Centerpiece Fish

[TravisBumpy]

I am starting to plan out my dream tank. It is going to be 125 to 150 gallons. Haven't decided yet. But I want one that is biggish. I want it Cory cats, tetras, smaller barbs. I am kind of partial to a small group of 4 to 6 angels as a centerpiece. But would like some other options. It has to be plant friendly and be a non-digger. 

[tolstoy21]

The only thing you need to be mindful of is that centerpiece fish in a large aquarium could wind up being large enough to eat all the community nano fish.

Angels would be nice, as would discus.

Ohhh or a group of Bosemani Rainbow Fish!

[Dutchaj]

Wild type blue acara would also be nice in that setup (I have one in a planted 150 that is also with a group of Boesmani and a single angel)

[Elyse]

I'm always partial to the electric blue acara. They don't get "too" big, and they play well with most community fish as long as they are not too small. I have one in my 75 gallon with rainbows, panda corys, and SAEs. He's my favorite and i've had him for two years, sometimes he digs but he hasn't pulled up any of my plants 

[nabokovfan87]

It's kind of tough for me, today, at this point in time to have a genuine recommendation. I think a pair of fish that you're really passionate about can be a great centerpiece for you personally in a tank.  Even if it's a single fish, that's the heart of the tank for you.  It might not need to be a massive fish, but maybe it's just one fish that has a certain color or attitude that you enjoy.  I've also had schools as a centerpiece and it's something where I really enjoyed that setup.  You have a good size tank to play with.  I would think on what you want the tank to be in terms of hardscape and setup, then go from there.

[Ben P.]

Make the center piece a group of 20-30 Odessa barbs.  That's a dream of mine

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I usually think of a large single fish when I think of a center piece fish. It definitely comes down to preference in what you’re looking for; color, personality, uniqueness, etc. Peacock eels, fancy plecos, certain cichlids come to mind, depending on what else you wind up with in the tank. I recently saw someone post about their purple spotted gudgeon which was a definite centerpiece fish, he taught it to hand feed to avoid loosing any fish which he said has worked so far. Not a fish, but a common musk turtle would be really cool, although I don’t know if they are plant safe or not.

[_Eric_]

I think Angels would be great - go for it!

[beastie]

I vote for gouramis! 🙂 

[Tanked]

I had two centerpiece adoptees in one of my community tanks. A Moonlight Gourami and a large Angel.  The Gourami usually patroled the upper levels, and the Angel spent most of its time in the middle.  The Gourami really stood out against the black background.

 

[reefhugger]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:24 AM, Tanked said:

Moonlight Gourami

I hadn't seen those before...they are so beautiful.  Do gourami do well alone?

[Dutchaj]

On 10/6/2023 at 10:29 PM, Ben P. said:

Make the center piece a group of 20-30 Odessa barbs.  That's a dream of mine

I have a group of 24 Odessas in a 150, they’re a nice group of active fish, I’m not sure I’d consider them the centerpiece though.  They don’t really bother anything else as far as nipping goes, just each other.  I decided to try an and add a chocolate cichlid and blue acara with them, right now the chocolate isn’t big enough to potentially eat them.  I’m really happy so far, fingers crossed long term.

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/11/2023 at 3:21 PM, Dutchaj said:

I have a group of 24 Odessas in a 150, they’re a nice group of active fish,

Have you considered doubling the group size?

[Dutchaj]

I haven’t, it’s the most visually dominant part of the tank stocking and there more than enough to keep their attention mainly on themselves.  It’s a 5x2x2 tank also with 10 bosemani, an angel, the chocolate and blue acara.  I think it’s full.

I personally like 1-2 groups of smaller fish with a few larger specimens in a tank.

[Lennie]

On 10/7/2023 at 5:42 AM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:

fancy plecos

more like hidden piece instead of centerpiece 😝🤣 Amazing fish but you barely see them in general yknow

 

In that tank size  I would do altum angels. I think they are amazing. Also maybe it's me but they seem to perform such great schooling. But considering they are even bigger than other angels, you gotta choose tankmates carefully I believe. Even normal angels are known to eat small fish like neons when they get big as you probably know. Also, someone in our aquarium group mentioned his altums ate many plants in the tank. I dont know how common this is and if they can be considered as plant safe.

 

[Tanked]

On 10/11/2023 at 6:05 PM, reefhugger said:

I hadn't seen those before...they are so beautiful.  Do gourami do well alone?

Mine did quite well alone.  It was one of the adopted fish, so I don't know the exact age.  I had it for 3 years, it it was 3-4".  When I was playing with various lighting arrangements, I really enjoyed watching the fish swim in and out of the shadows.  If I could find them locally I would probably buy two.