Non-aggressive centerpiece fish?

[Ken Burke]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:15 PM, FyaNyan said:

Curious, what would be the negative here? Fin-nipping? I personally have had no problems with the cherries and the gourami feeler antennae things. Maybe that doesn’t count. The cherries just really pay attention to eachother it seems. Just wondering.

Oh, silly me. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I also have a BN pleco in this tank. I want an upper dwelling fish with all the bottom dwelling critters…so honey gouramis are probably my best bet!!

That’s my concern.  I have not kept barbs, so don’t have experience.  This is one of my three, think it is Lucy, but could be hank.  I keep them in a 38gal, so 36x12x22.  One angel would look good in your tank, fill in the middle well.

[FyaNyan]

On 5/8/2022 at 7:04 PM, Ken Burke said:

That’s my concern.  I have not kept barbs, so don’t have experience.  This is one of my three, think it is Lucy, but could be hank.  I keep them in a 38gal, so 36x12x22.  One angel would look good in your tank, fill in the middle well.

The cherries I have had have been extremely peaceful and un-nippy. The blue gourami was the nippy one! He constantly fought with his reflection in the glass and wouldn’t stop being mean to the cherries. So maybe 1 angel would be an ok choice.

[Hannah Parker]

Here's my experience with some of these individual species: a pair of honey gouramis are so cute and fun! They are also very peaceful. You could even do a trio in a tank that size. German blue and bolivian rams were hard for me to keep alive. They never seemed to be able to adjust to my tank, maybe it was the hardness of the water, and just didn't make it. I think they are more sensitive to the water conditions. I think platies as centerpiece fish are super underrated. They are peaceful and come in all kinds of colors, not to mention are super hardy. My LFS had this high-fin versions in which are even more stunning than the regular platies. Also, my giant betta has been the most peaceful betta I've ever owned. He's fine with platies, honey gouramis, and even male guppies with long fins. I'm not sure I'd recommend a betta as completely peaceful still, I think he's just an anomaly. 

If you're worried about the cherry barbs becoming nippy, in my experience they only get like that when their numbers are low. I have these two super old ones who are very healthy, but I stopped replacing their numbers because I'm trying to downsize the tank and when I would try, the other barbs wouldn't end up making it. I think my LFS was selling them quite young. So it's just the two that chill out till the end of their days, I don't have the heart to rehome them because I'm afraid they wouldn't go to a good home. They are quite nippy with just the 2 of them, but luckily my tank is big enough with enough hiding spots that everyone has enough space away from one another and are happy. 

[FyaNyan]

On 5/9/2022 at 10:43 AM, hannah662parker said:

Here's my experience with some of these individual species: a pair of honey gouramis are so cute and fun! They are also very peaceful. You could even do a trio in a tank that size. German blue and bolivian rams were hard for me to keep alive. They never seemed to be able to adjust to my tank, maybe it was the hardness of the water, and just didn't make it. I think they are more sensitive to the water conditions. I think platies as centerpiece fish are super underrated. They are peaceful and come in all kinds of colors, not to mention are super hardy. My LFS had this high-fin versions in which are even more stunning than the regular platies. Also, my giant betta has been the most peaceful betta I've ever owned. He's fine with platies, honey gouramis, and even male guppies with long fins. I'm not sure I'd recommend a betta as completely peaceful still, I think he's just an anomaly. 

If you're worried about the cherry barbs becoming nippy, in my experience they only get like that when their numbers are low. I have these two super old ones who are very healthy, but I stopped replacing their numbers because I'm trying to downsize the tank and when I would try, the other barbs wouldn't end up making it. I think my LFS was selling them quite young. So it's just the two that chill out till the end of their days, I don't have the heart to rehome them because I'm afraid they wouldn't go to a good home. They are quite nippy with just the 2 of them, but luckily my tank is big enough with enough hiding spots that everyone has enough space away from one another and are happy. 

Thanks!!! I love to hear personal experiences 😊 Everyone has experimented with something different, so it’s all very interesting.

Good to know about the rams. I think I won’t try them this time, but maybe in the future. It’s possible I will have the same issues you did, as my water is very hard. Who knows?

I kinda forgot about livebearers! The only thing about platys is they don’t grow that big, right? They’re definitely fun fish!! I just think they’re a little small for what I’m trying to do. Mollies would be the right size, but are too temperamental, from what I’ve heard.

Still leaning toward a trio of honeys, or a single angelfish.

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/9/2022 at 2:18 PM, FyaNyan said:

Thanks!!! I love to hear personal experiences 😊 Everyone has experimented with something different, so it’s all very interesting.

Good to know about the rams. I think I won’t try them this time, but maybe in the future. It’s possible I will have the same issues you did, as my water is very hard. Who knows?

I kinda forgot about livebearers! The only thing about platys is they don’t grow that big, right? They’re definitely fun fish!! I just think they’re a little small for what I’m trying to do. Mollies would be the right size, but are too temperamental, from what I’ve heard.

Still leaning toward a trio of honeys, or a single angelfish.

I think you'd have so much fun with a trio of honeys. Honestly because they stay small, you could probably do a trio of honeys and platies/livebearers if you really wanted to. My regular platies have stayed around 2", but the high-fin variety have gotten huge! She's around 3", as big as my giant betta. Here's another picture of her in relation to her tankmates; regular platies, guppies, my giant betta and one of my yoyo loaches. On a side note, you can see one of the two cherry barbs (he's albino) staring at the camera

[sumplkrum]

On 5/8/2022 at 1:39 PM, AndEEss said:

Every fishkeeping resource I can find suggests that 80 is too high for a Bolivian. 
A German? Sure.

Apologies. I was remembering it backwards.
Thanks for the correction.