Tankmate Ideas

[Jack CO]

I’ve recently become more active in these forums and have really been appreciating everyone’s feedback, so I figured I could get some thoughts for my tank stocking. I’m currently setting up a 60 gallon aquarium (48.5x18.5x16 in) and I am unsure of what fish would go well with my planned stocking. I know for sure that I will be getting a group of African butterfly fish, as well as a ropefish and petricola catfish. I have spent a long time trying to determine a good active fish that would work well with the butterflies. I know that the fish need to be big enough to not be eaten and also need to peaceful fish that won’t nip fins since the butterfly has lots of large finnage. This really limits my options because it seems that every species I research can become fin nippers. I’d really appreciate recommendations for what type of fish would work well with my planned fish. Thanks,

Jack

[_Eric_]

Tank should be big enough for a small school of roseline sharks aka Dennison barbs.  I think they would work nicely and they aren’t nippy.

[Jack CO]

On 6/11/2023 at 8:37 PM, _Eric_ said:

Tank should be big enough for a small school of roseline sharks aka Dennison barbs.  I think they would work nicely and they aren’t nippy.

Just looked into those and I think I might go with a group of 6 once I have my tank cycled and running well. The flow isn’t gonna be a ton but it should be good enough with 2 sponge filters. Beautiful fish and I love that they get decent size so I won’t need a ton for them to be eye catching in a 4 foot tank. Thanks for the recommendation. 

[Ninjoma]

Roseline sharks are cool. I think pearl gourami or angelfish could work too.

[Lennie]

What you gotta pay attention while choosing tankmates is,

African butterflies and ropefish are (opportunistic) predators. And for catfish = if it fits in my mouth, its food.

 

So basically all your choices of fish will tend to eat their small sized tankmates if given the chance, from bottom to surface. They are all pretty fish, I understand you liking them. What I would do is, choosing big enough fish that are also active swimmers, and not small in size (or even if they are not small as adults, small enough to be eaten when you get them) to lessen the change of anything to go wrong.

 

Maybe a big school of adult size congo tetras? Maybe someone with experience may help further. I haven't kept any predatory fish myself.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Lennie

[Jack CO]

On 6/12/2023 at 1:48 AM, Lennie said:

What you gotta pay attention while choosing tankmates is,

African butterflies and ropefish are (opportunistic) predators. And for catfish = if it fits in my mouth, its food.

 

So basically all your choices of fish will tend to eat their small sized tankmates if given the chance, from bottom to surface. They are all pretty fish, I understand you liking them. What I would do is, choosing big enough fish that are also active swimmers, and not small in size (or even if they are not small as adults, small enough to be eaten when you get them) to lessen the change of anything to go wrong.

 

Maybe a big school of adult size congo tetras? Maybe someone with experience may help further. I haven't kept any predatory fish myself.

That is the exact predicament I’ve found myself in. Luckily I just need to find one that is big enough to avoid predation from the butterfly because the rope fish available at my lfs are only about 6 inches and a little thicker than a pencil. 
 

I think that Eric seemingly found the solution with Denison barbs. They are usually a decent size when young, so they won’t be a target for the butterflies and they can easily evade the rope fish. 

[Lennie]

On 6/12/2023 at 5:22 PM, Jack CO said:

That is the exact predicament I’ve found myself in. Luckily I just need to find one that is big enough to avoid predation from the butterfly because the rope fish available at my lfs are only about 6 inches and a little thicker than a pencil. 
 

I think that Eric seemingly found the solution with Denison barbs. They are usually a decent size when young, so they won’t be a target for the butterflies and they can easily evade the rope fish. 

Denison barbs are amazing. But if you like sharks, it is generally suggested to keep one species of shark. So this would kinda eliminate your future options if you wanna keep SAE as clean up crew, or  rainbow sharks etc. as far as I know. That might be something to consider from now

Edited June 12, 2023 by Lennie

[Jack CO]

On 6/12/2023 at 8:54 AM, Lennie said:

Denison barbs are amazing. But if you like sharks, it is generally suggested to keep one species of shark. So this would kinda eliminate your future options if you wanna keep SAE as clean up crew, or  rainbow sharks etc. as far as I know. That might be something to consider from now

Thanks for letting me know, I didn’t realize they weren’t compatible. I’m not a fan of the look of rainbow sharks, so that shouldn’t be an issue. As far as clean up crew goes, I was thinking about a small group of reticulated hillstream loaches and some lizard whiptail catfish. I love the look of them and I think they’d fit in well to my oddball theme I’ll have going. Appreciate all of the knowledge. 

[Lennie]

 

On 6/12/2023 at 6:32 PM, Jack CO said:

a small group of reticulated hillstream loaches and some lizard whiptail catfish

I do have borneo suckers and L010as. 

L010as aren't really a clean up crew to be fair. they do eat food that drops to bottom if that's what u mean, but I havent seen them eating any type of algae. They barely touch vegetables like zucchini I give to my snails. They want more protein heavy dedicated diet on the bottom. They just like to play with fine sand and around driftwood/plants. They are more on the carnivore side.  Also they like warmer water, min 25C.

If you have any questions regarding them please don't hesitate to ask. I'd like to help.

 

That being said, idk how compatible they would be with other fish you like to keep

[Jack CO]

On 6/12/2023 at 9:45 AM, Lennie said:

 

I do have borneo suckers and L010as. 

