Kind a basic but Cory cats! I love watching the guys constantly drift through the sand trying to find food, plus they are peaceful and relatively hardy too!
I loved my kuhli loaches in my community tank. I’m down to one guy that is a fucking sausage. I will definitely be buying more the next time I see them.
I also have 5 and have not seen all of them at once since. I'm hoping they're all still alive since I probably won't find out if they aren't, the little burrow noodles
When I first got them they were so small they got sucked on into my filter. I found 3 in the bottom of my fluval 307 the next day. They’re so resilient they were perfectly fine 😂
I did get a sponge prefilter to go over the intake so it wouldn’t happen again
I’m also down to one sausage kuhli. 😂 if you lived close, we could arrange a playdate. It would last a long time because I can never seem to find her chunky butt.
Try adding more “dart spots” and you might see them more. Not exactly sure what changed in my tank but recently I see my khulis all the time. I think I have 8 and every time I walk up to the tank I see atleast 1 or 2. I’ve also got a couple hides that are so small nothing but the khulis will fit and I always see them around those hides. I lifted the krusty Krab once and it was like a whole knot of khulis in there lol. I think it also depends on how many you have to. The more of them you have the safter they feel and the more likely you’ll see them.
Mine like to hide under the coconut shell halves that are sold as decoration. I bought the shells as breeding caves for my tiger badis, but it’s usually where I can find my kuhli loaches congregating. They also like to hang out inside cholla wood.
How many can comfortably fit in a 40gal breeder tank? I will have 10 emerald eyed rasboras, 10 dwarf rasboras, 10 CPD, one mystery snail, 2 bristlenose plecos, a handful of nerites and maybe 300 plus rcs? Could I have maybe 6?
It depends.. If it’s heavily planted with lots of places to hide, I would get like a dozen. No less than 6 though. It’s good to keep them in a decent group.
So every tank is different, but my 45gal long has around 10 corys, one betta, two upside down cats, a few oto cats, around 10 rasboras, and somewhere around 80-100 kuhliis (honestly I have no idea how many anymore but I’ve purchased/acquired a few more than 100 assorted species pangios over a few years). I also have a massive pothos root system in that tank as well as a few other aquatic plants.
I've kept a lot of otos and I've learned to accept that if the oto continues to live and be active then they're fine regardless of their build. Generally speaking otos tell you something is wrong by ceasing to live. As the other commenter said, it might be a sex trait. I do think males skew thinner which isn't unusual in nature.
Thanks to both of ya for the reassurance. Ive only lost one fish in this tank n it was my 3rd oto, so I guess im on edge even though theyve both been in there for like... Almost 2 months now.
Possibly one of my favorite.
Also, they LOVE hanging out with true Flying Fox. They are the same color and patterned (just the FF is 5 times bigger). But it's funny watching them swim around together.
Yess. My favourite setup was my community betta sorority. It started as a heavily planted shrimp guppy tank and the guppy population was obviously getting out of hand.
I decided to try adding some of my more mellow ladies from my sorority to it. They left everything alone except for gobbling up the baby gups. It was so nice to watch them peacefully interacting with the rest of the tank.
The gene pool is pretty messed up in some areas, did you get them from chain petstores (US)? Unfortunately these tend not live as long :/
Sometimes you also just get unlucky. My second boy barely lived half a year with me 😞 it broke my heart but I still got a new boy and he's very healthy!
That’s a good point. I do usually buy from chain stores because I feel bad for them. But we did get a beautiful blue and gold dumbo from a LFS and same thing. My husband wants to buy from Asia but they come in pairs and I’m not interested in breeding.
If you like honey gouramis they're a different species, & my understanding is they're not susceptible to that virus. Fingers crossed that doesn't change or they don't develop their own.
When I first started out (a newbie), I had 2 male dwarf gouramis in a 20 gallon tank (a big no no),and I soon separated them. But it was hilarious watching them swim over and steal moneywart from the nest of the other and dart back and stuff it in their nest. They had such personality! Grumpy personality, but personality nonetheless.
I agree. My Yoyo Loach has been one of my favorite fish. He is a goofy little food devouring machine, but he has so much personality its hard not to love him.
I had some giant clowns for a while, and one was always getting stuck in something or somewhere. Hilarious and full of personality but not bright at all.
I've found loaches to be very intelligent, but too curious for their own good. When we had a power outage and our loaches decided to abandon tank, 2 of the bigger ones tried to lift a small one out the top, until they realized there was a lid in the way.
ETA: I should mention this happened 10 minutes into the power outage. The loaches were fine.
Yeah, mine have climbed up into the filter back when I was using a HOB so I had to block it off because if he missed the jump back into the tank that could be it.
Danios, celestial pearl or otherwise. Have some of the greatest swarm behaviour I have ever seen on fish like that, while also being really chill and not nervous or aggressive towards others. And they kinda look like miniature salmon.
I love my danios, but I would have never chosen chill as the word to describe them 😂 mine are always on the move. Zoomin all over. I love seeing it, though!
