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i've finaly got my 135 cycled and ready for fish. i would like to have a show tank full of tropical schooling fish, and a few single show fish.

any suggestions????

Tank dimensions? Geussing it's 6ft long and pretty tall?

Angels or discus, about 6 of each, then build up some large schools of tetras (2 schools of 20 or one big school of 40) with a decently large school of cories (at least 10) then get some kind of algea eater (wouldn't go for common plecs even though they would be ok in a tank that large, but thats just IMO)

Congo Tetras in addition to suggestions laid out above would be righteous!!

Or a mix of Boesemani Rainbows and Irian Red Rainbows would be Überrighteous!!

And a big pack of Clown Loaches can't be forgotten

A hundred and thirty five gallons??? Wow, the possibilities ...

Try this for a stocking list ...

24 Cardinal Tetras
24 Panda Corys
20 Lemon Tetras
6 Anomalochromis thomasi Cichlids (they're the nearest you'll find to a 'pacifist' Cichlid and they're little jewels in breeding dress!)
12 Marbled Hatchets at the surface
12 Otocinclus to eat algae, or if you can get these rarities, try 8 Parotocinclus maculicauda, which have bright red pectorals and will be a major talking point among your bottom dwellers!

Do that, and your shoaling fishes will be happy because they're in good numbers, the resulting shoals will look stunning, and your Pandas, in such numbers, will probably spawn like mad (as mine do!) and you'll find yourself spotting baby Panda Corys all over the place in no time if you look after that setup!

Plus, if you get Anomalochromis thomasi Cichlids, they're FAR more peaceful than ANY Rams, and may even breed in that aquarium and raise a batch of fry without beating up the other occupants - it's been done in the past!

However, make sure you ask for Anomalochromis thomasi DIRECTLY BY ITS SCIENTIFIC NAME, because some stores sell them as 'Dwarf Jewel Fish'. If you ask for that, some less well informed places may end up supplying you with the beautiful but far more aggressive Hemichromis guttatus, which is a hardcore bruiser of a fish that belongs in a 'rough house' Cichlid only tank!

Get the genuine article though, and the result will be beautiful to watch, because when they breed, they make excellent parents!

If you stick to that stocking list above, they'll also grow to a magnificent size - far bigger than anything you've seen in the stores! When you've seen Cardinals as long as your middle finger, you KNOW you have something special in your aquarium ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

i like the community tank set up such as lots of neons or cardinals about 30-40 any combination of the two . Some Cory Cats suchas 10 or so . Some nice Rainbows with diffrent colors such as the blueish greenones to the Reds and oranges usually Irian reds like said b4 . Some favorites of mine are Discus like snakeskins and the sunset red discus .