Help picking a weird, wacky, and wild centerpiece fish recommendations for my 50 gallon planted setup - newbie loving the hobby again

[Jungle Fan]

That would be another option for something out of the ordinary without having the risk of "leaping death" but with the snails and shrimp eliminated you need to get the balance of ferts, and water parameters right because with the exception of a few fish like Siamese algae eaters, Otocinclus,... combating algae  will rest squarely on your shoulders alone in a planted tank. That is not to say that you don't have to balance this anyway but I've always appreciated the extra help my snails and shrimp have provided and I believe many underestimate their contribution. Then again these puffers are very much fun, interesting, and have great personality.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPtGCsyMMPU

 

https://www.theaquariumguide.com/articles/amazon-puffer

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Jungle Fan

[walstadfanboy]

2 hours ago, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

If you aren't too set on the snails and shrimp I would look at a few Amazon puffers 

 

1 minute ago, Jungle Fan said:

That would be another option for something out of the ordinary without having the risk of "leaping death" but with the snails and shrimp eliminated you need to get the balance of ferts, and water parameters right because with the exception of a few fish like Siamese algae eaters, Otocinclus,... combating algae  will rest squarely on your shoulders alone in a planted tank. That is not to say that you don't have to balance this anyway but I've always appreciated the extra help my snails and shrimp have provided and I believe many underestimate their contribution. Then again these puffers are very much fun, interesting, and have great personality.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPtGCsyMMPU

 

https://www.theaquariumguide.com/articles/amazon-puffer

 

Yeah I'm pretty afraid to lose my snails and shrimp since they do so much critical work balancing my tank by breaking down the "big pieces" into "small pieces." That and the little pink ramshorns are just so darn cute. Like little pieces of bubble gum sliding around the tank!

[Nana Finopolis]

On 3/2/2021 at 3:46 PM, walstadfanboy said:

Well I know I won't ever have a problem with growing floater plants... I had to throw out literally a half pound of the stuff last night. Although it hurt me to do it, I just had to get some of my surface back! I gotta figure out something else to do with my excess floater.

I'm saving some of mine, in a bucket, for when I set up my tubs outside.

[Sal]

Following along this thread as well as we will (hopefully) soon be looking to add some fish to our new community tank.  Do Bolivian Rams get along well with Angels, or is that a no-go?