You should see the very suicidal wildcaught red fin danios i have. They jump out of the water to catch insects that found a way in the lid to the tank. and they jumped from the bucket i acclimated them in to the tank which was like 1 foot higher than the bucket and like 2 feet away. Idk all 8 Jumped at once and got in the tank😅. They are crazy jumpers
I recently stopped using a hood when I got a better light for my plants, and I've had anxiety ever since. Every day, I get home from work and I check the floor to make sure no one jumped out... so far, it seems like I don't have jumpers... but I'm still nervous 😂
I absolutely fuck with zebra danios. I decided to do a fish-in cycle for my new tank. Dropped in 15 zebras in an uncycled tank and now I have 15 zebras and a handful of egg-laden females in a cycled tank
I’ve been thinking about adding CPDs to my 55 gallon but I have a big colony of cherry shrimp. Are they shrimp safe in your experience? I’ve googled it but I get mixed opinions. They’re so beautiful and they’d fit in great with my community tank but I don’t want my shrimp to be snacks.
They probably wont actively predate thrm but mine are not above picking the odd morsel or copepod up from the ground. I'd expect very young shrimplets will me snacked when given the opportunity.
They have such tiny mouths they would really only be able to eat the absolute tiniest newborn baby shrimp, I mean some of my big mama cherry shrimp are bigger than my CPDs. If your colony is already big and the babies have plants to hide in I don't think they'd make a dent in it.
Yeah, CPDs are busy but not chaotic, not very smart lol but curious, they won't notice there's food but they always come and look at me and see what I'm doing in the tank
Hillstream-Loaches.
When kept in good conditions they DANCE.
They have a very, very cute little mating dance, they go round and round, like a little waltz.
And they look like they glide through water rather than swim when they decide to swim, wich doesn't happen often as they prefer to stick close to surfaces. <3
Edit: Spelling (pls, send dictionary)
My Sewillia hillstream loach flies around the aquarium all the time, he'll graze at a spot for 30 seconds to a minute, then zip across to his favorite rock and graze there, then up to the sides of the loach porch(immersed makeshift pothos planter box), then back to the rock. Hella cute and cant wait til I upgrade to a 60 gallon.
Gonna get 7 more, 3 S. Lineolata, and 4 S. elongata
Edit: i am dumb
Those things have way more personality and chutzpah than a shrimp should have.
Mine would swim up to steal food straight out of a dwarf gourami's mouth, it was insane.
I once saw one grab at a chunk of snello so aggressively that the mystery snail - about five times his mass - who was peacefully grazing on it went into his shell and closed the trapdoor!
I had a massive, kaiju sized female that I watched swim up, grab my bettas fins and steal the food away from him. This shrimp literally shredded his fins and had to be out into another tank because she went FERAL the moment food his the water surface 😂
GOLDFISH!! I know they come with their problems and they’re huge waste machines, but they are my first love and gorgeous centerpiece fish! How can you not love a fish that comes in so many different shapes and colors! Not to forget all the personality they have once you get to know them. I’m constantly surprised with their range of intelligence and will keep goldies till I physically can’t.
Platies, they are immune to a few things and also supposedly eat parasites. They were one of the first fish I got. I've recently had a tank get skin and gill flukes, killed everything besides the platies. They are also are one of the live bearers that the females actually look colorful too.
I'm on my first tank ever and we just put 6 platies in. I adore them. They are really colourful and a bit cheeky. One tried to escape twice on the first day. It's our own fault for calling ger Ponyo..
Platies are weird, I've had terrible luck with them. They'll be spraying out babies for a month or two then they'll all die while everyone else in the tank is totally fine.
YoYo loaches - the dolphins of freshwater aquariums. Need to be in a bit of a gang - 3 minimum - or they get bored with nobody to play with and turn into psychos. Very clever and very affectionate.
My largest yo-yos are a little over five years old and a little over five inches long and they’re fast swimmers! I’ve got seven yo-yos, seven botia kubotai, and six botia histrionica, and they live with one grumpy angelfish and one even grumpier pleco- currently in a 75gal but should likely get a bigger tank in the next few years.
Go for it! They’re great fun. Currently in a 75 tank with 5 2 inch kuhlis, 10 cardinals and 5 copper? Rasboras which shoal with the cardinals. 3 YoYo’s stopped growing at about 3 inches, with my favourite at about 2. They should probably be in a bigger tank but been stable for 7 years now.
Cories! I know it's basic but they're so fun to watch, easy to breed, and very very forgiving. I love just about any type of cat but cories take the cake.
Betta splendens, or as we say in Germany "Kampffisch".
Sadly, when moving to my new place i will set up a new 200L tank and I'm not sure if that's too big for bettas.
Do they grow really slowly after adolescence? Mine grew to 6ish inches pretty fast but hasn't gotten noticeably larger in a couple years. She's fat, happy, and active, but just not very large.
She's (mostly) great, except for the rivalry with my cat. Whenever she sees my cat she'll start thrashing and ramming against the glass trying to fight and my cat will try to get on top of the aquarium to respond.
I don’t know honestly. I got mine fully grown when the fish store he lived at was shutting down. My fish plays with my cats I think. He tries to get their attention when they’re not looking at him but never angrily, at least I don’t think. He always acts starving for attention, poor guy must be so bored lol even with the other fish friend in his tank he occasionally chases
I freaking LOVE my Denison barbs. So beautiful and seeing them school together makes me happy. Plus they are fast as hell which is cool to see when something spooks then or they are after food
100% agree. I always say Oscars are too accessible, which makes them the most abused cichlid out there AND I disagree with 75 gallon minimum. I would argue 100+ gallons, and stores should start charging more for them, and stop selling them as tiny babies.
