelled that. I have a school of 8 in my pleco tank and they are doing well. Very active, but not agressive and very attractive. They say they'll get to 4-5 inches although mine aren't that big yet. I've read that they can be delicate, but I've had mine for a year with no problems.

[MatsP]

Denisoni barbs are cooler water than most plecos with a temp range of 18-26'C (70-78'F I think), but otherwise a good choice for a large tank like that, indeed.

And you almost got the scientific name right, just missed the double ii on the end: Puntius denisonii

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Mats

[Buddy09]

Hey Mats, yeah I stuck the T-Barbs in the tank for the same reason that friendlyfish is looking for something. I have a tank full of nice expensive cats that spend 99% of their daylight hours under a rock!! The only exceptions are my pair of P.Sabajii who are active during the day. Tank is kept about 77F with good current and that seems to suit everybody, although fish seldom complain, they just die:(...Yeah, always forget that second "i"....LOL

[MatsP]

Yeah, always forget that second "i"....LOL

I have that problem too - although half the time I add an extra one on the ones that have just one - I don't honestly know if there is a rule for when there is just i and when it's ii. For example P. sabaji is one i...

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Mats

[Richard B]

Congo tetras, yellow congos, alestes, arnoldichthys, bleeding hearts tetras - there is a lot of choice although water movement/flow rate does impact on some - barillius sp, rainbow fish....is there anything you particularly fancy?

[Buddy09]

See, I did it again......give me a 50-50 shot and I'll guess wrong 90% of the time!! LOL

[MatsP]

Rainbowfish will be even better choice than most things if you are using tap-water, indeed a good suggestion. And there are some really nicely coloured ones too.

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Mats

[Lloydy]

I have 5 Bosemani rainbow in my 260l tank and I would recommend keeping them with plecs them. I have quite hard water and keep my tank pretty warm 27.5c+ but they have been happily living in there for 6+ months and a variety of different fish including 4x L333 and 2x L14.

[arcsb]

Just to be different,I keep a single Green Severum with my catfishes so the tank dosent look so empty.
He is more of a pet fish and will pester me to feed him by watching my every move in the hope I'll add some food to the tank.
This pic will give you a better idea of what I mean.

[leonsmith]

nice fish like the look of him, thats the size of fish i want swimming around stoping the tank from looking so empty