Ready to get fish for new aquarium...what to get?

danmc00 · 08-31-2006, 07:11 PM

I have successfully cycled my aquarium, so now it is time for the fish. I am looking for something colorful. I don't really want to do a Cichlid tank.
What should I start with.
I have a 46 Gallon Bowfront tank.

Can I put my Betta in the tank with other fish or is that not a good idea?

Hepcat021 · 08-31-2006, 09:54 PM

From what I have read on bettas they are certainly aggressive, though I've also seen that it is mostly towards other bettas. Also I am certain there are many colorful fish,but I am partial to guppies. They certainly are colorful and come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Though it is the male that has the biggest and best variety of color and having females will often lead to fry. Also they are a hardy fish that will improve you chances of success. I am pretty new though, and don't know a lot about other kinds of fish.

Good Luck
BILL

KRISnTN · 09-12-2006, 09:21 PM

About your betta, they can get along well with lots of other fish, however, obviously not other bettas or gourami (from my own experience) I have found that anything that resembles them in color is a threat to them.

At the store where I shop they have bettas in lots of the tanks with the other fish, just can't say for sure which. I know that's not much help. I will say this. I started out with tiger barbs and they are agressive and fin nippers, cute fish but we have had lots of issues with them. I would not suggest going that route, the would love to nip at your betta.

K

andy53 · 09-18-2006, 06:33 PM

A buddy of mine had a betta in his 6 gallon tank with two glass cats and a few tetras. The betta did fine for weeks, but then on day started to attack the tetras. I don't know what caused the attitude change, but it actually killed one tetra.

mmh123 · 09-18-2006, 11:06 PM

I would probley say a definite "no" to the betta, but as for suggestions it would be nice to make it into a community tank with a bunch of small "community fish", that's what I'm doing to my 55 gallon. Need suggestions on "community fish"? Just check out your local pet store, they should be able to tell you exactly what fish are good for community tanks.

wlcinnc · 09-29-2006, 03:39 AM

If you are interested in a top feeding, colorful fish you may want to consider some white clouds....about 4 to 6 of such...they are a schooling fish, darters and can be breed in a smaller aquarium with a couple layers of marbles....they have a wide temperature range tolerance and can live up to 10 years. Females are normally larger and the males slimmer and more colorful. wlc

Teddy · 09-30-2006, 03:14 AM

I would not go with the tiger barbs from personal experience. Actually most barbs because they are pretty aggressive, and will eat Tetra's up. I would get Neon Tetras, rainbow fish, and some danios to have a balanced tank.

Tommy Gun · 09-30-2006, 08:56 AM

From what I have read about betta fish, they can do ok with some fish (definately NOT tiger barbs though as they are fin nippers and would have a feild day with a betta), but they can actually be stressed out by having too much room. While it is good to offer them a larger tank that the small container they usually come in, it is not a good idea to put them in a really huge tank (relatively huge) such as a 46 gallon tank.

IMO, you have a great tank to work with and you will have tons of options as far as stocking your tank goes. I am running a 90 gallon bowfront tank and I just love the looks of the tank itself. I think they appear to be much bigger than they really are, and so do my parents who now think I am crazy to keep such a huge tank!

I suggest that you start looking into some fish that you find appealing. One good way to get started is to make a couple trips to some stores in your area to see what it readily available in your area. DO NOT make snap decisions however, but instead write down the names of the fish you are interested in and go home to research (chances are that your store will always have them in stock or on the way anyways, so no need to rush here!). This way you can be sure that the fish you plan to stock with are not going to kill each other and are something that you will be able and willing to care for.

Another word of caution, you can open yourself up to getting some 'less than accurate' information from your LFS at times. This can also happen on sites like this one as well. There are so many differing opinions on things in this hobby that sometimes facts can become clouded. I like to ask at least a few people the questions I have to see if I get the same answer every time. If I dont, I will usually google my question to find the most reliable site I can to help me get an answer. From there, you can make an informed decsion and save yourself a lot of headache in the future.

Good luck and congrats on your new tank!

Loman · 09-30-2006, 12:45 PM

To build on what Tommy was saying about getting information and LFS not always being the definitive source, I always take a look at what the LFS has in the same tank with regards to compatibility. Regardless of what they say, the LFS wants to keep the most fish alive as possible to sell so they believe that whatever groupings they create are sufficiently compatible to not hurt the profit. They will adjust quickly if that proves to be wrong. I think KrisNTn was saying something very close to this about a the Beta with the observation that they LFS had them in with other species.