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Hows this sound in a 75g

18 harlequin rasboras
6 yoyo loaches
5 pearl gouramis
2 cherry barbs
4 dwarf gouramis

Not sure about 4 dwarf gouramis in one tank even if it is 75 gallons. They might go to war. I have one opaline in my 29 and when I added a dwarf he bullied her, so I had to remove him. I'm not sure about 5 pearls either. You might want to try for 1 male and 2 female pearls and leave out the dwarfs....dwarf females are hard to get a hold of because they are not very colorful. You also want more than 2 cherry barbs....while they are not schooling fish like other barbs, they are very timid and will show their best colors with more of them (I have 6...3m/3f). Other than that, you should be good to go.

My 29 is almost an Asian. I have 10 harlies, 6 cherries and an opaline gourami. Only thing from other countries is the platies and the pleco.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

I would also be concerned about all those gouramis. I would just have three pearls and leave out the dwarves. I would also have more cherries. Try to get more females than males because the males sometimes chase the females alot.

Here is my suggested stock:
20 Harlies
8 yoyos (you could get away w/ 8 in a 75)
3 pearl gouramis
6 cherries (4f/2m)
maybe 3-4 SAE's for algae

That sounds like it will be an awesome tank!

I just now got some Harlies and I love them. A school of 20 would be beautiful.

*Kristin*

Why not go for something different?

Instead of gouramis, you could try Etroplus maculatus, the Orange Chromide - one of only three Asian Cichlid species! It's fairly small (3½ inches or thereabouts) and not likely to be overly aggressive - it's usually regarded as one of the more peaceful Cichlids. If you get the bright orange form, it's an impressive fish, but I'd look out for the green form as an interesting colour contrast because you've already got lots of red in there with the Harlequins!

On the subject of Barbs, if you can find it, track down the Golden Dwarf Barb, Barbus gelius. A very rare small Barb that is well worth looking out for because it's a little gem - and you could have 10 of those alongside your 18 Harlequins in a 75. The result would be visually stunning, having those milling in and out of plant thickets! However, be advised you'll have to do a LOT of searching to find it, and most of the books don't even mention its existence apart from the venerable Innes tome.

As for Gouramis, if you have to have some, then why not try the Honey Gourami? Similar size to the Dwarf Gourami, but less boisterous. And you stand a decent chance of finding females. Get the natural colour scheme fish, and avoid the selectively bred ones that have too much reddish-orange in them, as the natural colour scheme fish is a fish of distinction that will really shine if you feed up the juveniles on a combination of live Daphnia and colour flakes. A male and 3 females will make for relative peace in the aquarium, and also give the male a choice of females to breed with once he matures.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have looked at Orange Chromides but I've always thought they're a brackish fish. I really like them. What about Puntius Denisoni. I can find them pretty easy.

Denisoni Barbs can reach 6 inches in length and are active. Even a 75 might be a bit cramped to do them justice, particularly as you should get a shoal of 6 if you can, always assuming of course that you're rich enough, given that these fishes are £30 a pair where I live!

Let's see ... 6 of those where I live would be £90, which at current exchange rates is $156 (courtsey of xe.com). That's a lot to spend on six fish! If your setup was a 90 or larger, I'd be more enthusiastic about letting you go ahead and spend that, but in a 75, I'd be tempted to advise you to look for something a bit smaller and probably a LOT less expensive!

Now if you were asking about Pigmy Chain Loaches, I'd happily say go ahead and get them even though they're expensive, because you could have a decent number in a 75 with no problems whatsoever. Denison's, however, are a different proposition.

As for Orange Chromides, well, they're capable of living in freshwater for their whole lives, and would adapt better to it than, say, the related Etroplus suratensis, which in any case is a MUCH larger fish at 10 inches that you wouldn't be interested in anyway!

This page has some interesting things to say about the Orange Chromide ... apparently the author of this page has specimens that like to eat Vallisneria plants!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I found Denisoni's for 12.5$ over here. I think Im gonna go west african though now. Hows this sound

4 kribs
8 congos
1 african butterfly
8 ?(another african tetra I just don't know which one)
4 syno ?

West African sounds good. You're set-up doesn't sound bad. The other tetra species could be one of the other "Congo" species that are starting to show up more regularly; gives a little twist rather than having purely Congos. On the other hand, you could go for the African Knifefish, which is a pretty attractive fish that fits within the bounds of a 75 gallon tank. Synos would work well; Baltimore's West African tank includes Upside Down Catfish.

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

I'm gonna order from a west african importer so I could get almost anything cool. If anyone wants to suggest anything. Im open.

If you're looking for a Westr African Tetra with a difference, try Arnoldichthys spilopterus, or Arnold's Tetra. Reaches 2½ inches in length, and has large scales which on the upper half of the body are edged conspicuously with black, producing a latticework pattern on a golden background. Lower half of body is shimmering light green, with bright red in the anal fin and gold in the dorsal. Fish has conspicuous bright red eyes that in fine specimens look as if they are cut from precious ruby. A fish of distinction in any aquarium of reasonable size, and a 75 is easily big enough to accommodate a shoal of 10. Minus points are that it's an upper water dweller with a torpedo shaped body and should therefore be treated as a likely candidate for carpet surfing if not covered, even though it doesn't have the notorious reputation for jumping of fishes such as the Blue Gularis or Pantodon buchholzi, the latter being on your intended stocking list anyway so you should be preparing the aquarium to keep that fish well covered ... it is after all a fresh water flying fish!

if you're looking for something bigger, and don't mind curtialing the rest of your stocking to accommodate them, then alestes longipinnis, the African Longfin, is a 5 inch Tetra that is again a fish of distinction. Easy to separate the genders with this fish - males develop elongated dorsal fins, hence the name. This one has a fairly bad reputation as a jumper right from the start though, so DEFINITELY keep this one covered!

Oh, if you can get them, as a substitute for the Kribs, try Anomalochromis thomasi as your West African Cichlid. Reason? Several reasons - one, it's possibly the most pacifist of all the Cichlids out there, and won't cause upheavals when spawning, two, breeding adults are drop dead gorgeous, and even when not breeding, the fish has a jewelled charm all of its own, three, it's highly adaptable to a wide range of aquarium conditions, and four, it stays a modest size (3 inches or so). If you fancy branching out into more exotic West African Cichlids, you could try Nanochromis dimidiatus, Nanochromis nudiceps or the amazingly named Nanochromis transvestitus, which is actually known as the Transvestite Dwarf Cichlid! Reason being that it reverses the usual convention of showy males and duller females ...



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I think Im gonna go with just one big school of congos, about 14. Then 2 kribs, 3 upsidedowns synos, and a elephantnose.