# Confused noob trying to decide on fish



## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

Ok. So I've been heeing and hawing over the type of fish I wanna put in my 125 gallon. I'm either looking at doing cichlids or a tropical community tank. Which would be easier for maintiance and care. I like fish that are colorful, busy and move around alot. From people I have been talking to say both will be like that just with cichlids I would have less fish. 
If anyone can give me and insights i would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks alot. 
Brad.


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## arinsi (Mar 14, 2010)

125 gallons is a big tank so i guess both options are feasible

but imagine a huge school or shoal of tetras
that would be awesome


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Tough choice as I love different biotypes as well.

African show male tanks always look good.


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

can you handle chasing around and aggression? if yes, then cichlid is the best choice. If you just like schooling type of movement, then go with rainbow fish colony. and if you like shark looking fish, then get with a school of at least 8 torpedos barbs, very peaceful and like to move around, the best looking and behaving fresh water aquarium sharks in my opinion. Howerver, african cichlids have a far more superior coloring...but again there will be aggression sometimes new fishkeepers don't like that.


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

And do you want plants? As a rule, they don't mix with cichlids...


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

I'm ok with aggression. I had a 38 gal years ago with red tail sharks and balas and they fought some. I'm leaning toasted cichlids. If I don't like them I can always sell or trade them in. Lol.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

That 38gal must have been a boxing ring for them. Definitely not big enough for full grown ones. 

Please be careful in overstocking your 120g. Easy to oversee thinking it is so big at first and your fish seem so small. But take in to account their full grown size before stocking. 


Yes, you can always trade them in or sell them if you don't like them but that should only be your last available option. Sorry to sound like a nag...


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

Well in the 38 they were only small guys. I had 2 balas and 2 reds that were only about 3-4 inches and one other bala that was about 5-6 inches. Just small guys. With some neons. So it wasent really over stocked for the size of them at that point. I knew that I would have had to relocate them when they did get bigger. 
The lists I were thinking of were these

8-10 various guppies
8-10 harleqiun rasboras
15-20 cardinal tetras
8-10 zebra danios
8 corydoras
4 dwarf gouramis
2 bristle nose plecos
2-3 angelfish

OR

5 Psuedotropheu Socolofi (powder blues)
5 Labeotropheus Trewavasea (Mpanga Red)
5 Red x Red Zebra
5 Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab)
5 Psuedotropheus Elongatus
2 plecos


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

If it was me, I would go with hundreds of cardinals and shrimps, plus a dozen otos


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

I though about maybe adding some shrimp but I wasent sure. I guess I'll have to do a little more research on them. Plus I think if I go tropical community that I'd drop the harlequins and just add more cardinals to make a bigger school. 
Right now I think I'm leaving towards the community tank. I like the idea of a bunch of smaller fish rather then a few biggies.

edit: not into the whole shrimp thing after doing some reading 

although im pretty sure i have in fact decided to go with a community tank after watching some more you tube videos.

my list will probably be as follows.
8-10 various guppies
25-30 cardinal tetras
8-10 zebra danios
8-10 corydoras
4 dwarf gouramis
2 bristle nose plecos
2-3 angelfish


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Just curious, why not shrimps?


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

I don't see a point in using such a big tank for shrimp unless you have thousands of them by themselves. Any community tank will eat shrimp as snacks whenever they find them. Even if it's heavily planted. 

Also, for a tank that size, you may want over 100+ cardinals to really get a schooling effect. It will look great! I hope you can take some pics for us to see.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

gucci17 said:


> I don't see a point in using such a big tank for shrimp unless you have thousands of them by themselves. Any community tank will eat shrimp as snacks whenever they find them. Even if it's heavily planted.
> 
> Also, for a tank that size, you may want over 100+ cardinals to really get a schooling effect. It will look great! I hope you can take some pics for us to see.


depends on the size of the fishes, I think. If going for cardinals, then shrimps should be fine, though you should aim for 50-100 of them.

