Good fish for the dining room

[Kirsten]

My MTS continues!

Just got a great deal on Craigslist for two 30 gallon tanks with mesh critter lids (I think they were used for reptiles before) and a 16g.

16g is going to be my first kili tank, once I find a lid for it.

One 30g I think is going up in my partner's office, where it's always nice and warm. Going to do the classic apistos+tetras+hatchet fish there where they'll enjoy the heat and get to watch us watch movies in the evening.

But the other 30 I'm thinking about putting in the dining room, which is more like my hobby room these days. It has big sliding glass doors out onto the deck and back yard, so it gets pretty cold in the winter (64-ish) and warm in the summer (78-ish). And while I use it as a hobby room, it's more like a gardening staging room and where I take zoom classes. Not a room for relaxing for long periods while watching my fish.

So what 30g idea would work best for this transitional room, mostly seen in passing and from afar, with a lot of temperature fluctuations?

I could try Cory's "unheated" idea for longfin rosy barbs and paleatus cories, but since cories don't like it THAT cold, I'd probably still stick in a heater to keep it at like 74.

Or I could try Cory's idea for a single mating pair of angels (heated, of course, especially in the winter). Stuffed with tall plants and pretty low maintenance, and would look nice from afar.

Or should I go for my unheated North American tank idea with maybe a school of rainbow shiners?

Something else? Has anyone tried one of these and have tips or warnings?

[KBOzzie59]

Salmon!

 

[KBOzzie59]

6 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Or should I go for my unheated North American tank idea with maybe a school of rainbow shiners?

Yes very much this one.

[Brandy]

I would go for low maintenance, big fish. I have a tank in my bathroom, it is tiny, as it has to be, and it has tiny fish. I don't spend enough time in there to really pay them enough attention. So I vote the angels in the val jungle, or a fancy goldfish or something...

[Eric R]

I also vote for shiners, mostly because I'm not a fan of angels personally. Plus the temps sound ideal, and not having to pay the bill on another heater, or pay for the heater also sounds nice. And one less cord and less equipment in the tank! Plus, shiners are gorgeous and I can't wait to do my own shiner + darter tank someday.

The apistos + hatchet fish + tetras sounds great! Can't wait to see it. Also, I guess I'm still a newbie, as I didn't know this was a classic (and I even keep a tank with apistos and tetras already!).

[awymorePDX]

Thought about CPD's or Emerald Dwarf Rasboras?

[CorydorasEthan]

2 hours ago, Kirsten said:

My MTS continues!

Just got a great deal on Craigslist for two 30 gallon tanks with mesh critter lids (I think they were used for reptiles before) and a 16g.

16g is going to be my first kili tank, once I find a lid for it.

One 30g I think is going up in my partner's office, where it's always nice and warm. Going to do the classic apistos+tetras+hatchet fish there where they'll enjoy the heat and get to watch us watch movies in the evening.

But the other 30 I'm thinking about putting in the dining room, which is more like my hobby room these days. It has big sliding glass doors out onto the deck and back yard, so it gets pretty cold in the winter (64-ish) and warm in the summer (78-ish). And while I use it as a hobby room, it's more like a gardening staging room and where I take zoom classes. Not a room for relaxing for long periods while watching my fish.

So what 30g idea would work best for this transitional room, mostly seen in passing and from afar, with a lot of temperature fluctuations?

I could try Cory's "unheated" idea for longfin rosy barbs and paleatus cories, but since cories don't like it THAT cold, I'd probably still stick in a heater to keep it at like 74.

Or I could try Cory's idea for a single mating pair of angels (heated, of course, especially in the winter). Stuffed with tall plants and pretty low maintenance, and would look nice from afar.

Or should I go for my unheated North American tank idea with maybe a school of rainbow shiners?

Something else? Has anyone tried one of these and have tips or warnings?

Before I start: I haven't kept fish anywhere other than my bedroom, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. Also, this is just my opinion on things, not any definite rules or facts.

Best fish for a dining room? First I would rule out very fast fish. They are hard to focus in on and probably would not be the ideal fish for relaxing while eating at the dinner table. I would say anything slower moving and at least the size of the palm of a hand would be ideal (I don't know why this particular size of fish would look good, but I feel like it would in a dining room). Also, I would say anything that is of a relatively neutral color scheme would work better, as it gives the room a more toned down feel rather than a hyper colorful, almost chaotic scheme. This brings me to my suggestions for stocking. The first thing that came to my mind was a group of pearl gourami. They would look amazing in a jungle of vallisneria! They act similar to angelfish, and will dance at the glass when they are hungry too! Maybe four or five of them in the tank, and a borneo sucker or similar species for algae control. The only problem is that the gourami may need slightly higher temperatures, like maybe at least 76 degrees?

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, you definitely don't have you go by my earlier suggestion, so here are a few more coldwater fish that might also work well: weather loaches, white cloud mountain minnows, zebra danios, rosy barbs, peppered cories.

I hope this helps, and good luck! I look forward to seeing how it turns out, so keep us updated on the tank!

[lefty o]

im with the salmon guy, except make it battered and fried walleye.

[Colu]

Pair of Bolivian would be great in a 30 gallon 

[Gideyon]

Why not try a nonfish occupant?  Turtle perhaps.    Or being a dining room, lobster.   🙂

 

[JStrutt]

I like the angelfish idea. When I started dating my girlfriend (now wife) she had a 30 gallon with 3 silver dollars and an angel my her dining table. When we would eat, we sat next to each other so we could watch the fish together as we ate. Angels get big enough to see from afar and are incredibly graceful. And the planted tank with them could look stunning. 

[Patrick_G]

I like the angel fish idea too. Another option that I really love is Orandas. A couple medium size with some hard scape and Java Fern would look great. Think Cory’s background in some of his recent vids/streams. 

[Kirsten]

53 minutes ago, Patrick_G said:

I like the angel fish idea too. Another option that I really love is Orandas. A couple medium size with some hard scape and Java Fern would look great. Think Cory’s background in some of his recent vids/streams. 

Yeah, my partner really loves the big, bubbly, wobbly goldfish and instantly gravitates to them whenever we go to the pet store. Goldfish do terrify me a little with the level of maintenance they need and how destructive they are. But this gives me a new idea. Save his office wall space for a nice big tank someday, hopefully bigger than a 30, with 1 or 2 fancies, tops, a big ol crinum like Cory has and a billion java ferns to help keep the water halfway clean. 

As for my 30's, I asked his opinion on angels vs. natives in the dining room and he's leaning towards natives. It's quite the conversation starter, at least! And if that doesn't work out, I can always try angels instead. And in my office, I think I'm going to do both my 15g killi tank AND a 30g apisto tank. I wasn't using my desk much anyway now that I have a treadmill with a shelf, and who really needs a TV when you have fish? 😄