Which fish would YOU add

[beastie]

I know, I am here again, I just cant decide 🙂

I lost my last sewellia, which concludes my sewellia keeping experiment, since I obviously do something wrong. Even though the tank was made for them, looks perfect for them, one would expect them to thrive, they do not. I am done debating why, I expect it is food related or conditions in the tank however it is all a guess work. This however means I do not want these fish or any similar type of fish that could have the same issue (hara jerdoni, Gastromyzon, borneo suckers,...)

 

The tank is missing something in my eye. I have few options:

1. some sort of pleco/loricaria just to fill in the bottom of the tank void

2. another shoaling fish (odessa barb, some danio like choprae or even a different choice)

3. some loach - rosy loaches, Yunnanilus cruciatus (zebra/stripped/hovering loach) or Yunnanilus brevis (inle loach) are available. I do not know much about them, I do not have the sandy substrate but small pebbles and the sand underneath, not sure what the like

 

110x40x45cm, temp max 26C, lowest 19C, some degree of flow. I cant remember to make a picture at night, so a quick glare filled snapshot during the day it is

40 white cloud mountain minnows, 7 panda garra, hundreds of shrimp, one brotia pagodula snail

 

Please tell me what would you add. I know I keep asking, I am looking for the perfect fit and nothing is coming up in my mind

Edited June 25 by beastie

[daggaz]

Hillstream loaches would look great scooting around on the rocks. Ottos would love those big leaves.  

[beastie]

On 6/25/2024 at 11:03 AM, daggaz said:

Hillstream loaches would look great scooting around on the rocks. Ottos would love those big leaves.  

Sewellia are hillstream loaches, and I lost around 7 in the past year and a half

[daggaz]

honestly dont know how i read past that.  I am too tired to operate heavy machinery today, apparently.    but honestly, if the tank is clean and stable, they had food to eat (not just the little algae growing on the glass and rocks), then its probably not your fault.  fish just die sometimes.  

Edited June 25 by daggaz

[EricksonAquatics]

My personal favorite pleco varieties are the Lemon Blue Eye bristlenose (which you may have kept) and L-201 (snowball pleco). I feel like you won’t see them much but if that’s what you enjoy, go for it 🙂

Some fun schooling fish you might consider would be cherry barbs. I think they’re awesome. Or maybe something that stays right at the top like clown killis or a Pencilfish variety.

Maybe you’d have fun with some sort of centerpiece fish. It might give your eye sometbing to draw to and add more personality to the tank! Some sort of Gourami or Gourami group, a few Bolivian Rams or something would be cool.

If your bottom of the tank is empty, why not a big group of Cory’s? You might have fun with those. Although I bet you’ve already kept them and there’s a reason they’re not in this tank 🙂
I get the impression you’ve kept a lot more fish than me so take everything I say with a grain of salt😂

[beastie]

Yeah the problem with me is, I have many tanks and many fish :)) in my other tank i have six pearl gouramis and four bolivian rams and yes, ten corydoras. And i will be reshuffling this tank and getting a group of cherry barbs here too 🙂

In another tank i have clown killifish (so fun but absolutely hate any sort of flow) 

I haven't kept any pleco in years but i fear all my reasons are still valid (poop machines )

Thanks anyway, i am still thinking 

[CoryWithAKatana]

Just a thought... Maybe you could add a betta, many betta varieties are eye catching and with all that room, she (I think female bettas would do better than males as it is a community tank ) would really thrive. 

If you do decide on a betta fish may I suggest a Koi Betta, the reds and whites and teals really are exquisite imo. (picture for reference)

[johnnyxxl]

Tiger barbs big school like 10 or more 

[Tony s]

Get something funky and unusual. Red lizard whiptail catfish, hoplo cat, giant otos. Some you think is cool and unusual. And you wouldn’t have thought of before.

[Tony s]

Well maybe not hoplos. Apparently 10 inches long with big mouths.

[daggaz]

On 6/26/2024 at 1:38 AM, Tony s said:

Well maybe not hoplos. Apparently 10 inches long with big mouths.

Yarrrr, thar she goes, tha great inhaler!

[beastie]

On 6/25/2024 at 9:50 PM, CoryWithAKatana said:

Just a thought... Maybe you could add a betta, many betta varieties are eye catching and with all that room, she (I think female bettas would do better than males as it is a community tank ) would really thrive. 

If you do decide on a betta fish may I suggest a Koi Betta, the reds and whites and teals really are exquisite imo. (picture for reference)

KOI variants are my absolutely favorite bettas and I am always so tempted!!!

The problem is, the tank is unheated, so while in summer it could reasonably maybe house a betta, in winter it sits at 19C and that would be very harmful. Also the flow is never appreciated by any Anabantoids. I tried a paradise fish for three months in this tank, he also didnt like the flow. And he was very hateful toward the fish.

[Guppysnail]

If hillstreams did not do well you may wish to cross other loach species off the list. 
My Danio erythromicron occupy the bottom 2 inches of the tank as adults. 
 

Unlike my Danio margaritatus who I only find 1-3 fry now and then I find tons of babies in the tank. The fry launch to the upper level where adults do not go. However your other inhabitants will make short work of the fry but they are good nutrition.

They LOVE the spawning catch cup so if you ever want to collect eggs it’s super easy. They like it cooler so fit temperature and are very adaptable to almost any parameters 

 

 

[KoiAngels]

On 6/26/2024 at 9:55 AM, Guppysnail said:

If hillstreams did not do well you may wish to cross other loach species off the list. 
My Danio erythromicron occupy the bottom 2 inches of the tank as adults. 
 

Unlike my Danio margaritatus who I only find 1-3 fry now and then I find tons of babies in the tank. The fry launch to the upper level where adults do not go. However your other inhabitants will make short work of the fry but they are good nutrition.

They LOVE the spawning catch cup so if you ever want to collect eggs it’s super easy. They like it cooler so fit temperature and are very adaptable to almost any parameters 

 

 

CPDs are difficult to breed. So they dont the catch cups very often

Clown killi with endlers ( cobra )

[Guppysnail]

On 6/26/2024 at 9:01 AM, KoiAngels said:

CPDs are difficult to breed. So they dont the catch cups very often

This is not the case with mine. I’ve been breeding them for 5 years. My last collection from my catch cup was well over 100 babies probably closer to 150+. They are the easiest fish I’ve bred outside of livebearers 
 

They were not all hatched  in This video. The second is them growing out with Pygmy and melini Cory. 
 

my cat was helping make the grow out video 🤣

 

 

[Jeff]

Chili Rasboras - really good shoaling fish. And, because they're so little to the bioload, you can add a boatload of them - a good pop of red.

And if you get them - you could still do a bottom dweller. A win/win if you ask me.