I find that shrimps are excellent for maintaining water quality and keeping down the number of snails.


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

So here's a question then. If I aim for 50-100 cardinals wouldn't that be over my tank limit? They get about 2 inches long don't they? I wouldn't be able to put any other fish in the tank. Or am I wrong? I'd really like a little bit of a mix rather then just one species. But if I can keep the other fish and put like 50 cardinals rather then the 30ish I'll try to do that.  
I am over filtering. I'm running 2 aquaclear 500s. 

Brad.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

4rdguy said:


> So here's a question then. If I aim for 50-100 cardinals wouldn't that be over my tank limit? They get about 2 inches long don't they? I wouldn't be able to put any other fish in the tank. Or am I wrong? I'd really like a little bit of a mix rather then just one species. But if I can keep the other fish and put like 50 cardinals rather then the 30ish I'll try to do that.
> I am over filtering. I'm running 2 aquaclear 500s.
> 
> Brad.


The 1 inch per gallon rule is only a rough guideline. For small fish like Cardinals, it doesn't really apply. Cardinals and Neons actually benefit from being densely stocked. You can easily get over 100 cardinals in a 125 gallon tank.


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

solarz said:


> The 1 inch per gallon rule is only a rough guideline. For small fish like Cardinals, it doesn't really apply. Cardinals and Neons actually benefit from being densely stocked. You can easily get over 100 cardinals in a 125 gallon tank.


so i could theoretically have lets say 100 cardinals and this ?
8-10 various guppies
8-10 zebra danios
8-10 corydoras
4 dwarf gouramis
2 bristle nose plecos
2-3 angelfish


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

> > The 1 inch per gallon rule is only a rough guideline. For small fish like Cardinals, it doesn't really apply. Cardinals and Neons actually benefit from being densely stocked. You can easily get over 100 cardinals in a 125 gallon tank.
> 
> 
> so i could theoretically have lets say 100 cardinals and this ?
> ...


Yes, but I would add more filtration to be safe. Don't forget angelfish will eat anything that it can fit in it's mouth as it grows. Guppies will mutliply like roaches. The danios will probably have all their eggs/fry eaten so no worry there. The rest are fine.

I would leave the cardinals to be added last unless you have a really mature system. Also, buying them from a member who has had them for some time is more stable than the ones from your LFS generally. Since he has done the acclimating for you basically. If not, you can expect some die off which is not unusual.


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

its mature gravel but new water and filters. i got the tank used with everything. its been running for about a week, has cleared up great and i got my 8 neon tetras from my 38 gallon in it for now just to help with cycling. i activated the tank with prime and am picking up a test kit from big als either tomorrow or Monday. hopefully the good bacteria from the used gravel will have sped up the process.

i think i may leave the angels out if they could become a problem, and the guppys i dont really have to worry about, i just want them for a little color to spice things up and the big als in barrie all the guppy tags say males only.

but im really thinking it could be fun to make a Cardinal tank  i also have the gouramis already in my 38 gallon that i could toss into the 125, im just waiting till i test the water before i do that.

Brad


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

4rdguy said:


> so i could theoretically have lets say 100 cardinals and this ?
> 8-10 various guppies
> 8-10 zebra danios
> 8-10 corydoras
> ...


Nobody suggested Rummy nose tetras ????? They are colorful, easy, fast, attractive, like big school and by the color of their nose you can determine your watter quality.
With gouramies be careful if you get boys only. They like to fight for the territory between each other to the death !
I also would not put zebra danios with any other fish you listed as they are to fast for them and sometimes can nip as well.


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

well i dont think my tank is quite ready for more fish. i did a little more aquascaping in it today and the cloudiness came back  i didnt make it to bigals for a test kit so im going to go tomorrow night.

Maybe ill have to swap out the danios for the rummy nose's, ill see.

heres some pics so far, there just with my iphone so there not perfect.

