just bought a 120 gallon fish tank and want to put fresh water fish in it what kind of fish are good together?

Question

we have no idea what to have besides gold fish wich we don't want to just have. what goes together and what doesn't.? and what kind of algea eaters are there. this tank is 5 feet long and 24 inches high and 120 gallons

Answer 1

Silver dollars.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/fresh/dollar.shtml
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/sdollar.php

Answer 2

With the size of your tank, you could go wild choosing fish and decorating!

I agree with the others that have said not to get a Chinese algae eater - they prefer eating another fish's slime coat over algae as they mature and can injure or kill the other fish. Plecos come in a variety of sizes and some are quite attractive (research them by size (5" - 18"), and some are more carnivorous that others, though, and none will eat all types of algae.

For a tank such as yours, I'd use a few pieces of driftwood and lots of plants (plastic, silk, or otherwise) and go with a few species of schooling/shoaling fish that will stay together in groups - giant danios, diamond tetras, congo tetras, or white skirt tetras in a group of 6+ for a silver/white color and another school of another species in a brighter color. Plus, I'd add 1 - 3 larger "showy" species using a single specimen of each type. Try to get some bottom fish (school of corydoras, some loaches, or a larger pleco) as well as mid and upper tank swimmers.

There are too many types of fish to choose from, but I can give you some websites for suggestions at the end. When you add the fish, just add a few at a time so you don't overwhelm your tank with ammonia (toxic to fish) from their wastes. I'll include a link that talks about cycling your tank (including fishless cycling) to build up a population of beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite (also toxic) to nitrate (nontoxic in lower concentrations).

The first link shows suggestions on planning a community tank from small and peaceful fish to the big aggressive ones - you can click on each fish name to get info about the species. The second is for cycling a fish tank, the third and fourth for general aquarium information (includes species info, cycling, water chemistry, cloudy water, dish diseases, etc.).

Good luck with the tank - sounds like it will be a showpiece!

Answer 3

Hi! 120 gallon tanks are great arent they! I have one as well. If you want a really awesome fish, go for an Oscar. They are soo cool! They get big too, about 12-14 inches. Another cool fish to have would be a Flower Horn. They get big as well. Email me if you need any info. I have two 6 inch Tiger Oscars in my 120 gallon.

Answer 4

A 120 gal is pretty big, the fish you like you must first Do Your Research! on them. That said, I personally don't like pleco's, they dont eat much algae and they leave a long poop train that must be cleaned up as well. However, a bristlenose pleco cleans the widest range of algae compared to the rest of the pleco family. With those dimensions you can put some pretty big fish, it all depends on what you're looking for. Just remember, the fish you're looking at make sure you know their adult sizes, and for a tank that big, I'd recommend a canister filter or two, or a canister combined with a powerfilter. If you need any help on setup/equipment let me know.

There's nothing wrong with him getting a bigger tank, a bigger tank provides a bigger margin for error in case he does make mistakes such as overdose medications, overfeed, overstock the tank with too much fish. It's recommended that the bigger the tank the better, its much forgiving to a newbie then starting with a very small fishtank.

Answer 5

congratulations on buying a fantastically sized tank!

what kind of fish really grabs you? you need to cycle your tank first, so i would buy a book of tropical fish (you can do a fantastic tropical set up in that tank) and while your tank cycles (takes 2-4 weeks, see the guide below) you can research what kind of set up you'd like.

do you want one or two large fish? or a community of smaller fish? schooling fish or solitary fish? planted tank or a rocky set up?

i would love a tank that size. if i did i'd either have an Oscar and a rescued common plec, or have a huge planted set up with congo tetras, and ooooo i don't know what. definately congos though.

i would go to a fish store with a pen and paper and right down everything that catches your eye. come back to the internet and have a look and see what it needs.

with that size tank, you're very flexible on stocking!

don't worry about algae eaters yet, you shouldn't add true algae eaters until there is actually algae to eat, which can take 2-6 months to show in your tank anyway.

Answer 6

Actually, it's good to start big, since it means the parameters will be stable. I, myself, just bought a 180 gal. tank, so I ran into the same problems.

And as someone else said, its all up to you.

I personally LOVE tetras since there's a wide variety to choose from and since these are schooling fish, they look beautiful in groups. Tetras also do better in softer water, which means you might have to invest in other products.
I also like peaceful cichlids like rams.

Another possibility is going with all kinds of tropical fish. Platys, swordtails, guppies, etc.

For a good list of fish I recommend going to liveaquaria.com. It's an online store which provides a look at all kinds of fish, they also have a compatibility chart so you can see which ones go together.

Here's the list of tropical fish:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=830

They also have a list of algae eaters (just don't choose chinese algae eaters, they tend to become aggressive as they mature)

Also check out
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/
They have people on the forums that are always willing to help out, plus you have a chance to trade/barter for aquarium items.

Answer 7

Once your tank is set up and ready to add fish, then what I would do is go to your fish store and see which fish catch your eye the most. Whatever you like the best, you should research & then build the rest of your aquarium around that particular species. (This is how I did it.)

Answer 8

Here are some fish if you want a chinese algae eater (these grow up to 7 ft. i have heard)

- gouramis ( gold, 3 spot, pearl, moonlight etc.)

- cichlids ( rams, angelfish etc.)
go to this link to see more compatible fish: http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/how_to_choose_fish.htm#top2
they dont have any thing about algae eaters, but i know it should be at least groups 3 or 4
or: http://www.fishtankguy.com/fishchart.php

Answer 9

ask the people at the pet store

Answer 10

WHOA!!!!! YOUR A BEGGINER? AND YOU BOUGHT A 120 GAL. AQUARIUM??!?!?!?! REALLY NOT A GOOD IDEA....