# mixing tropical fish



## bexley18 (Mar 16, 2008)

hi guys silly question but im not all that clued up on fish and i was wondering what tropical fish you can mix and those you DEFINATLY cant


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Hard question to answer but any LFS worth its salt (no pun intended re: marine!) should be able to tell you. Off the top of my head - can't mix Angelfish with neons as they'd eat them; can't mix Bettas with any fin nipping fish; can't mix Bettas and Gouramis or Guppies; can't mix Tiger Barbs with any timid or long-finned fish; can't mix predatory species with other fish that'll fit in their mouths...:whistling2:


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

tbh, its just common sense. You dont mix long finned fish with fin-nippers, or predatry with small fish.


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Its a difficult one without knowing what you would want to keep and how big a space you have.

In theory with enough space you can mix pretty much anything.

It all depends on a mix of the following issues; size, feeding method, territorial requirement and aggresion levels, along with the space you have.

A fish that in nature takes a 2ft diameter territory kept in a 2ft tank, could appear to be an evil little nightmare, but put in a 6ft tank it could be sociable and lovely to others.


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

avoid the cichlid section in your LFS unless you want a cichlid only tank.

red tail sharks are very territorial (*sp)

silver dollars and tinfoil barbs are herbivores so will eat all your plants in the blink of an eye.

silver sharks are very skittish!


just some of my personal experiances


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## Ceretrea (Nov 17, 2008)

Mixing depends on the size of your tank and what your water parameters are.

Temperament is also important as already said. You really need to come up with a list of fish you really want and then find out where they originate from and what size/temperament is.

Some fish prefer soft acidic water, some prefer harder more alkaline conditions. Some like it cooler and some warmer. Some are predatory, some like to have the space to shoal, others are shy..until they start breeding.

Its very difficult to give general advice. Be wary of what your LFS advises, use common sense and try and get a picture of the fish you want from a number of different sources as pretty much everyone has a different opinion.

Most of all, don't try to bend any basic rules (like mixing rainbow sharks with guppies), even if someones old granny has kept them like it for years it never works. You'll always find someone somewhere that kept odd mixes of fish but these are by far the exception.

Good luck with your search


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

we have angels, neons, guppies, plecs, mollies in our tank we got a couple of fire mouths and they seem to be a problem,well one of them does (he was eating one of the guppies this morning) so will take him back to the shop. as the fire mouths are both male that may be the problem but our angels have never attacked or been attacked


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## Ceretrea (Nov 17, 2008)

Mollies prefer more brackish water than fresh. I don't know how old/big or how many angels you have or how many plants you have in your tank. Angel aggression gets less the bigger the group but will increase if they decide to breed.

Ideally I would not risk Neons and Angels in a tank together but there is the element of personal choice and, of course, how long you get away with it before you lose any.

Cichlids generally prefer a tank that is cichlid only with minimal planting and lots of rocks or even shells, depending on the species. Aside from that most cichlids will be aggressive when breeding or when faced with others of their species they haven't paired with. I can't give any more specific advice than that as I havem't kept them myself.


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

Ceretrea said:


> Mollies prefer more brackish water than fresh. I don't know how old/big or how many angels you have or how many plants you have in your tank. Angel aggression gets less the bigger the group but will increase if they decide to breed.
> 
> Ideally I would not risk Neons and Angels in a tank together but there is the element of personal choice and, of course, how long you get away with it before you lose any.
> 
> Cichlids generally prefer a tank that is cichlid only with minimal planting and lots of rocks or even shells, depending on the species. Aside from that most cichlids will be aggressive when breeding or when faced with others of their species they haven't paired with. I can't give any more specific advice than that as I havem't kept them myself.


we only have 2 angels and never seem to bother the neons but the fire mouths are little s**ts we were told they were the most docile but sadly they arent we have plants and rocks in the tank we even have a clown loach (forgot about him) and he seems to be fine  but will be swaping one of the male FM for a female as he is too aggressive


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## Ceretrea (Nov 17, 2008)

Firemouths are described as semi aggressive, as is the case with most of these fish. They also get quite large at 6 to 7 inches. How big is your tank?

Rams would be the only cichlid I would suggest having in a community set up, but then when they decide to breed they need space int he tank to mark out a territory.


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## Johnny Boy (Nov 18, 2008)

Most of the fish labelled as community fish that you find in shops are generally ok to mix.

Keep away from rift lake cichlids (tanganyikan and malawi fish), keeping these will inevitably cause heartache unless you know what you're doing.

Remember above all else that big fish generally eat small fish!

I have a 1.2 x .375 x .45m (48 x 15 x 18) tank which contains a mix of 3 bristlenose catfish (to keep the algae at bay), 4 golden barbs, 5 leopard danios, 4 scissortail rasboras, 2 black neons, 4 congo tetras and a black widow tetra. These all seem to thrive together without any squabbling.

I also have another similar size tank that contains 6 discus, a shoal of 12 cardinal tatras, 2 rummy nose tetras, 3 bristlenose catfish (I can see a theme developing here), 4 bleeding heart tetras and a long nose loach (eats snails that came in with a batch of plants).

I have also kept tanganyikan cichlids - better to lightly stock your tank, and malawis which are better overstocked to prevent aggression towards individual fish but as stated above steer clear of these until you gain experience.

Just one more point, keep the water right and you won't go far wrong! Ammonia and nitrate nil and nitrates as low as possible. Ph should be around 7. Hardness depends on what fish you keep but locally bought community fish are usually kept in water that comes out of the tap! Check readings in your tap water before trying to alter values, this can also have a bearing on the type of fish you keep and/or the expense you are prepared to go to to get the water right.

Best of luck.

John


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

Ceretrea said:


> Firemouths are described as semi aggressive, as is the case with most of these fish. They also get quite large at 6 to 7 inches. How big is your tank?
> 
> Rams would be the only cichlid I would suggest having in a community set up, but then when they decide to breed they need space int he tank to mark out a territory.


 
tank is 31/2x2x2 everything was ok until the bigger male got big the angel fish are the smaller kind 
might just take both of them back and try and swap with something less aggressive or try and do a swap on here :whistling2:


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

herpmad_boi said:


> tbh, its just *common sense*. You dont mix long finned fish with fin-nippers, or predatry with small fish.


 
Common sense, however, is not so common these days! But yes, generally, you can tell by just lookin gat the fish to see if they are compatible!


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## Paul B (Apr 16, 2008)

*species*

Hi,
all this advice is really good. However the best place to get the best advice is the aquarist you buy the fish from. I suggest you only use one hopefully that you have been recommended.
There are hundreds of varieties and the most common starting point is the community tank.
Some fish that would normally only thrive in brackish water have been weaned to fresh water so you will need to ask the aquarist whats best.
Dont but all your fish at once as this can be disappointing. Just a couple a week or a small shoal of say neons. Then each week add to your collection.

happy fish keeping.


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Paul B said:


> However the best place to get the best advice is the aquarist you buy the fish from.


You are joking, I take it?? :whistling2:

IME the LFS know feck all about individual fish and would sell you a Red Tail Black Shark for a two foot tank, no bother. :bash:


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## PrincessPeach (Nov 16, 2008)

my angel fish were vicious...they attacked all the others


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

It depends on how many Angelfish you have and what you mixed them with. I have just a single Angelfish and it's no problem. Other than that, you really need at least four or otherwise, there'll be major problems. The name Angelfish is really misleading....Devilfish is more apt. :lol2:


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