What fish for what tank?

[David]

This short guide covers which common fish are suitable for your size tank.

18" - 46cm

Aphyosemion australe - Cape lopez lyretail
Betta splendens - Siamese fighting fish or betta
Carinotetraodon travancoricus - Dwarf or Pygmy Puffer - Species tank only! One for every 4 gallons
Danio margaritatus - Celestial Pearl danio or Galaxy rasbora
Corydoras panda - Panda cory
Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi - Black neon tetra
Paracheirodon innesi - Neon tetra
Poecilia reticulata - Guppy
Puntius titteya - Cherry barb
Others
Killifish species
Microrasbora species
Betta species
Dwarf corydoras species
Boraras maculatus
Ember tetras
Sparkling gouramis
Honey gouramis

24" - 60cm

All of the above
Colisa lalia - Dwarf gourami
Corydoras adolfoi - Adolfo's cory
Corydoras aeneus - Bronze/Albino cory
Corydoras trilineatus - Three-line cory
Gasteropelecus sternicla - Silver hatchetfish
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi - Black Widow tetra
Hemigrammus caudovittatus - Buenos aires tetra
Hemigrammus erythrozonus - Glowlight tetra
Hyphessobrycon eques - Serpae tetra
Iriatherina werneri - Threadfin rainbowfish
Macropodus opercularis - Paradise fish
Melanotaenia praecox - Neon rainbow
Nannostomus marginatus - Dwarf Pencilfish
Otocinclus affinis - Dwarf otocinclus
Otocinclus vittatus - Oto
Paracheirodon axelrodi - Cardinal tetra
Barbus pentazona - Pentazona barb
Puntius tetrazona - Tiger barb or Moss green barb
Trigonostigma heteromorpha - Harlequin rasobra
Others
Glowlight danios
Dwarf danios
Corydoras Sterbai - Sterbai cory

30" - 75cm

All of the above
Ancistrus sp - Bristle-nosed catfish
Apistogramma agassizii - Agassizi's dwarf cichlid
Apistogramma cacatuoides - Cockatoo dwarf cihlid
Apistogramma macmasteri - Macmasters dwarf cichlid
Corydoras paleatus - Peppered cory
Danio rerio - Zebra danio
Microgeophagus ramirezi - Ram cichlid
Puntius conchonius - Rosy barb
Puntius nigrofasciatus - Black Ruby barb
Puntius semifasciolatus - Golden barb
Xiphophorus species - Swordtail
Xiphophorus species - Platy
Others
Kuhli loach - Panio species
Pearl danios
Danio rerio var. frankei - Leopard danios (Spotted morph of zebra danios)
Danio roseus
Danio kyathit
Clown pleco
Hillstream loaches - Need specialist care

36" - 90cm

All of the above
Crossocheilus siamensis - Siamese algae eater Should be at least 16" wide
Epalzeorhynchos bicolor - Red-tailed black shark Should be at least 16" wide
Epalzeorhynchos frenatum - red finned shark Should be at least 16" wide
Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus - Flying fox Should be at least 16" wide
Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma - Bleeding heart tetra
Melanotaenia lacustris - Lake Kubutu rainbowfish
Melanotaenia trifasciata - Banded rainbowfish
Pelvicachromis pulcher - Kribensis
Pterophyllum scalare - Angelfish Tall tank needed
Trichogaster leeri - Pearl gourami
Others
Skunk botia - Aggressive!
Horsefaced loach
Upside down catfish
Western rainbowfish
Congo tetra Should be at least 16" wide
Yellow congo tetra Should be at least 16" wide
Brochis splendens

48" - 120cm

All of the above
Aequidens pulcher - Blue acara Should be at least 20" wide
Botia almorhae - Yo-yo loach or Pakistan loach - Should be at least 16" wide
Botia striata - Zebra loach
Glossolepis incisus - Red rainbowfish Should be at least 16" wide
Melanotaenia boesemani - Boeseman's rainbow Should be at least 16" wide
Metynnis hypsauchen - Silver dollar Tall tank Should be at least 18" wide
Puntius denisonii - Red Line Torpedo barb Should be at least 16" wide
Rasbora caudimaculata - Red Scissortail Should be at least 16" wide
Thorichthys meeki - Firemouth Should be at least 18" wide
Trichogaster trichopterus - Blue/Three-spot gourami
Others
Botia kubotai Should be at least 16" wide
Botia histronica Should be at least 16" wide
Botia dario Should be at least 16" wide
Giant danio
Botia rostrata Should be at least 16" wide

72" +

All of the above
Chromobotia macracanthus - Clown loach Also read this Should be at least 36" wide
Hypostomus punctatus - Common pleco Should be at least 30" wide
Balanteocheilus melanopterus - Bala or silver shark Should be at least 36" wide

Just thought it would be useful.

I hope everyone agrees. If not post here or pm me. Also there are ones i have missed, i'm tired at the moment so if you have a couple to add pm me, same if any of the links are in the wrong place.

Cheers

David

[dw]

Nice work! How about adding some recommended tank widths to the larger tanks to allow for turning room/swimming space for the larger species?

[David]

Good point, will edit in a second.

Better?

[markee]

Good guide David i hope it gets stickied as i would be a shame to have to search through loads of pages to find it

[Apistogramma]

Very well done!!

[Angel Fish]

Brilliant

[joinerboy]

does that mean 5 silver sharks wont like living in a 60x24x24 inch tank?

[David]

Silver sharks can grow to 14"+. The admin of another forum had a few that got to the size and actually re-home them from a 7 foot tank!! It also seems from the post below that angelfish has also rehomed some fish from a 7ft.
They do certainly need very large tanks and they are very skittish so a 5 foot tank is on the small size unfortunatly.

[Angel Fish]

Ahem....... I rehomed the Balas from my 7' tank

[joinerboy]

so should i be thinking about moving them? there are only juveniles at the moment.. roughly 3"

[Angel Fish]

Yes, it would be best to move them now before they become stunted.

[grumpysteve]

how about a formula for max. fish length per tank size? am i right in thinking it works out about 1cm of fish per litre of water?

the missus wants me to get more fish for my 60l and just wont listen when i say i wont fit many more in it!

[moocowmoneybox]

The 1cm per litre is mainly a guide but it does allow for 'mishaps'. Also it only applies to stocking with fish which are up to 5cm long when fully grown.

Larger fish have a larger body mass and release more waste into the tank.

Over time you could add fish up to a level you are comfortable with, but if you have a power cut (and a high number of fish) then the levels of toxic waste in the tank will increase a lot more rapid than if you had stuck to '1cm per litre'.

[rylo]

Nice list. Certainly useful especially for a newbie like myself.

[ady]

top job....this deserves a sticky in the beginners forum.....help stop the poor buggers that follow dodgy shops advice.they only interested in ringing tills....shame they aint ARKWRIGHTS till....wont be so eager to open it then !!!!....