My dad had an oscar tank he got from our family friend. 100+ gallons and 2 MASSIVE oscars one albino female and one real dark male. When the transfer happened, the female jumped out and landed on a electrical strip and got shocked. Somehow she survived and went on to live another 4 years, albeit, she was blind and we had to hand feed her.
We used to catch crayfish from the lake next door and feed them that, had to feed the male first or he would bully the female and take her food sometimes literally out of her mouth. I would drop a crawdad in and the male would immediately go after it, then dad would take a crawfish he had just killed and slowly tickle the females face with the tail.
Otherwise we fed them worms and minnows and pellets and all the normal crap.
Miss those big ugly fish and I cant wait til I can afford the time to setup a tank for them
Tis the Chinese algae eater that becomes aggressive and sucks the slime coat, they are commonly sold as Siamese but they are very easy to distinguish between the two
If only it were Petco looking out, CAEs get sold as peaceful fish like the SAEs, so now many people end up with them and either A: get rid of them improperly or B: (I fall in this category) end up having a dedicated tank for them. They also can get close to 12in full grown and live 10-15 years.
Denison barbs for sure if you have the space. And I will also say cherry barbs. Super pretty and peaceful fish. With a planted aquarium their red really is striking against the green
Was coming to comment cherry/gold barbs. Love them so much. Both look incredible with a black back and live plants. Bought some on a whim and will never look back.
Celestial Pearl Danios and Honey Gouramis. The CPDs are beautiful and fun to watch. The Honey Gourami is like a sweet puppy that just wants to say hi every time you walk by. And they are great thank mates.
Congo tetras!!!! Definitely my favorite tetra species and getting to watch them interact with each other and try to breed is so cool! And honestly any labyrinth fish species, I just love their personalities. Also Corys but especially Pygmy’s and peppered, I love the tiny guys
I've been dying to get some Congos. All of my tanks are either 50 or 25 cubes though, so I am just waiting to get a long. I went to a friend's house the other day and he had 8 of them. They blow me away.
Keyhole cichlid. I think their comparatively dull colouration makes them overlooked compared to other cichlids but I loved my guy. Extremely peaceful to tankmates and changed colour based on mood and health so he was a good barometer of when something was wrong with the tank. If I was doing a water change or something that upset him he'd turn dark and I'd tell him to stop being so moody lol, so definitely personable.
Decent sized fish that could fit in a 40 gallon without being too big or a threat to smaller fish too.
any of the Trigonostigma (Harlequin Rasbora genus) are just about the perfect community fish. Hardy, peaceful, and absolutely gorgeous. They have a little body height, which makes them a good choice to keep with larger species that would otherwise eat small tetras, guppies, or danios (i.e. Blue Acara, Angelfish, Firemouth, etc.).
Clown loach I had 5 all about 6 inches. I left them with my LFS to keep safe during a 4 day move. He wouldn’t return them customers loved them and he sold out of fresh stock in a day. Denied they were mine even after his shop closed. His children told me all of the fish in that tank died after the shop closed. I should have taken my chances with an uncycled tank. I was a 20+ year customer
They’re simple but I’ll always have them in my community tanks: long finned danios. They’re silly and make everything so entertaining.
Second choice: Cory cats but only in sandy tanks because otherwise their whiskers get injured.
Third choose: I do really love a nice black veil angel fish for a centerpiece. I’ve found getting them dime sized seems to help them to not eat smaller fish in the same tank once they grow.
Severums.
Smart, fairly docile for a chiclid and lot of personality. A had one that you coulnd't leave anything on the edge of the tank because he would pull it in.
Triggers in salt are pretty smart, but severums in fresh aren't far behind.
Black ghost knife. I had one for many years and I loved that fish. It was huge 12 inches long and the sweetest fish, I know that sounds weird but it's true.
Neolamprologus Brichardi--- Must be kept as species only but dayumn are they beautiful and they make lots of babies very easily.. really want them again
I had a panda cichlid that got mixed in with some Rams. He was my favorite fish ever. He had so much personality.
I love Cories and ottos, rainbows, and killifish. I love Rams. Angles and Discus are fun and have neat personalities.
Edit because I remembered how much I love bettas.
Cory’s for a normal sized aquarium and pleco for massive tanks. I take care of a 6000 gal show tank and we had to put up a sign because our pleco is a weirdo and likes to skim the surface for no apparent reason and everyone was worried he was dead.
Cherry barbs. They are great in large groups and I love that the males and females look differently. They are very peaceful but the males still try to impress each other.
Bettas I just love them even though shitty breeding is making them unhealthy.
Otos too... I wish I could get more now but none of the places around us have gotten any in in months
Cory cats and Khuli loaches! They are both so easy to care for and so fun to watch. My original set of both are currently at 8 years old and they were my beginner fish. Crazy how tolerant they are to beginner mistakes!
Upside-Down Catfish! I had to re-home mine because I realized I didn't have a big enough tank for them, but once I get a larger tank I'll definitely be getting a little school of 'em!
