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Hi,

I am looking for fish, plants, filters and all that for a Southeast Asian Biotope tank, 55 gallons. I just would like to hear everyones opinion on what would be the best combos, etc. I would really appreciate it if I could get a lot of different views as to what are the best fish for this kind of setup. Any specific biotope is OK, like river or acid pool, or similiar environments. I am looking for a nice setup but I don't really have a million dollars to spend. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Jeremy

Kuhli loach, other types of loaches, barbs I believe are asian

A fine gravel such as Estes Bits O' Walnut gravel or Seachem Flourite for substrate. Densely planted with Cryptocornes (wendtii, affinis, balansae, etc) hairgrass and a few tiger lotus plants.

Very low pH, using either r/o or distilled water with reclaim chemistry or peat filtration.

Loaches, some gouramis, some rasboras, heck, throw in some tiger barbs for looks

Oh, lots of driftwood

Finally. . .Thanks, that sounds really cool. Do you recommend any species of rasbora besides Harlequin that I could maybe also add to the tank?

Jeremy

Here are a couple links for biotope tanks:

[link=http://badmanstropicalfish.com/biotope/biotope2.html]http://badmanstropicalfish.com/biotope/biotope2.html" style="COLOR: #336699[/link]

[link=http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope.htm]http://fish.mongabay.com/biotope.htm" style="COLOR: #336699[/link]

I have a small Asian biotope with kuhlis, sparkling and honey gouramis, harlequins, and a betta coccina. The tank has a flourite substrate, two large pieces of driftwood, Asian plants, and lots of MTS.

You could have rasboras other than harlequins, just depends on what's available in your area. In another tank I have exclamation points (Boraras urophthalmoides); good schoolers but very small, max size is 1".

I tend to like fish not seen in every lfs. [link=Arizona Aquatic Gardens]http://www.azgardens.com/misc_fish.php" style="COLOR: #336699[/link] carries emerald, pygmy, and red stripe rasboras.

Cherry barbs are nice and do well in pairs. [link=Belted barbs]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/pentbarb.xml" style="COLOR: #336699[/link] are a favorite, again not often commonly seen.

Keep us posted on your tank and how you end up stocking it.

Exclamation point rasbora:



Belted barbs:

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Thanks Theresa (and everyone else),

Actually, I have already been to both of those sites and many others, I just wanted to get opinions from people who have these kinds of tank.

I like the species you suggested, I think I have it narrowed it down type wise. So something like this:

10-15 Rasboras
7-10 Barbs
5-7 Other Barbs or Rasboras
3-5 Clown Loaches
2-3 Pearl Gouramis

Some questions:

1. What about sharks like Bala and Red-Tailed? Are 2-3 Balas too big? Are Red-Taileds too aggressive?

2. Tiger Barbs? How large a school to keep them from being aggressive? Is the amount needed worth it?

3. Plants. What other plants besides Crypts can I find that are common? Will I have to E-purchase all of them?

By the way, I had a similiar idea to your small Asian tank. I thought maybe a pair of honeys, 3 black kuhlis and a small school of cherry barbs. Would these all fit in a 10 gallon?

Thanks for the help,

Jeremy

55g would be too small for the Clown loach once they are fully grown so change them to a smaller species of loach such as Yoyo or something else. The Silver Sharks won`t fit in a 55g either. Red Tailed would be ok aslong as the other fish are quick like Tiger Barbs and you give the Red Tail a cave of its own so it can defend it`s territory.
Tiger Barbs you could get anything over 6 and they would be fine. You could asily purchase your plants from your LFS aslong as they have them in stock, remember that the species of loach you decide on could be a snail eating species so you may not have to worry about snail eggs being on the plants.