L010as aren't really a clean up crew to be fair. they do eat food that drops to bottom if that's what u mean, but I havent seen them eating any type of algae. They barely touch vegetables like zucchini I give to my snails. They want more protein heavy dedicated diet on the bottom. They just like to play with fine sand and around driftwood/plants. They are more on the carnivore side.  Also they like warmer water, min 25C.

If you have any questions regarding them please don't hesitate to ask. I'd like to help.

 

That being said, idk how compatible they would be with other fish you like to keep

I didn’t realize that they were primarily carnivorous. I do plan to keep the tank warm, around 79-80 Fahrenheit, which is why I specifically want the reticulated hillstreams because I know Cory has had success keeping them in much warmer water. 
I do like the whiptails but seeing as how they aren’t very good algae eaters I’ll stay away from them. I don’t keep fish just to clean algae, but I like that as an added benefit. Perhaps farlowella would work better for the tank since they grow larger and based on my research eat algae and such. 
In regards to compatibility, what I’ve found regarding ropefish is that they are friendly to most fish except those small enough to be eaten, so I assume the hillstreams would be ok because they get rather wide bodied. Petricolas are very peaceful so they shouldn’t bother anyone and get large enough to avoid predation from the ropefish. 

[Lennie]

On 6/12/2023 at 7:29 PM, Jack CO said:

I do like the whiptails but seeing as how they aren’t very good algae eaters I’ll stay away from them.

Some are more herbivorous and they eat algae. Red lizards don't. 

If you want some algae eating and like the whiptails, you should check the ones like Royal Farlowella instead.

On 6/12/2023 at 7:29 PM, Jack CO said:

79-80 Fahrenheit, which is why I specifically want the reticulated hillstreams because I know Cory has had success keeping them in much warmer water. 

I keep mine at 78F too. but with a high flow+ supported oxygen with neo air diffuser.

These guys really like colder water with high flow, as colder water has more oxygen content. 

My friend @beastie keep hers in a colder high flow asian tank, and pretty sure hers is waaaay more happier than mine. Mine is alive and well, but surely doesn't thrive in such conditions considering it is basically not what he naturally wants

[Jack CO]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:33 AM, Lennie said:

Some are more herbivorous and they eat algae. Red lizards don't. 

If you want some algae eating and like the whiptails, you should check the ones like Royal Farlowella instead.

I was thinking about those, but I was worried they would act like the red lizards. Glad to hear they do eat algae. I’ll probably end up getting a few once algae starts growing in the tank so I don’t have to feed as heavily with algae wafers. 

[Lennie]

On 6/12/2023 at 7:37 PM, Jack CO said:

I was thinking about those, but I was worried they would act like the red lizards. Glad to hear they do eat algae. 

Usually plecos and whiptails like farlowella eat more algae as juveniles, and they start eating less or some even stop when they grow up. It can assist you with algae cleaning, but algae control is always up to us at the end of the day really.

 

On 6/12/2023 at 7:37 PM, Jack CO said:

I’ll probably end up getting a few once algae starts growing in the tank so I don’t have to feed as heavily with algae wafers. 

Well, you will have to support your fish's diet no matter  what to be honest. I personally always see what tanks offer as an extra grazing source but I feed my fish dedicatedly. 

 

Royal Farlowellas look amazing. Maybe you can even breed them! who knows 

 

 

[Ninjoma]

On 6/12/2023 at 7:54 AM, Lennie said:

Denison barbs are amazing. But if you like sharks, it is generally suggested to keep one species of shark. So this would kinda eliminate your future options if you wanna keep SAE as clean up crew, or  rainbow sharks etc. as far as I know. That might be something to consider from now

My roseline sharks and siamese algae eaters get along great. They basically school together. I think the main thing when it comes to freshwater "sharks" is not keeping multiple rainbow sharks or red tail sharks together.

[Lennie]

On 6/12/2023 at 9:16 PM, Ninjoma said:

I think the main thing when it comes to freshwater "sharks" is not keeping multiple rainbow sharks or red tail sharks together.

Pretty sure rainbows and red tails bully SAEs. Well to be fair, even my 3 SAEs bully each other enough 😄

 

But that's nice to hear. I'm always interested in roselines and I love my SAEs and I like them in their big tank

[_Eric_]

On 6/11/2023 at 10:18 PM, Jack CO said:

Just looked into those and I think I might go with a group of 6 once I have my tank cycled and running well. The flow isn’t gonna be a ton but it should be good enough with 2 sponge filters. Beautiful fish and I love that they get decent size so I won’t need a ton for them to be eye catching in a 4 foot tank. Thanks for the recommendation. 

Happy I could provide a suggestion for you to consider.  I would respectfully disagree with comment above that Roselines don't do well with SAEs but I could always be wrong. 

I also think Congo tetras would be something to look at as another option.  I love that fish. 

Praecox rainbows would be another one to think about. 

I like Boseman rainbows, but they would probably get crowded with the butterfly fish at that tank height so I wouldn't do that if it were me.  

Sounds like it will be an awesome tank.  African butterfly fish is one I've never kept but have always wanted to.

[Ninjoma]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:22 AM, Lennie said:

Pretty sure rainbows and red tails bully SAEs. Well to be fair, even my 3 SAEs bully each other enough 😄

 

But that's nice to hear. I'm always interested in roselines and I love my SAEs and I like them in their big tank

I also have a rainbow shark. She doesn't really bully them and they seem to like hanging out together. She does give them a chase every once in a while. I'm wondering if she is herding the other sharks to one side of the tank though because they seem to stick to that side most of the time. It's also possible they prefer the cover, temperature or flow on that side though. I'm less sure about this one, but it has seemed fine so far in my experience.