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How about a NA native like a bluegill or other panfish?

he's thinking about going with a NA native such as a panfish as he had had one at one point and it proved to be an interesting and active fish.

As you seem to be looking into predatory oddballs, investigate African butterfly fish (Pantodon buchholzi), live-bearing pike (Belonesox belizanus), dwarf pike cichlids (certain Crenicichla spp.), Malawi blue crabs (Potamonautes orbitospinus), and the like. Again, Macrobrachium prawns fit your bill.

"just throwing the idea out there but is some sort of shark (bala, rainbow, irridecent) tank possible? i dont know anything about them at all."

"Shark" here refers to a broad assemblage of unrelated species, mostly cyprinids. Such communities, while possible, should take into account that many fishes so termed will attack conspecifics or specimens of otherwise similar appearance. A note: the iridescent shark (Pangasius sutchi) - actually, a catfish, typically attains lengths exceeding four feet.

Last edited by Veneer at 15-Oct-2005 19:02

A bluegill will be fairly aggressive - and yes, it will love live foods like worms, bugs, minnows, etc.

If you definately want aggresive, green sunfish are good NA natives.

pearl gourami
hatchets
any cory
harlequin rasboras
school of glass cats(5+)

A 55 is a nice size for a couple of small shoals of rainbows, boesmans , kutubus, trilneatas, even new guinea reds, any of them mix ok, they are very colourful and a bit less picky about water quality than a lot of cichlids ,and you can include the usual corys , plecs , and shrimp with no problems.

Not sure about mudskippers- species that browse above the water line can be difficult to cater for properly.Although id personally love some.They are amazing fish, and their courtship rituals are legendary.

Some acaras would be a nice size for a 55.Sheepshead acaras would be cool,they all look like they have inane grins but the whole acara/cichlid thing means youd have to watch out for territoriality.

If you like the paludaria idea , how about some archerfish and dragon gobies in a brackish set up, with mango root decorations and stuff, you could have plants on the top, even if you cant grow them in the water.Dragon gobies look large and fierce as hell, but they are really peaceable even with quite small fish. You could throw a few crickets in the plants so the archers could get some shooting and jumping practice Thats more fun that watching fish eat fish, and will probably offend slightly fewer people Some archers grow quite big though, so dont overstock.





Last edited by longhairedgit at 15-Oct-2005 00:04

just throwing the idea out there but is some sort of shark (bala, rainbow, irridecent) tank possible? i dont know anything about them at all.

or can anyone suggest a fish you might serve live food to?

Whatever he gets he will need to move at some point so he doesn't want to get alot of fish and is looking for something different than goldfish or lots of little fish. Our friend has oscars. yes oscars....don't even get me started about that. what about jack demseys or rams, can anyone give me more information on rams?

I again suggest a long-arm prawn (Macrobrachium sp.) of some sort.

my friend has a 55 and is looking to put something interesting in it. He doesn't want chiclids because of the tank damage them may cause (uprooting of natural plants and such) and he doesnt want something small like tetras.

Any suggestions?

I just posted a load of info but its dissapeared so ill just post names nown I'll also give them a rating out of 5 of what I think of them (star aswell are brilliant fishies)
Bottom dwellers:
Clown Loach (5*),Dojo Loach (5), Peppered Cory(5*), Skunk Cory(5), Upside down Catfish(5)
Middle Dwellers: Silver Shark (5*), Red Tailed Shark (5), Harlequin Shoal (4), Angelfish(5), Kribs(5), Rams(5) Skeleton Tetras (4)
Top Dwellers: Moonlight Gourami(5*)Kissing gourami (4)
Invertabrates (someone confirm that some of these are ok with these other fish please.
Red Clawed crab (Needs air acces, mine climb up the filter and rest on the top, escape artists block holes up with sponges)NOT BRACKISH WATER! BUT APPRECIATES A LITTLE BIT OF SALT
(5*) my favourite thing in my tank!
Amano Shrimp: probably are big enough to avoid hungry mouths I have somebrilliant to watch large ones swim off with algae wafers!! (5*)
Long armed shrimp Have a look at this page
http://www.shrimpcrabsandcrayfish.co.uk/Shrimp.htm?linktome.htm~mainframe
(I like Laos Shrimp Best out of them)
I hope this helps

Does he not want cichlids at all or does he not want cichlids that will uproot plants and such? the Cichlid family is a VERY big family, with MANY MANY MANY different fish, some you can't even tell are related.

[link=Festivums]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/fest.xml" style="COLOR: #000000[/link], [link=Rams]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/blueram.xml" style="COLOR: #000000[/link], and [link=Angelfish]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/angelfish.xml" style="COLOR: #000000[/link] are all peaceful cichlids (to some degree). They all do good in community aquariums, will not uproot plants, wont disturb your other fish, and are all pretty interesting.

Anyway, a little more information on what your friend wants would be helpful too. Also, the general tank perameters would be good too.

If it's empty it should totally be a Mudskipper paludarium.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

If it's empty I'd personally do an Asian tank...snakeskin gouramis, a huge school of harlequin rasboras, a few pairs of cherry barbs, and lots of kuhli loaches.

Not very different but it's a nice, good looking setup that can be well-planted without worries about the fish messing with the plants.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

If there isn't anything in the tank that may be suseptible to nipping, a nice school of rosy barbs would be pretty. The males are absolutely gorgeous. http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/rosy.xml

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

What else is in the tank?

usa, wisconsin.

Unsure where you from but Australian natives are interesting... and get to a good size...