What fish are best for tropical tank?

Question

I have a tank which holds 180 litres (39.6 gallons). I have filled it and completed the nitrogen cycle and it is ready for me to start to gradually add my tropical fish! But I dont know which ones to get, how many to get and what order to add them in.
Can anyone help and give me advise?
Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

When stocking a tank, you have to look at the levels of your tank. You have the bottom, the middle and the top. Let's start at the bottom, shall we? :)
Bottom is usually where your cleanup crew is. That's algae eaters, plecos, cories, etc.
A school of at least 6 corydoras julii or sterbai is great:
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/h-Cory-julii.jpg
or you can get a school of oto cats: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/oto_cat.jpg
Get a school of at least 5 of these (tank minimum: 15 gallons). They eat algae.
I would suggest that you DON'T get a plecostomous. Most of them grow to 18-24" and are poop machines. They will dirty your water very quickly. If you MUST get a pleco, get a bristle-nose, they only get 4-5".
If you get any of these fish, be sure to supplement their diet with zucchini slices, spirulina pellets, and shrimp pellets, as they will not get enough food otherwise.

Next, you want your mid-to-upper range. A school of 10 tetras is great for this level.
Some nice fish are (choose one of the following):
neon tetras http://img225.exs.cx/img225/3290/neontetra6mc.jpg
cardinal tetra http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/Fishpics/cardinals.jpg
lemon tetra http://www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish/034.jpg
harlequin rasbora http://tropicalresources.net/phpBB2/templates/BMan1Blue/images/profile_pics/fish_profiles_heteromorpha1.jpg
glowlight tetra http://www.solodvds.com/images/fish/Hemigrammus_erythrozonus_s.jpg
zebra danio http://www.winternet.com/~mchristi/fish/zebradanio.jpg
... the list goes on and on and on.

You'll want a centrepiece fish, I suggest either a pair of kribensis cichlids:
http://www.cichlids.dk/thumb/28887.jpg

Or a pair of bolivian rams:
http://www.azgardens.com/images/Ram-Bolivian.gif

Or a pair of apistogramma:
http://www.c-u-w.net/jpg/ad_konigs/apistogramma_agassizii_(ad_konigs).jpg

Or ONE dwarf gourami:
http://www.biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/naibunpi/Image/Gourami-photo-old.jpg

Be sure to keep up with weekly water changes of about 20-40% of the water.

And above all, before you buy anything, go to your local fish store, take a look around and write down the various fish you like. Then come home, research them, ask questions about them, before buying them.

Answer 2

This depends a lot on what you like in fish.

For a community tank I would get 3-4 species of tetras such as:

lemon tetra
emperor tetra
head and tail light tetra
serpae tetra

In a 40 gallon tank you could have 3-4 of each of those fish.

Then I would add 2-3 small cory catfish.

Answer 3

I would recommend that you let it cycle 6 -8 weeks. If you have done this, you want to first add an algae pack. This will include snails, emerald crabs, hermit crabs and the like. Search online for this. After you have added the algae pack, Wait 2 - 3 weeks before adding anything else, in order to keep water quality high. Later, add fish that are non-territorial. Add territorial fish last. Adding too many fish at a time will cause pH to raise and poor water quality. So, get online and find a few fish that are peaceful and go from there. Remember one gallon of water is required per inch of fish in order to keep water quality high.

Answer 4

no longer in case you prefer any fish left, and a 2 foot tank will no longer be great adequate, you are able to desire to think with regard to the undeniable fact that the size of tank has to slot in a heater no longer a fish water heater as turtles can chew those and smash them, you besides could prefer a reliable clear out and a basking spot with lamp on a dry section so this could cut back the area for the turtle, additionally a 2 foot tank heavily isn't great adequate for a transforming into turtle, the turtle is possibly to consume your fish besides so that's no longer cautioned, appropriate of success honey

Answer 5

I am not sure about a lot of fish but I love angel fish and really pretty colored fish. U r the one who is going to have to look at this everday so i think u should gey ones that u like.

Answer 6

I would do an amazon biotope with 2 german blue rams, 12 glow-light tetras, 6 ottocinclus catfish, and 6 panda cories.

Answer 7

Rachel: an regular Aquairium type would work for tropical fish
because they prefer more room to swim in add some artifical stuff too see http://www.petsmart.com

Answer 8

Angel fish! we have had two for about two years, they are doing great!