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It is a 46 bow front and i want it to be relatively peaceful. Going to have a few rainbow cichlids , pleco, corys and this other fish. thanks

-Newb

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You can call me Newb too, since I'm not nere new any more.

Well with a few Rainbow cichilds you have to watch out for breeding, because if they breed it would be hard to keep anything in there with them. But if this dont happen i would go with 3 Rainbows, 6-8 cories, 10-12 zebra danios, and maybe 1 pearl gouramis.

I would leave the rainbows as your centerpiece fish. Harlequins are a nice, peaceful schooler that would look nice. You could also check into some sort of tetra.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

If you're taking on Herotilapia multispinosa as your Cichlid species, you would do well to read this article by Dr Paul Loiselle in The Cichlid Room.

These fishes are adapted to make use of temporary water habitats for spawning. They are therefore adapted to survive in conditions that are more crowded and more polluted than most other Central American Cichlids (though this is no excuse for skimping on aquarium maintenance!) and they have evolved a series of specialised behaviours to facilitate reproduction in temporarily flooded (and in some cases eutrophied) waters.

One thing to watch for is this: when breeding, the fishes take on a VERY high-contrast colour pattern, which differs markedly from the non-breeding colouration, and they use this to signal their readiness to defend eggs and fry to would be predators. In effect, the fishes perform a kind of Pavlovian conditioning on the other fishes in their native waters, which soon learn that a pair of Herotilapia multispinosa in breeding dress are likely to cut up rough. This contrasts with their non-breeding behaviour, which is likely to be somewhat less pyrotechnic in nature!

If you're going to put a shoaling fish in there, make it a fast moving and agile one that can escape the Cichlids' attentions should they start spawning.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thanks for the help guys
-Newb

_______________________________________________
You can call me Newb too, since I'm not nere new any more.