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exactly what fish are in the tank? Which ones do you plan to get rid of, if any? Is there any reason why the tank is kept at eighty degrees?

Right now ther are Emperor and Neon Tetras, niether of which are terribly important to keep. Although if I had a choice, I would keep the Neons. As far as the 80 degree temperature, no real reason for it, and that is an easily fixed problem. So what other species of Cichlids could I go with? I could basically start with an empty tank after it cycles, i'm sure this opens my options a little bit. I think i'd like a fish that when full grown will fill out the tank nicely.

go with some boesemani (blue/orange/red) or irian red rainbowfish (red/silver), and a trio of congo tetras

I'll keep this in mind, although i'm not positive they are readily available at my LFS's.

I'll keep this in mind, although i'm not positive they are readily available at my LFS's.

Many stores can get them, but you'd have to talk to them to get a special order, as a lot don't stock them because a) they are very bland young b) aren't exactly "cheap", but not exactly expensive. A lot of specimens go for between 6-12 or so a pop.

And Books says.....

No thought towards the shark catfish? I thought you were looking for a "shark" tank?

Whoop, sorry about the wait.

For medium-sized, peaceful cichlids, you have multiple choices that could work. Firemouths, angelfish, festivums, uarus, keyholes, and even discus are possibilities. For the most part, cichlids are highly adaptable and can handle being kept in a typical community fish tank. They usually don't need to live in water that matches their wild habitat's. Basically, if you're seriously looking at the cichlids then you've got a range of choices. There are smaller species which would also do well in a community setup, though you did say that you're looking for larger fish.

I think the only real disclaimers I need to throw out are on cichlid behavior- each fish is an individual, more so than the average schooling fish. Some cichlids of a species are very peaceful, others can be pugnacious. Most species tend to follow a certain pattern as for temperament, and that can be a useful guide. Also, a pair of breeding cichlids is usually going to be much meaner than usual, because they want to defend their eggs or fry.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Are there any other Tetras that are suitable?. I'm looking for a very red fish. Serpaes are the best I have come up with, because of their size and temperment, but what else is there?

Also Calilasseia, can you help out with some more catfish choices? thanks

If you're going with the kribs, neons, and catfish, it doesn't look like you're going to need a tetra species which has to be super tough. None of the other fish should bother them, not even the kribs. So, just to throw some ideas out there, here are some red tetra species:

Flame tetras
Serpae tetras
Red phantom tetras (prefer cooler water temps)
Rosy tetras
The bloodfin, green flame, and Colombian tetras each have red on their fins and body margins.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

What about catfish Books....any ideas? I know i've been a pain in the butt, so thanks again for all your help. The tank is really starting to come together. The Raphael catfish that was suggested is just too big for what I want.


Edit: Also, could I get a few Ottos, as I have had the best luck with them personally. Plus they really do a great cleaning job.

Been thinking long and hard about this.

I was going to try and suggest another Doradid, namely Acanthodoras spinosissimus, the Talking Catfish, but that grows to be even bigger than a Raphael. Raphaels appear to be the smallest Doradids (sigh).

Trouble is, Corys would under normal circumstances not be too problematic with Kribs, until the Kribs spawned. Then any bets on compatibility between the two would probably be off, as the Corys would come under fire from the kribs protecting their eggs. Hmm, needs a bit of thought this one!

One Cory that might prove to be less problematic here would be pygmaeus, which would have the additional advantage of being small (so you could have 10 of them!). Corydoras pygmaeus is unusual among Corys in that it tends to hover in the water rather than settle on the bottom - at least it does when it's happy! The other species of Dwarf Cory that does this is Corydoras hastatus. Either of those two might be OK, as they're relatively quick moving, but even so, you've still got the problem that if the Kribs spawn, they're going to be pretty defensive of their eggs. While pygmaeus and hastatus may be less likely to go hunting the Kribs' eggs down, I wouldn't say they'd never do it.

The reason I suggested the Raphael was that if the Kribs got nasty, the Raphael could take the heat with ease. It would get the message - namely that the Kribs were determined to defend their eggs against being eaten - but it would be able to stand up to the Kribs' determined assaults, and the Kribs would learn not to pick on it unless it posed a very immediate threat to their offspring. Whereas with a less robust catfish, there is the possibility that the Kribs could adopt a more militant stance because they learn that they can get away with it.

One other possibility is this fish, a Cory lookalike from a different Family called Brachyrhamdia rambarrani which sometimes turns up. it's a fast swimmer, and likely to avoid too close contact with the Kribs. Best to get small ones of these, as adults will eat juvenile Neons etc. Any fish bigger than an inch long is safe from them though.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I appreciate you putting such thought to this, but you should probably know that I intentionally got all males. I'm not , at least right now, interested in breeding just yet. I'm sure that will open up my options. What do you think?

not for nothing...but I could still use a suggestion for a catfish in this tank