# Centerpiece for my community tank



## tcbehm (Sep 26, 2009)

I have a 29gal tank with 9 zebra danios and 6 corys. I am now looking into a "centerpiece" fish. My LFS has suggested a betta, or 1 or 2 gouramis. Any suggestions?


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Due to its size a betta wouldn't be much of a centerpiece. What type gouramis??


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## tcbehm (Sep 26, 2009)

Not sure what type. I know some gouramis can get pretty big... is it only the dwarf gouramis that stay small? Would there be problems keeping 2 gouramis?


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

A nice convict cichlid?

Get a female, they stay fairly small and if you get a good one have incredible colors.

Mine look better than a lot of marines and they tolerate very wide parameters.


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## Guppyluver4ever (May 19, 2009)

do not get a cichlid, thats all i can say, oh wait you can get a RAM! they are a type of cichlid that have beautiful colors and are peaceful.


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## willieturnip (Aug 30, 2009)

Guppyluver4ever said:


> do not get a cichlid, thats all i can say, oh wait you can get a RAM! they are a type of cichlid that have beautiful colors and are peaceful.


Not all cichlids are aggressive, as you have said yourself. They're only bastards when you don't do your research/use your head.

A female convict in a community tank would be absolutely non aggressive, look stunning and add some interesting behavior. Just don't introduce a male. Infinity females would be fine.

A ram, as you suggested, would also be great. Water perimeters permitting though. They won't tolerate anything alkaline. 5.5 - 7 is what you have to aim for with these guys. They like it hot too, 27-28C. Anything higher or lower and they get progressively easier to provoke and prone to disease.

A firemouth would be good too. They tolerate most water and look great. Female is the way to go here again, due to the difference in size between male and female.


I'm suggesting these cichlids because they tolerate wide parameters, are NOT aggressive and will go well with the current fish. The danios will make perfect dithers and and cories won't be seen as free swimming need-to-kill-for-territory fish.



How about a Boesemani Rainbow?

A neon blue Dwarf Gourami?

A Denison Barb (pushing the tank size a bit there)..?


Or, outside the box slightly, how about a nice school of fish?


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## kelly528 (Aug 31, 2009)

Rainbow fish need a lot of room to run (ie a 55L at least), not to mention a school to swim with. Gouramis are nice and my second suggestion woud definitely be a pair of dwarf cichlids... Look into some Kribensis Cichlids, Apistogramma Agassizzi or Rams. All beautiful fish, they are great to observe when they become spawning pairs. I'm not sure about convicts because although I am not a cichlid person, I understand they are territorial if kept as a breeding pair. