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Hi everyone,

I'll be moving into my first home with my boyfriend in a week, and I've been rethinking my whole aquarium situation. I've had 2 JD's (plus one juvy) for about two years (obv. a little less with the juvy) My tank is a 60 gal. (4'long, 2' high and 1' deep) I was told that JD's would be ok in my tank, but as my male get bigger and bigger, I doubt that he'll be comfortable when he has about 2 inches to spare when he wants to turn around.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I bought them, and I had the support of fellow fishprofilers, but... I can't help but think that if I can maybe give them a better home that I should now!

I have a 20 gallon that now has 6 tiger barbs and 2 tetras; at first I was going to give those away because my step daughter is inheriting that tank, but now that I've been thinking about it, I might keep those and give my JD's away. Now... I have ALOT of room to fill in that 60 gallon, and I'm looking for something to fill it in with!

I was thinking.. maybe.. fancy tail guppies.. but I'm not sure. We have 2 or 3 LFS here and I'm a little limited to my choices.

Either way, I'd like to have your ideas. Happy to be back

How about Discus? Forgetting the other fish... would discus be ok in that aquarium?

Well, if you want to limit it to common aquarium fishes... You still have tons to choose from.

IMO, go to the LFS and see what you like. You have tons of choices. Here's my opinion:

What species are your tetras? Are they the same or are they different? You should give those tetras a rightful school either way. Even with 18+ (mid-dwelling) schooling fish (6 of each species, assuming your tetras are different species) you'll have tons of room for more. Fill out the bottom with Corys and/or small loaches such as kuhlis, and bristlenose plecs or a group of Otos would be appropriate algae eaters. Fill out the top with hatchetfish, danios, or smaller rainbowfish species. Bigger bows may be pushy and may demolish flakes before the tetras and barbs even get a chance, but wouldn't necessarily be incompatible. Livebearers such as guppies can be added into this set-up if you'd like, although there might be some concerns keeping guppies with danios, so you can switch them out. Then have some gourami swimming lazily around to be nice centerpieces. Pearls are a fave of mine.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Asking for recommendations for a community aquarium is probably one of the most open-ended questions ever, lol.

EDIT: Discus would be great in that tank. Some tetras will tolerate the higher temps with Discus, too, so won't necessarily be incompatible!

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

I figured as much! I just don't know what to do..since there are so many choices. So I just wanted to hear peoples opinions and then I can make my own choice. I love hearing that I have so many choices and that I can have a couple large schools of different fish!!! My tetras are different... one of them is a pink injected "fruit" tetra that I bought nearly 4 years ago, before I knew they were injected. The other tetra is a long skirt tetra. Then I have the 6 tiger barbs.

My concern is; I would LOVE to have as many fish as I could have in the aquarium, without over stocking.

Maybe I'll do a school of neons... I've always loved them. The ottos also spark my interest. I've had a couple before, and 2 died fairly quickly while one lived for nearly 2 years.

So... 6 tiger barbs, say I get... 4 more long skirt tetras (my two tetras now stick together...) 4 ottos, 10 neons.. what else?

Any idea is welcomed!!! I'm getting so excited!!! /:'

Well, it's no surprise that your two tetras stick together. If I'm correctly guessing what the long skirt tetra is, they should be the same species, Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, the Black Skirt Tetra or Black Widow Tetra. The Black Widow not only has a white form, but also has a long-finned form (and of course thus a white, long-finned form). Thus you somehow, by chance, have two fish of the same species already. Although I'm not usually a fan of the unnatural forms of fish, it might be more appealing to have a school of fish where all its members look more or less the same.

Do Cardinals. They're better than Neons.

Seriously, corys are the best little catfish that everyone has to try. I have 9 little guys (3 pandas and 6 sterbais) in my tank that I only got recently, and especially as a catfish keeper I'm wondering why I missed out on these little bundles of fun for so long. Trust me, you'll like Corys.

With all your middle to middle-bottom choices (IME, tiger barbs and neons will hang out kind of close over the bottom, while the skirts will hang out higher in the water column), then upper level fish will allow you to keep more fish by using space that none of your proposed fish are really using.

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

I've never had corys... if my LFS has them I'll take some

Does anyone have any other ideas???

Rainbowfish, plenty to choose from. They are very colorful, most of them are fine with regular medium hard to hard water (different for discus and cardinal tetra!!) and not too difficult to keep. Good community fish as well. Another plus is that they are happy at medium temperatures which is becoming to ottos and cories, while you will be more restricted with discus.

based on my experience... I'd have to say the bristlenose plec is a great choice. I have one female in a 29g; you could also maybe go for a bigger species of pleco in your tank. Mine does a fantastic job on the algae and is very hardy.
If you're looking for upper tank dwellers, danios are very fun to watch! Maybe a few different species even; they will school together.
I haven't had good experience with fancy tail guppies; maybe avoid them. Especially if you have anything else in the tank that has an interest in fin-nipping (including danios).
Good luck!