Fish in a 30 gallon octagon fish tank???

Question

What fish should I get? I want a kind of fish that only swims at the bottom...a kind of fish that only swims in the middle (i think i will get angelfish for the middle) and a kind of fish that only stays on the top? What fish should I get?

Answer 1

Angelfish don't need a lot of back and forth room... they swim up and down and around, and tall tanks are best for them because they have tall bodies.

You could get a Gourami or two for top dwelling. They are air breathers like Bettas, so they stay around the top and middle. They're very pretty. My personal favorite is the Pearl Gourami.

You can get a Pleco for the bottom, or some Corydoras Catfish. Be careful with algae eaters or any kind of suckerfish... sometimes will sometime latch onto Angels flat sides and damage their slimecoat. I really like Clown Loaches for bottom dwellers, but they will eventually outgrow an 30gal octagon.

Don't get any tiny fish like Neon Tetras... when the Angel is big enough, it'll eat them.

Answer 2

You can only go so big with a 30 gallon of any shape. Aren't the octagon tanks a little tall? I can't remember. Tall tanks are not the greatest for most big fish. Angelfish are probably the largest I would try. You could also try a few Rainbow fish like Bosemanis, Turquoise, Reds, etc. Those species usually max at 6" and they're simply beautiful. I'm assuming you're thinking freshwater. Keep in mind though that most fish like side to side swimming. Longer tanks are more effective, but you can still work with what you have. Octagons are cool tanks. Just don't exceed an inch of ADULT fish per gallon. If you can keep under that, you'll have better water quality. Good luck :)

Answer 3

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RE:
Fish in a 30 gallon octagon fish tank???
What fish should I get? I want a kind of fish that only swims at the bottom...a kind of fish that only swims in the middle (i think i will get angelfish for the middle) and a kind of fish that only stays on the top? What fish should I get?

Answer 4

Well, a fish that only stays in the middle is a tough one. Even angelfish will swim in all ranges, though mostly in the middle. Angels can get very tempermental; easily stressed and/or overly aggressive. They are in the cichlid family and their personality shows it. But they just might be the perfect choice for what you want. I personally would only go with 2 angels, but no more than 3 if you want them to live a full and healthy life (6-10 yrs [or more], 6" in length). You are best adding them together while they are younger and letting them grow up in the tank. Most species of angels pair off, but some form family groups in a large enough habitat. So, 2 is the safest number as the tank isn't large enough to cohabitate 2 pairs without fighting, and a pair may pick on the "3rd-wheel". If you can get an established pair - that is easier than trying to form one, since the angels are extremely difficult to sex without comparing one male to one female.

All that said, now to your real question...

Top swimmers are easy, but keep in mind that octogon tanks have limited surface area and limited side-to-side swimming areas. Butterflyfish and hatchetfish are strictly top-swimmers, but they are slightly risky with angels. Danios (not giant, too big), are surface swimmers... in a larger aquarium. Danios will tend to start swimming all over the aquarium if they feel too restricted in surface area. The only tank I had where my danios stayed almost exclusively at the surface was my 125G, where the schoal of about 30 mixed danio types (and a couple of rasbora types [brilliant and scissor-tail]) utlized the full 6' length. If you want to try either butterflyfish or hatchets, provide some floating foliage (artificial is acceptable to them) for cover and stress reduction. You might be able to find a tall enough background plastic plant that it could go up along one side and bend over at the surface. Danios eat anything, hatchets can adapt to almost anything, but can be very picky at first, and butterflyfish tend to ignore anything that isn't a small chunk of meat. I have seen them eat blood worms, but not always. Floating krill is good if they won't eat anything else, but not as a sole diet. I have successfully gotten butterflyfish to regularly eat small cichlid pellets in the 2 tanks that I have kept them in.

The bottom-swimmers are the easiest. My recommendation are Cory cats. There are many species of cory with varying colors, patterns, and adult sizes. Most corys only grow 1.5-2", so you want a little bigger (around 2.5-3.5"), like the bronze (aeneus). Other options might be khulli loaches (you'll rarely if ever see them) or dojo (weather) loaches (better, but possibly too big as adult).

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Cories and kullies are good for the bottom, kilies and danios for the top, as for the angel, he's going to get to big for that tank, especially since its a hex and doesn't have a lot of back and forth room, try sticking with fish that stay under 4 inches. the angel gets about 7.5 and that doesn't include tail or fins

Answer 6

get albino cats for bottom,angels for middle, butterfly fish for top.A tall plant, a short plant,one that floats on top. live plants are great. they help break in a tank faster. get some fertilizere for them. Also if it is a new tank,get some start zyme. Live bacteria in a bottle.

Answer 7

sounds cool
get some dragonfish for the bottom
some neon tetras for the middle
and i dont know what for the top

Answer 8

get an electric eel. or a piranha. lol.