What fish should i get?

[johnny819]

Hi i just recently decided to start over on my fish tank. I have already emptied it and cleaned up everything to try to make it look good as new. I also have already refilled it. Next time i go to the fish store i am going to see if they will give me some of thier filter media to help start my cycle. The only things i need to get are some things for my filter and fish. I just need help on deciding what to get so i have made a list to help me decide. All of these fish i have owned at one point or another. I left for a couple months and had my brother watch the tank and came back with only 3 left when i started with 9. Here is the list:

Electric blue jack dempsey(from experience he was no where near as aggressive as the regular one, quite peaceful actually)

Elephant nose

Tire track eel

Black ghost knife

Albino nigerian senagalus

Electric blue crayfish or white crayfish(mixed opinions on these, i have had some who were extremely aggressive and also have had some who were completely peaceful and never bothered anyone, would get both if possible as well, i never had two at the same time. So i am not sure if you can)

Some type of pleco(one that doesnt get larger than 12 inches)

And some type of catfish(dont know what kind yet but maxing out around 7-10 inches)

I think i have read that you cannot have elephant noses and black ghost knife in the same tank but i am not sure. The tank is 72 gallon. These are just the fish that i had in mind, if one of these cant go in there then i will not get it. Also if the tank gets too crowded i will just bring a few back to the fish store. Filtration is not a problem either as i have easily more than enough for a 72 gallon. Any opinion on these fish would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pops]

tuff call what you like? I have a black ghost knife, interesting little guy but they do get 12" or so. want to stay small or med guys. tank not big enough for large in the long run.

 

[johnny819]

I kinda like the stranger lookin fish i think. I always think ahead when i buy them too so if i had to give one up it wont really be much of a problem. Im just tryin to see what will and will not work with this group of fish. Thanks for your input

 

[jechrz]

Electric blue jack dempsey(from experience he was no where near as aggressive as the regular one, quite peaceful actually)
Albino nigerian senagalus

Yes, not that hard to care for

Elephant nose
Tire track eel
Black ghost knife

Depends, as if you need to leave the tank to be looked after by a caretaker every so often, then it would be a risk as these fish would need more care and attention (especially with feeding)

Electric blue crayfish or white crayfish(mixed opinions on these, i have had some who were extremely aggressive and also have had some who were completely peaceful and never bothered anyone, would get both if possible as well, i never had two at the same time. So i am not sure if you can)

I've never had crayfish before but i heard they can be quite aggressive, so imo, no

Some type of pleco(one that doesnt get larger than 12 inches)

Bristlenose or if you just need an algae eater, kissing gourami ftw!!! lol

And some type of catfish(dont know what kind yet but maxing out around 7-10 inches)

Some syno cats possibly (just do research to check the different species' max sizes as there's a few of them) or if you want smaller, try a school of pictus cats, so fun to watch lol

How bout some loaches, angelfish or barbs? These can be good stock additions as well for a 72 gal

 

[BuffaloPolypteridae]

Drop the pleco if you want any bichirs at all!! They may go after a bichirs slime coat, not worth the risk IMO. I'm not too sure about keeping crays w/ bichirs either.. unless they have tiny claws or you find a good sized bichir. I could see a small crayfish snipping a baby senegal in half

Leopard ctenopoma are for sure not normal, when something threatens them they just act like a leaf. A good catfish for you may be the Raphael group (other then Irwini), spotteds and stripeds look very ancient. If you could find big enough corydoras catfish a small school looks great, agasazzis are my favorite


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[justarn]

tyre track eels get 3ft eventually, a smaller brother would be a better choice, look in the eel stickys... peacock eel i think is the smallest, good luck sounds like a nice mini monster set up. what about electric blue acara as they stay smaller too...

 

[johnny819]

Some good input there. I will not need to leave the tank again(hopefully) i am not to familiar with catfish so what types are syno? I was thinking of getting a couple of pictus cats, they are very cool looking and active. I actually had the other type of leaf fish not sure the exact name, maybe african leaf fish, but he was really cool to watch and eat. So peaceful yet such a predator to smaller fish. Is the one you mention one that will adapt to frozen food or anything besides live fish i do not really like to feed them live fish from a fish store and dont really wanna buy another tank to breed my own feeders. I had a decent size bichir(four inches maybe) with a crayfish before and they were fine together. I also had the bichir with a regular pleco and he never bothered him as well. I also had the stripped raphael in my last setup. Really cool fish, didnt see him to much though. Right now i just need to decide if i want the crayfish or catfish as my bottom feeders and either the black ghost knife or elephant nose. I also have never had any luck with regular plecos. No clue why, had a clown pleco and he was fine, i even have algae wafers for em to make sure they were eating and they were. Ordered a regular pleco online from a place i always order from and he was dead on arrival(everything else was in great condition). I guess regular ones are just not for me

 

[johnny819]

Wow i had no clue they got that big, gonna go with something smaller for sure

 

[divemaster99]

Some good input there. I will not need to leave the tank again(hopefully) i am not to familiar with catfish so what types are syno? I was thinking of getting a couple of pictus cats, they are very cool looking and active. I actually had the other type of leaf fish not sure the exact name, maybe african leaf fish, but he was really cool to watch and eat. So peaceful yet such a predator to smaller fish. Is the one you mention one that will adapt to frozen food or anything besides live fish i do not really like to feed them live fish from a fish store and dont really wanna buy another tank to breed my own feeders. I had a decent size bichir(four inches maybe) with a crayfish before and they were fine together. I also had the bichir with a regular pleco and he never bothered him as well. I also had the stripped raphael in my last setup. Really cool fish, didnt see him to much though. Right now i just need to decide if i want the crayfish or catfish as my bottom feeders and either the black ghost knife or elephant nose. I also have never had any luck with regular plecos. No clue why, had a clown pleco and he was fine, i even have algae wafers for em to make sure they were eating and they were. Ordered a regular pleco online from a place i always order from and he was dead on arrival(everything else was in great condition). I guess regular ones are just not for me

i can help you figure out the catfish part anyways, there are many different species of synodontis to choose from, although some need very hard water (8.0+). There are however still a good few that are fine in neutral water. It really depends on what size syno you want. You could do a group of nigriventris or maybe a single eupterus. I have always wanted an S. decorus but don't have room in my tanks for one. If you decide to go pimelodus then a shoal of pictus (about 3 or 4) would be good for a while, but a warning, many pictus will get territorial with age and may start to fight over hiding spots (which you will need at least one per catfish). You could do what I am about to and get a single larger pimelodus such as blochii or ornatus. I would also recommend doradids such as the striped or spotted raphael (talking) catfish as they are highly resistant to nitrates if you ever had a spike where as synos would be at a greater risk. However, if you do either raphael (talking) catfish, make sure your tank is definitely DONE cycling because they don't have much tolerance for ANY detectable ammonia.

and those would be your best options.

 

[duanes]

A 72 gal is pretty small, some of the Synodontus are really the most realistic catfish for that size tank.
a few S. dwarf petricola catfish would be a good choice, they don't get much larger than around 5 inches.