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Well, it's a sad day for me. I had to get rid of my tinfoil barbs. I know everyone probably thought I was nuts for having them anyway but they were very beautiful and active. I really wanted to grow them out. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get the really big tank that I had planned for them, circumstances have changed somewhat. So, I took them back to my LFS before they were too out of control.

I got some bleeding heart tetras instead, seven of them. They are super pale right now but should brighten up nicely. I was thinking about getting some more serpaes since I finally found some. Does anyone else have any ideas? I am open to suggestions. I'm not quite sure what combination of what will work with what I already have. Stocking is in my profile.

Thanks!

- Meow -

yeah tinfoils were a crazy idea
its always hard to let fish go.

I would say a group of dwarf cichlids such as rams would fit in nicely. Whatever you get it needs to be tough enough that it is not bothered by nippy serpae's. Maybe some yoyo's for the bottom. and hatchets for the top.
final stocking:
7 bleeding hearts
8 serpae tetras
3-4 yoyo loaches
1 or 2 pairs of rams
8 hatchets

this is just one of many options, it has a lot to do with your own taste. Most important is that you like your tank.


-Vincent

A good choice of bottom feeder with nippy fishes such as Serpaes is the Skunk Botia. [link=This page]http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_morleti.html[link] describes them well. Be advised that if you run with Skunk Botias, they are territorial and will probably harass other bottom feeders for available cave space, several keepers of these fishes have suggested that they're good tankmates for bad tempered Cichlids, let alone Serpaes! Make no mistake, this is one tough fish - it'll survive aquarim disasters that will kill off other fishes, and take no nonsense AT ALL from your Serpaes, which will soon learn to stay in line if they try anything stupid with them!

I'd be wary of putting Dwarf Cichlids in with Serpaes, because the extended lappets (the long dorsal rays on species such as Venezuelan Rams and cacatuoides) will tempt your Serpaes to nip them. Better going for something without too much in the way of trailing finnage, and preferably something that's large enough to keep the Serpaes on their toes. Herotilapia multispinosa, the Rainbow Cichlid, might be a good choice here - big enough and tough enough to hold its own without being a crazed demon of a fish. Firemouths or another Thorichthys species could also be a good choice - after all, this IS a 55 gallon aquarium you're setting up!

So, your Serpaes, 4 Skunk Botias, and a pair of Firemouths could do the trick. You could also add a Rapahel Catfish, which would be tough and armoured enough to live with the Skunk Botias on the bottom.

That's going to be quite a feisty aquarium if you run with this stocking by the way!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Those are some very interesting fishes that you listed Cali. But I already have a Pictus cat as a bottom dweller and I don't know how it would mix with the botia. I like botias though.

Nix the serpaes I think. I have come to this conclusion following the great tetra massacre of 2006, which happened a couple days ago. The pictus decided that the Bleeding Heart tetras that I had just bought were tasty looking and chomped the tails off of all but one. I tried to save them but they all died. Following that, it decided that while it had never messed with the Serpaes before, now was the time and killed one of those as well. Sooooo.... I have moved the remining tetras into my smaller tank and am left only with my angel fish, bala and pictus cat. An odd assortment I know. I need to get off my butt and fix my other 55gal so that I can have more options.

What fishes would mix well with my pictus cat?

I wouldn't necessarily mind having an agressive tank as long as I was able to rehouse the angel first. I've had the bala and angel for about 6 years so I'm kind of attached.

- Meow -