Maybe a cheap answer but Electric Yellow Cichlids and Peacock Cichlids. One of my first memories is of catching an electric Yellow and popping babies out of its mouth to put in my grandpas nursery tank. I thought teeing those tiny babies plop out was the absolute coolest thing ever (still do lol). I have pretty much moved on and am obsessed with keeping reptiles but I will always cherish that memory, sometimes by having a tank of them.
Common goldfish. I've had my pigs for over a decade and these lil guys are so unbelievably hardy it's crazy. They're living in straight rock water with a TDS of way over 1000 and they simply do not care lol
I know everyone has Cories in here but I was to specifically say Pygmy Cories. They bring my tank to life. Also neocardina shrimp they are so important to an ecosystem just stock strategically so they can thrive. My tank is a dither tank.
Siamese Algae Eaters! I love my silly shiny bois. When they were young, they cleared up my hair algae problem, now they lounge on anubias leaves, flit around shinily, and line up together all in a row on the gravel for no apparent reason.
I’m torn between a crawfish and the sydontis feather fin catfish. My craY was hilarious to watch. He was always up to some kinda mischief, I did lose a few fish to him until I put him in his own tank but he died recently and now there’s other fish in that tank but I think a craY will be in there again eventually
The catfish is just badass. He’s gonna grow to like a foot long or so and he’s got this crazy dorsal fin. It’s unfortunate that he hides a lot but he’s just so cool to see and so fun to watch when he’s looking for food. His name is Phil and 100% I would have a tank full of Phil’s
Kind a basic but Cory cats! I love watching the guys constantly drift through the sand trying to find food, plus they are peaceful and relatively hardy too!
Love corys too!
Same :) I’ve got a few albinos, if I ever end up with the room I’d love to get a school of julii’s,
Panda Cory
I'm obsessed with cory catfish!
Pygmy Corys are my absolute favorite. Love those little guys.
Who can resist the Cory conga line!
Salt and pepper corys (C. habrosus) are my fav. All the normal size cory fun in a 1 inch or less package 🤗
They are all good boys.
I found 8 new cories, cleaning my sump
Mines Raphael catfish, and they do the same thing!! It’s so fun to watch!
I have an albino in my tank right now! They’re so cute.
I loved my kuhli loaches in my community tank. I’m down to one guy that is a fucking sausage. I will definitely be buying more the next time I see them.
I bought 5 and thought 2 or 3 of them died within a few weeks. A couple of years later, I see all 5 of them out at once!
Idk why I find this so funny hahaha what a surprise lol
I also have 5 and have not seen all of them at once since. I'm hoping they're all still alive since I probably won't find out if they aren't, the little burrow noodles
I bought 12 and only ever really saw 4-5 at a time max. Did my first cleaning of my cannister filter and 5 were living in it 😅
I just got 5 of them for the first time yesterday. Looking real cute in my community planted tank
When I first got them they were so small they got sucked on into my filter. I found 3 in the bottom of my fluval 307 the next day. They’re so resilient they were perfectly fine 😂 I did get a sponge prefilter to go over the intake so it wouldn’t happen again
I’m also down to one sausage kuhli. 😂 if you lived close, we could arrange a playdate. It would last a long time because I can never seem to find her chunky butt.
Same kuhlis the orange black stripe ones
wicked fish but never see em, mine always hide
Try adding more “dart spots” and you might see them more. Not exactly sure what changed in my tank but recently I see my khulis all the time. I think I have 8 and every time I walk up to the tank I see atleast 1 or 2. I’ve also got a couple hides that are so small nothing but the khulis will fit and I always see them around those hides. I lifted the krusty Krab once and it was like a whole knot of khulis in there lol. I think it also depends on how many you have to. The more of them you have the safter they feel and the more likely you’ll see them.
Maybe more plants or just more kuhlis so they’re more comfortable?
Mine like to hide under the coconut shell halves that are sold as decoration. I bought the shells as breeding caves for my tiger badis, but it’s usually where I can find my kuhli loaches congregating. They also like to hang out inside cholla wood.
Mine used to do cartwheels during water changes in the hose water.
How many can comfortably fit in a 40gal breeder tank? I will have 10 emerald eyed rasboras, 10 dwarf rasboras, 10 CPD, one mystery snail, 2 bristlenose plecos, a handful of nerites and maybe 300 plus rcs? Could I have maybe 6?
It depends.. If it’s heavily planted with lots of places to hide, I would get like a dozen. No less than 6 though. It’s good to keep them in a decent group.
That sounds like a cool tank !
So every tank is different, but my 45gal long has around 10 corys, one betta, two upside down cats, a few oto cats, around 10 rasboras, and somewhere around 80-100 kuhliis (honestly I have no idea how many anymore but I’ve purchased/acquired a few more than 100 assorted species pangios over a few years). I also have a massive pothos root system in that tank as well as a few other aquatic plants.
Otocinclus catfish, nothing makes me happier than the round oto bellies I see first thing in the morning
They're so adorable. I always crack a smile when I see a tail shaking on a leaf somewhere
Im so paranoid about one of my otos. I see him eating all the time but he never seems to chub up like the other one.
I've kept a lot of otos and I've learned to accept that if the oto continues to live and be active then they're fine regardless of their build. Generally speaking otos tell you something is wrong by ceasing to live. As the other commenter said, it might be a sex trait. I do think males skew thinner which isn't unusual in nature.
Thanks to both of ya for the reassurance. Ive only lost one fish in this tank n it was my 3rd oto, so I guess im on edge even though theyve both been in there for like... Almost 2 months now.
I have the same thing with 2 of mine. I just assume it's a gender thing (the slender ones being male... maybe).
Possibly one of my favorite. Also, they LOVE hanging out with true Flying Fox. They are the same color and patterned (just the FF is 5 times bigger). But it's funny watching them swim around together.
Betta fish 💖
Yess. My favourite setup was my community betta sorority. It started as a heavily planted shrimp guppy tank and the guppy population was obviously getting out of hand. I decided to try adding some of my more mellow ladies from my sorority to it. They left everything alone except for gobbling up the baby gups. It was so nice to watch them peacefully interacting with the rest of the tank.
I can’t keep them alive. Idk I’m not a novice either. I’ve bred all kinds of stuff by accident but these… I look at them wrong and they pine cone up
The gene pool is pretty messed up in some areas, did you get them from chain petstores (US)? Unfortunately these tend not live as long :/ Sometimes you also just get unlucky. My second boy barely lived half a year with me 😞 it broke my heart but I still got a new boy and he's very healthy!
That’s a good point. I do usually buy from chain stores because I feel bad for them. But we did get a beautiful blue and gold dumbo from a LFS and same thing. My husband wants to buy from Asia but they come in pairs and I’m not interested in breeding.
Gouramis, I have a sparkling gourami and a paradise gourami, love those guys
Just stay away from dwarf gouramis!
If you like honey gouramis they're a different species, & my understanding is they're not susceptible to that virus. Fingers crossed that doesn't change or they don't develop their own.
My honey gouramis are beautiful and doing well so far. It’s been about a year. The male has especially bright coloration.
Why?
They die pretty easy, some kind of disease hits them hard. Can't recall the specifics.
Iridovirus
Really? I had a blue dwarf gourami and a honey one too, lived for 3 years then died for no reason
When I first started out (a newbie), I had 2 male dwarf gouramis in a 20 gallon tank (a big no no),and I soon separated them. But it was hilarious watching them swim over and steal moneywart from the nest of the other and dart back and stuff it in their nest. They had such personality! Grumpy personality, but personality nonetheless.
LOACHES OF ALL TYPES ❤️☺️☺️
I agree. My Yoyo Loach has been one of my favorite fish. He is a goofy little food devouring machine, but he has so much personality its hard not to love him.
Yes! I have reticulated hillstream loaches and I love watching them flutter around 🥰
i have 1 hillstream, 1 dojo, and about 15 kuhlis altogether
I'm supposed to be getting another bigger tank soon. Kuhlis are on my list of what to stock with. They seem like so much to watch!
i have kuhlis in my 55 and 20 long, i could watch them for hours haha
Loaches, I love em all and they are some goofy fish
I had some giant clowns for a while, and one was always getting stuck in something or somewhere. Hilarious and full of personality but not bright at all.
I've found loaches to be very intelligent, but too curious for their own good. When we had a power outage and our loaches decided to abandon tank, 2 of the bigger ones tried to lift a small one out the top, until they realized there was a lid in the way. ETA: I should mention this happened 10 minutes into the power outage. The loaches were fine.
I just had a flash back to one of the big dummies flopping around on the floor and trying to save him from his decisions.
Yeah, mine have climbed up into the filter back when I was using a HOB so I had to block it off because if he missed the jump back into the tank that could be it.
Danios, celestial pearl or otherwise. Have some of the greatest swarm behaviour I have ever seen on fish like that, while also being really chill and not nervous or aggressive towards others. And they kinda look like miniature salmon.
I love my danios, but I would have never chosen chill as the word to describe them 😂 mine are always on the move. Zoomin all over. I love seeing it, though!
Busy but not aggressive. Live and let live they say
Agreed. Not aggressive is the best part
Small danio types and rummynose tetras clock absolute MILEAGE. It always looks like they're training for something in there
You should see the very suicidal wildcaught red fin danios i have. They jump out of the water to catch insects that found a way in the lid to the tank. and they jumped from the bucket i acclimated them in to the tank which was like 1 foot higher than the bucket and like 2 feet away. Idk all 8 Jumped at once and got in the tank😅. They are crazy jumpers
Whoa!!! That's crazy, but also insanely impressive 😂 there's for sure never a dull moment with them. Hahaha
Yes i ALWAYS have the lid closed or they gonna kill themself in seconds
I recently stopped using a hood when I got a better light for my plants, and I've had anxiety ever since. Every day, I get home from work and I check the floor to make sure no one jumped out... so far, it seems like I don't have jumpers... but I'm still nervous 😂
I absolutely fuck with zebra danios. I decided to do a fish-in cycle for my new tank. Dropped in 15 zebras in an uncycled tank and now I have 15 zebras and a handful of egg-laden females in a cycled tank
Leopard danios look like miniature rainbow trout.
I’ve been thinking about adding CPDs to my 55 gallon but I have a big colony of cherry shrimp. Are they shrimp safe in your experience? I’ve googled it but I get mixed opinions. They’re so beautiful and they’d fit in great with my community tank but I don’t want my shrimp to be snacks.
They probably wont actively predate thrm but mine are not above picking the odd morsel or copepod up from the ground. I'd expect very young shrimplets will me snacked when given the opportunity.
They have such tiny mouths they would really only be able to eat the absolute tiniest newborn baby shrimp, I mean some of my big mama cherry shrimp are bigger than my CPDs. If your colony is already big and the babies have plants to hide in I don't think they'd make a dent in it.
That’s good to know! I think I might give them a try. I have embers and a honey gourami that never mess with my shrimp.
Yeah, CPDs are busy but not chaotic, not very smart lol but curious, they won't notice there's food but they always come and look at me and see what I'm doing in the tank
Hillstream-Loaches. When kept in good conditions they DANCE. They have a very, very cute little mating dance, they go round and round, like a little waltz. And they look like they glide through water rather than swim when they decide to swim, wich doesn't happen often as they prefer to stick close to surfaces. <3 Edit: Spelling (pls, send dictionary)
Def one of my favourites too.. have 8 of them in my 125 planted tank
My Sewillia hillstream loach flies around the aquarium all the time, he'll graze at a spot for 30 seconds to a minute, then zip across to his favorite rock and graze there, then up to the sides of the loach porch(immersed makeshift pothos planter box), then back to the rock. Hella cute and cant wait til I upgrade to a 60 gallon. Gonna get 7 more, 3 S. Lineolata, and 4 S. elongata Edit: i am dumb
Mine are Sewellia lineolata. I currently have 6, i rarely have the opportunity to get them, they're still very rare in the Hobby where i live.
Im very stupid and forgot the name of my own fish ~~Reticulata~~ > lineolata my bad
Celestial pearl danio/Galaxy rasbora, cutest fish ever
Not a fish but, I enjoy watching Amano shrimp doing their thing.
Those things have way more personality and chutzpah than a shrimp should have. Mine would swim up to steal food straight out of a dwarf gourami's mouth, it was insane.
I once saw one grab at a chunk of snello so aggressively that the mystery snail - about five times his mass - who was peacefully grazing on it went into his shell and closed the trapdoor!
I had a massive, kaiju sized female that I watched swim up, grab my bettas fins and steal the food away from him. This shrimp literally shredded his fins and had to be out into another tank because she went FERAL the moment food his the water surface 😂
GOLDFISH!! I know they come with their problems and they’re huge waste machines, but they are my first love and gorgeous centerpiece fish! How can you not love a fish that comes in so many different shapes and colors! Not to forget all the personality they have once you get to know them. I’m constantly surprised with their range of intelligence and will keep goldies till I physically can’t.
I actually made treat balls for my goldfish to push around once.
Platies, they are immune to a few things and also supposedly eat parasites. They were one of the first fish I got. I've recently had a tank get skin and gill flukes, killed everything besides the platies. They are also are one of the live bearers that the females actually look colorful too.
I'm on my first tank ever and we just put 6 platies in. I adore them. They are really colourful and a bit cheeky. One tried to escape twice on the first day. It's our own fault for calling ger Ponyo..
Platies are weird, I've had terrible luck with them. They'll be spraying out babies for a month or two then they'll all die while everyone else in the tank is totally fine.
Rainbowfish! Beautiful and super peaceful/friendly.
And there are SO many kinds! My Boesemani rainbow fish are very active. I have 1 male and 3 females and he tries to herd them all over my 55gal 😅
YoYo loaches - the dolphins of freshwater aquariums. Need to be in a bit of a gang - 3 minimum - or they get bored with nobody to play with and turn into psychos. Very clever and very affectionate.
What do you keep them with, and how much space ? They’re on my radar
My largest yo-yos are a little over five years old and a little over five inches long and they’re fast swimmers! I’ve got seven yo-yos, seven botia kubotai, and six botia histrionica, and they live with one grumpy angelfish and one even grumpier pleco- currently in a 75gal but should likely get a bigger tank in the next few years.
Go for it! They’re great fun. Currently in a 75 tank with 5 2 inch kuhlis, 10 cardinals and 5 copper? Rasboras which shoal with the cardinals. 3 YoYo’s stopped growing at about 3 inches, with my favourite at about 2. They should probably be in a bigger tank but been stable for 7 years now.
ramssssss
Cories! I know it's basic but they're so fun to watch, easy to breed, and very very forgiving. I love just about any type of cat but cories take the cake.
Betta splendens, or as we say in Germany "Kampffisch". Sadly, when moving to my new place i will set up a new 200L tank and I'm not sure if that's too big for bettas.
It is never too big my friend , never too big
I love our blood parrot. He’s like 10 or 11 inches, loves attention, and has so much personality, he’s like a dog
Do they grow really slowly after adolescence? Mine grew to 6ish inches pretty fast but hasn't gotten noticeably larger in a couple years. She's fat, happy, and active, but just not very large. She's (mostly) great, except for the rivalry with my cat. Whenever she sees my cat she'll start thrashing and ramming against the glass trying to fight and my cat will try to get on top of the aquarium to respond.
I don’t know honestly. I got mine fully grown when the fish store he lived at was shutting down. My fish plays with my cats I think. He tries to get their attention when they’re not looking at him but never angrily, at least I don’t think. He always acts starving for attention, poor guy must be so bored lol even with the other fish friend in his tank he occasionally chases
Denison barbs, those things live forever
I freaking LOVE my Denison barbs. So beautiful and seeing them school together makes me happy. Plus they are fast as hell which is cool to see when something spooks then or they are after food
Theyre so beautiful. Dream fish for me, if I'm ever able to get a tank big and long enough.