A panoramic using a special panoramic app.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

hmmm.... i forget if you mentioned or not, but is this going to be a planted tank? (Heavily) Planted tanks can handle a bigger bioload.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

Just one thing to keep in mind would be the cost of fish...

I mean you're talking about 100 cardinal tetras?

I'm not sure what the normal cost of cardinal tetras are but... Let's say $200-$300 worth of fish... I'd be shocked if all 100 fish were in good health so factor in deaths due to illness at purchase... Depending on the condition of the fish, you may end up losing an awful lot...

Don't cardinal tetras have fairly short natural lifespans anyways, though? I'm not too sure on that one... So how often will you have to replace them?

You see what I'm getting at, right? 

You might find that keeping stock of all these tiny fish over the years might add up to costing you way more than you anticipated to spend on this aquarium. So look into that just to make sure it's what you want to do...


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## 4rdguy (Nov 27, 2010)

Well, the angels i plan on buying are going to be babys, maybe quarter to loonie sized, so i shouldnt have to worry about them eating the cardinals. According to most online info pages on cardinals they live up to 2 years in captivity. Im probally not going to be doing 100 just because of the cost factor. i have talked to the big als i deal with and they are going to do me a little better of a deal because i plan on doing 60 Cardinals, and plan on buying all my fish from them, and if by chance i do loose some in the first week or so i have the big als 14 day guarantee. either way i know i may loose a few but i will not be adding them all at once, ive got it planned to add them 15 or 20 at a time in 1 week increments and the cardinals will be going into the tank last.

As of right now my nitrites and ammonia are still a tad high, so im proball looking at at lease a week maybe two before i start putting fish in anyways.

60 cardinals
8-10 various guppies
8-10 zebra danios
8-10 corydoras
4 dwarf gouramis
2 bristle nose plecos
6 angelfish


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

qwerty said:


> Just one thing to keep in mind would be the cost of fish...
> 
> I mean you're talking about 100 cardinal tetras?
> 
> I'm not sure what the normal cost of cardinal tetras are but... Let's say $200-$300 worth of fish... I'd be shocked if all 100 fish were in good health so factor in deaths due to illness at purchase... Depending on the condition of the fish, you may end up losing an awful lot...


Frank's Aquarium has cardinals on sale for 1$ each (if you buy over 20), and they're very healthy: I bought 27 total, and they're all still very active and healthy after 2 months. They are, however, 1" juvies, so be careful what fish you put them with.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

qwerty said:


> Don't cardinal tetras have fairly short natural lifespans anyways, though? I'm not too sure on that one... So how often will you have to replace them?


Cardinals can live a decade, their short natural lifespans are mostly due to the dry seasons.

My suggestion, if you want to go with a community tank, is to do a south american tank. This way, you can get some great fish in all different areas:

1. Nice schooling fish: Cardinal/Neon/Rummynose tetra
2. Nice shoaling fish: Corydoras
3. More interactive and individually attractive fish: Apistogramma, Rams - any dwarf SA cichlids, hatchetfish
4. Interesting and neat looking cleanup crew: Oto's, Bn plecos

My suggestion, if I were to stock the tank with this sort of setup:

1. 30-50 Rummynose tetras
2. 15-20 Corydoras (one or two types)
3. 2 or 3 pairs of apistogramma (or harems - 1m, 2+f), pair of blue rams, pair of bolivian rams, handful of hatchetfish
4. 15-20 Oto's, a pair of BN plecos (male + female)

I think that would make for a really interesting tank - you have action at the top (hatchet fish), middle (tetras), bottom (corydoras), with some colour and more intelligent interaction (apistos, rams, plecos)

You could also lean towards some larger cichlids, like Angels or Discus, but I would reduce stocking levels appropriately.

As for African cichlids...meh, they all look the same to me


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## vinjo (Dec 8, 2010)

Chris S said:


> As for African cichlids...meh, they all look the same to me


I agree! I see too many similar looking south african cichlid tanks that are not so interesting. So just wait until you see my 90G I'm putting together! I'm trying to see if I can create a nice balance


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