wondering

[Luis.Ventura]

Hey guys.

I want to put a big´ish shoal fish in my tank, this tank is a "breeding" one but i miss some activity in the upper levels, i want a "large" fish, something that use the tank, not too small not too active just something silverish to wander in the tank and give some movement (besides the current).
I was wondering Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae and Phenacogrammus interruptus.
Not sure tho because i´m afraid that might be too aggressive


Any ideas/comments?

Ps: in the tank i keep: breeding couple -Sturisoma Aureum, a group of L066, group of rinoloricaria castroi and L010A.

[MatsP]

Any larger tetras will eat Sturisoma fry, that's for sure.

I have kept Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae - they were nice, but kept hiding quite a bit, never kept Phenacogrammus interruptus. I have also kept Hyphessobrycon columbianus, which is slightly bigger M. sanctafilomenae, and more visible in my experience.

--
Mats

[Luis.Ventura]

the eggs are safe since i always take them out to another tank i just don´t want fin nipping and stressed fish.

I´m waiting for my L066 to breed (Hopping) and don´t want any problems

[Birger]

Phenacogrammus interruptus are really nice in a big tank where they have the room to run and a group will spawn almost daily in good conditions, but they are aggressive eaters and will tear into anything you put in for the others including veggies. They are so focused on their stomachs that the females wont even completely wait to finish spraying their eggs before turning to hunt down those same eggs before the others get to them.

Birger

[apistomaster]

I highly recommend you either just keep shrimp like Cherry shrimp with your breeding Zebra Plecos rather than any other fish. If you must have some fish then use a large school of Tetras like Green Neons(they handle the warm temps well) or Pencilfish or Hatchetfish rather than larger Tetras. None of these fish would ever bother a Zebra Pleco fry that may appear despite your practice of removing the larvae prior to their scheduled emergence time. I have kept all the species mentioned including a large breeding Group of Congo Tetras and I think those are particularly poorly suited although I do not recall them bothering the plants. We were feeding them a lot of small earth worms. Of those mentioned among the larger species, I concur with MatsP suggestion of H. colombianus. Even in my 84 year old mother's community tank her H. colombianus managed to breed and about six survived to join the original group.

[apistomaster]

I highly recommend you either just keep shrimp like Cherry shrimp with your breeding Zebra Plecos rather than any other fish. If you must have some fish then use a large school of Tetras like Green Neons(they handle the warm temps well) or Pencilfish or Hatchetfish rather than larger Tetras. None of these fish would ever bother a Zebra Pleco fry that may appear despite your practice of removing the larvae prior to their scheduled emergence time. I have kept all the species mentioned including a large breeding Group of Congo Tetras and I think those are particularly poorly suited although I do not recall them bothering the plants. We were feeding them a lot of small earth worms. Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae, on the other hand are devastating to most plants. Another alternative I can recommend is Moenkhausia pitteri(Diamond Tetras). Of those mentioned among the larger species, I concur with MatsP's suggestion of H. colombianus. Even in my 84 year old mother's thirty gal. community tank, her H. colombianus managed to breed and about six survived to join the original group.

[Luis.Ventura]

Thanks for all the comments.

i wasn´t going for those fish because of breeding proposes, they where to give some movement to the tank (besides of being pretty), tomorrow i will post some pictures so that you can see, the only thing whit movement is the bottom.

I´m not realy fond of Neon tetras, i find them dull, and way to small, there is already a small shoal of pencil fish (Nannostomus eques) maybe i make the shoal a bit bigger and stay like that.


BTW i have some Corys in the tank, i can leave them there right? my zebra´s won´t mind!!!

[apistomaster]

I have kept Corydoras with many of the plecos I have bred.
I understood you were not looking for any tank mates for breeding. I merely mentioned that my mom's H. colombianus bred and some fry survived because it still amazes me they did that.
I have a group of 20 Nannostomus eques in my planted 125 gal tank because I happen to like that species a lot. I wouldn't mind adding another dozen or so. I have kept some of these alive in the past for up to seven years! Not many of the smaller Characins have such a long life span.
I do not like common Neons at all but I was able to get some of the first Green Neons when they were being introduced to the hobby in the late 1960's and they soon became one of my favorites. As I mentioned, they tolerate warm water well. Higher temps than common Neons and I have never care much for Cardinals because everyone keeps them. I like keeping different fish than many hobbyists. The Green Neons are frequently chosen by Takashi Amano in his Japanese style aquarium set ups. Large schools are impressive. I keep 100 in the 125 Tetra tank I mentioned.
The only catfish I placed in it were a few old breeder L134, 25 Otocinclus and six Farlowellas. The Farlowellas keep the tank free of algae. More so than the Otocinclus.

[naturalart]

Have you considered hachet fish?

[Luis.Ventura]

yes
i already had some of them the smallest one, and i can say i´m not realty a big fan of it.... what can i say? i have odd choices LOL

i am pondering in going for a big shoal of pencil fish

[apistomaster]

I am a very big fan of Pencilfish with the exception of Nannostomus beckfordi. I find them to be a lovely fish, have bred and raised many of them but they are not a what I consider to be a typical Pencilfish. They behave in a more typical Tetra fashion than most Pencils.
There are several Nannostomus species that are much more colorful than N. eques, but when kept in especially large numbers of them, they are extremely surface oriented, have many other interesting behaviors and then there is their long life span which makes them a good investment.
I like N. unifaciatus a lot but they are sometimes hard to find although frequently there will be many in most imported boxes of N. eques. I got four along with my N. eques order.

[Luis.Ventura]

N.Eques is the one, not only because i already have a small group but also because i think its the prettiest one of the Nannostomus bunch.

[Luis.Ventura]

Hello again

I have crossed my path over a group of Danio choprae - Glowlight Danio (sorry don´t know how to make a name link to "Seriously Fish").

I don´t trust Danio´s very much, not to join them in a "calm fish" tank, but these where given to me by a friend and i was wondering if they are safe, i didn´t want to give them to someone else or even selling them since they where like a present (cof cof he just wanted to get rid of them, even so...)

Sorry to bother but i do like your opinions