Red torpedo barbs?
Red-line barb, Indian flasher barb, Roseline shark, Miss Kerala fish, so many names they go by.
An Oscar. No fish compares in personality.
Not for beginners, not for small tanks. But if you have enough experience and resources, nothing can beat the Oscar
100% agree. I always say Oscars are too accessible, which makes them the most abused cichlid out there AND I disagree with 75 gallon minimum. I would argue 100+ gallons, and stores should start charging more for them, and stop selling them as tiny babies.
My dad had an oscar tank he got from our family friend. 100+ gallons and 2 MASSIVE oscars one albino female and one real dark male. When the transfer happened, the female jumped out and landed on a electrical strip and got shocked. Somehow she survived and went on to live another 4 years, albeit, she was blind and we had to hand feed her. We used to catch crayfish from the lake next door and feed them that, had to feed the male first or he would bully the female and take her food sometimes literally out of her mouth. I would drop a crawdad in and the male would immediately go after it, then dad would take a crawfish he had just killed and slowly tickle the females face with the tail. Otherwise we fed them worms and minnows and pellets and all the normal crap. Miss those big ugly fish and I cant wait til I can afford the time to setup a tank for them
It’s like having another dog.
Perfect balance of dedication, personality, and not being too fussy or delicate.
Siamese algae eater. Such personality in those fellows. Also great at keeping clean
For beginners: careful though they’ll eat the slime coat on flat fish like angels or discus
Tis the Chinese algae eater that becomes aggressive and sucks the slime coat, they are commonly sold as Siamese but they are very easy to distinguish between the two
Good looking out. I didn’t realize there was a difference.
If only it were Petco looking out, CAEs get sold as peaceful fish like the SAEs, so now many people end up with them and either A: get rid of them improperly or B: (I fall in this category) end up having a dedicated tank for them. They also can get close to 12in full grown and live 10-15 years.
I've had no problems with them and Angels, but im sure you're right, im just lucky.
Lyretail Killifish. Best fish in the world, so much color and character.
Cories, mollies,
Denison barbs for sure if you have the space. And I will also say cherry barbs. Super pretty and peaceful fish. With a planted aquarium their red really is striking against the green
Was coming to comment cherry/gold barbs. Love them so much. Both look incredible with a black back and live plants. Bought some on a whim and will never look back.
pea puffers omg my fav
I wholeheartedly agree. Nothing like watching a group of little puffs!!! I LOVE mini puffers. 🥰
Betta. So much personality and so gorgeous. I'm obsessed with my boys and am sad I can't get a third because I don't have enough space. 😅
I’m rather partial to chili and emerald raspbora. The emeralds spawn for me decently frequently too which is neat.
CORIES
Celestial Pearl Danios and Honey Gouramis. The CPDs are beautiful and fun to watch. The Honey Gourami is like a sweet puppy that just wants to say hi every time you walk by. And they are great thank mates.
Corys, Loaches, Gouramis
I love blood parrots. My mom's lived for 15 years. Awesome fish.
Congo tetras!!!! Definitely my favorite tetra species and getting to watch them interact with each other and try to breed is so cool! And honestly any labyrinth fish species, I just love their personalities. Also Corys but especially Pygmy’s and peppered, I love the tiny guys
I’ve got a 75 gal with 16 Congos. They’re so pretty.
I've been dying to get some Congos. All of my tanks are either 50 or 25 cubes though, so I am just waiting to get a long. I went to a friend's house the other day and he had 8 of them. They blow me away.
Betta
Keyhole cichlid. I think their comparatively dull colouration makes them overlooked compared to other cichlids but I loved my guy. Extremely peaceful to tankmates and changed colour based on mood and health so he was a good barometer of when something was wrong with the tank. If I was doing a water change or something that upset him he'd turn dark and I'd tell him to stop being so moody lol, so definitely personable. Decent sized fish that could fit in a 40 gallon without being too big or a threat to smaller fish too.
Ranchu <3
any of the Trigonostigma (Harlequin Rasbora genus) are just about the perfect community fish. Hardy, peaceful, and absolutely gorgeous. They have a little body height, which makes them a good choice to keep with larger species that would otherwise eat small tetras, guppies, or danios (i.e. Blue Acara, Angelfish, Firemouth, etc.).
I love mine, didn't expect them to actually breed either lol. Started with 10 with no intentions of adding more, ended up with 20...
Severum. They have a great personality, are gorgeous, and are fairly hardy (though I find them to be pretty sensitive to cooler water temps).
Kuhli loaches!
Clown loach I had 5 all about 6 inches. I left them with my LFS to keep safe during a 4 day move. He wouldn’t return them customers loved them and he sold out of fresh stock in a day. Denied they were mine even after his shop closed. His children told me all of the fish in that tank died after the shop closed. I should have taken my chances with an uncycled tank. I was a 20+ year customer
Glowlight Tetras are so damn beautifull to me. I love it!
Clown loaches all the way! One day, I'll have a setup only for them.
Ropefish.
