# looking for something colorful and different.



## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

Back when I lived up in Michigan I had a tank with a Gold Dojo Weather loach,, lots of fun to watch and was thinking about getting one again, but realized back in Michigan I had a hard time keeping the water temp up, so I picked all fish that liked cooler water. Now I'm in Florida and the water stays about 82 so Weather loaches are out. I also am now using larger gravel, all the eels and loaches I can think of like to burrow, so they wouldn't work out either.. 

Anyone have any ideas what other unique non-aggressive fish with character might I look at.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

how about a figure-8 puffer? they grow to be 3-4 inches, have good personalities, have a unique yet colorful(neon yellow and black) look, and are one of the most peaceful types of puffers u can find. the only problem is that they may be fin-nippers, but as long as your fish don't have long flowing fins your OK.


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

petlover516 said:


> how about a figure-8 puffer? they grow to be 3-4 inches, have good personalities, have a unique yet colorful(neon yellow and black) look, and are one of the most peaceful types of puffers u can find. the only problem is that they may be fin-nippers, but as long as your fish don't have long flowing fins your OK.


Actually I had a Figure-8 Puffer in one of my tanks years ago too, great fish, but was only peaceful when it was young and small. Once it got big it ate everything in sight. But it did keep the snail population in check.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

ok than-i know-how about a nigerian red krib cichlid? they look like purple kribs, but they have deeper colors.


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

petlover516 said:


> ok than-i know-how about a nigerian red krib cichlid? they look like purple kribs, but they have deeper colors.


I really hadn't looked at any African Cichlids as everyone I've looked at was rated aggressive.. I see the Kribs are only aggressive when mating and peaceful other than that.. That could work,, Thanks..


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

OHhh,, I just did a search and there is a cichlid breeder in Tampa that has Nigerian Red Kribs and Super Red Kribs and they list my local Petco as a distributor!!!


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

just to add in IMO they don't have any red in them 1 bit! this pic shows u what i mean! http://www.tedsfishroom.com/wp/wp-c...edit_sm_taen_keinke_F_ew_terr_Jun5_07_001.jpg


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## ELewandowski (Mar 2, 2009)

Hmm, did you not have heat in your house in MI? Your state shouldnt affect your water temp. I have no prob keeping my tanks set at high temps here. 

Anyway, Cory cats are fun to have a bunch of, and they come in all sorts of variety. I have green and albino's right now, but there are very many to pick from and they are very active. 

My favorite are S. American cichlids for personality, there are a few dif ones that arent aggresive. What size tank are you setting up? A lot of them grow pretty big.


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

ELewandowski said:


> Hmm, did you not have heat in your house in MI? Your state shouldnt affect your water temp. I have no prob keeping my tanks set at high temps here.
> 
> Anyway, Cory cats are fun to have a bunch of, and they come in all sorts of variety. I have green and albino's right now, but there are very many to pick from and they are very active.
> 
> My favorite are S. American cichlids for personality, there are a few dif ones that arent aggresive. What size tank are you setting up? A lot of them grow pretty big.


It was a 50 or 60 year old house (and that was 12 years ago) with gravity fed heating, quite drafty. At times couldn't get the house up to 68. Had no problem keeping tanks at 76, but over that heater seemed to run too much, so I gave up and bought fish that liked cooler water.

Now down here in Florida keeping the tank between 78 and 80 should be no problem. We tend to keep the house at that temp anyway.

The tank is only a 26gal, so I can't go with anything very big.


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

ELewandowski, thanks sooooooo much! u just gave me the perfect idea! what u could do is...go with a pair of taenius kribs and a shoal of LASER cory cats! kribs or territorial, corydoras are bottom-dwellers, and u would need a few mid-dwellers and a few top dwellers-u could do 1 FW butterfly fish as the top dweller, and now all we need is a mid-dweller!


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

I was planning a few Cory Cats, but since have developed a slight algae problem. So I got a few Dwarf Oto Cats and a Rubber Lipped Pleco.

The Otos are having a field day eating the algae off the glass and plants. The Pleco spends most of his time in the temple (see pic here http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_images/4/4258379980B.jpg ) but he comes out once in awhile.

I will take a few actual pics soon


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## petlover516 (Nov 12, 2008)

ok well i would still suggest what i said before.


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## hig4s (Mar 28, 2009)

I looked back through the thread and realized I never said what I already have in the tank (bow front 26 gal).. 

So far

6 Zebrafish
6 Bloodfin Tetras
3 Dwarf African frogs
3 Oto catfish
1 Rubber lipped Pleco

I guess I'm getting close to the tank's limit. I'm thinking I may just add another 6 zebrafish, but get the genetically altered florescent ones to add color. I don't see any reason they wouldn't get along with the regular ones.


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## iz513 (Jun 24, 2009)

german ram cichlids are nice and discus


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

How one of these?

Dario Dario (a.k.a Scarlet Bandis) .... or Celestrial Pearl Danio in the background. Always make a nice addition to planted tanks.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

You are in Jack Wattley country! You need a few of these:


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Dmaaaaax said:


> You are in Jack Wattley country! You need a few of these:


Those sure would be nice! Gives him an excuse to get a bigger tank. *Glasses*


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Rainbows are nice and are not especially aggressive. The thing about the really colorful fish seems to be that they are usually the semi-aggressives or they are needing a tank bigger than what you have. But Rainbows are very nice and they are colorful or at least the males are. They are not huge but the color is bright enough to make a splash.

Rose


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## jrodriguez (Jul 20, 2009)

the best fish are the barbs because they are so active... but you cant keep any long finned fish in there and you need to keep them in groups of at least 5


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