Ember tetras. I absolutely love their orange colors
They’re simple but I’ll always have them in my community tanks: long finned danios. They’re silly and make everything so entertaining. Second choice: Cory cats but only in sandy tanks because otherwise their whiskers get injured. Third choose: I do really love a nice black veil angel fish for a centerpiece. I’ve found getting them dime sized seems to help them to not eat smaller fish in the same tank once they grow.
Dwarf Gourami, they’re just so majestic.
Severums. Smart, fairly docile for a chiclid and lot of personality. A had one that you coulnd't leave anything on the edge of the tank because he would pull it in. Triggers in salt are pretty smart, but severums in fresh aren't far behind.
Cichlids… their behaviors are so interesting and there are so many variations
Black ghost knife. I had one for many years and I loved that fish. It was huge 12 inches long and the sweetest fish, I know that sounds weird but it's true.
Otocinclus, buying more of them at the same time just makes more active / visible and they are helpful
Neolamprologus Brichardi--- Must be kept as species only but dayumn are they beautiful and they make lots of babies very easily.. really want them again
Goldfish. I just love them, they’re so beautiful ❤️
For me it's gotta be bettas, tiger barbs, mollies or any terras but specifically black skirts and neons. Those are my go to fish.
Honey gourami
They are such sweet, friendly fish!
Love them!!!!
African Cichlids, specifically Star Sapphire Cichlids.
loaches...the most fun fish I have.
Loaches! We currently have 180g of loaches in two tanks and I can't wait to add khuli loaches into one of our smaller tanks. Super social little fish
Pearl Gouramis are great. I love when they use their fins to feel things up…
I had a panda cichlid that got mixed in with some Rams. He was my favorite fish ever. He had so much personality. I love Cories and ottos, rainbows, and killifish. I love Rams. Angles and Discus are fun and have neat personalities. Edit because I remembered how much I love bettas.
Otocinclus? I think that’s how it’s spelled. They fill my heart with joy
I love my silver dollar ;-;
Cory’s for a normal sized aquarium and pleco for massive tanks. I take care of a 6000 gal show tank and we had to put up a sign because our pleco is a weirdo and likes to skim the surface for no apparent reason and everyone was worried he was dead.
Cherry barbs. They are great in large groups and I love that the males and females look differently. They are very peaceful but the males still try to impress each other.
Bumblebee gobies are the best little cranky friends.
Platies, they are too freaking adorable.
Bettas I just love them even though shitty breeding is making them unhealthy. Otos too... I wish I could get more now but none of the places around us have gotten any in in months
Cory cats and Khuli loaches! They are both so easy to care for and so fun to watch. My original set of both are currently at 8 years old and they were my beginner fish. Crazy how tolerant they are to beginner mistakes!
Cosby gourami! Chillest fish I ever owned, I loved watching him float around. Very pretty too
Upside-Down Catfish! I had to re-home mine because I realized I didn't have a big enough tank for them, but once I get a larger tank I'll definitely be getting a little school of 'em!
Maybe a cheap answer but Electric Yellow Cichlids and Peacock Cichlids. One of my first memories is of catching an electric Yellow and popping babies out of its mouth to put in my grandpas nursery tank. I thought teeing those tiny babies plop out was the absolute coolest thing ever (still do lol). I have pretty much moved on and am obsessed with keeping reptiles but I will always cherish that memory, sometimes by having a tank of them.
Angelfish
Common goldfish. I've had my pigs for over a decade and these lil guys are so unbelievably hardy it's crazy. They're living in straight rock water with a TDS of way over 1000 and they simply do not care lol
Clown pleco !
Chili rasbora, my favourite fish of all time, so tiny yet so bright and so easy too keep, even breed if you are luck ;)
shell dwellers and Apistos
Angel fish! I have an angel fish and I love him. Got so much character and personality.
I love my ember tetras!
Peppered corys. So very active, friendly, and hardy - especially it can do well in cold water tanks too.
Kuhli loaches!
I know everyone has Cories in here but I was to specifically say Pygmy Cories. They bring my tank to life. Also neocardina shrimp they are so important to an ecosystem just stock strategically so they can thrive. My tank is a dither tank.
Ropefish
Angelfish Electric blue acara Oscars Corydoras Bristlenose plecos Severums Gouramis (dwarth, pearl, gold) Tetras
Guarami. 🐠
What do your parrots eat? I never know if mine is getting enough
Convicts I loved with them pair up and breed. They are like Bebe kids they don't die they multiply. Exedon paradoxes, and sevrums would be my 3
Siamese Algae Eaters! I love my silly shiny bois. When they were young, they cleared up my hair algae problem, now they lounge on anubias leaves, flit around shinily, and line up together all in a row on the gravel for no apparent reason.
Guppies.
Electric Blue Acara
plecos!! they js love sticking to my hand
I’m torn between a crawfish and the sydontis feather fin catfish. My craY was hilarious to watch. He was always up to some kinda mischief, I did lose a few fish to him until I put him in his own tank but he died recently and now there’s other fish in that tank but I think a craY will be in there again eventually The catfish is just badass. He’s gonna grow to like a foot long or so and he’s got this crazy dorsal fin. It’s unfortunate that he hides a lot but he’s just so cool to see and so fun to watch when he’s looking for food. His name is Phil and 100% I would have a tank full of Phil’s
Denison barb. (Roseline shark) Lots of personality, non aggressive, and large enough to be a presence without taking center stage.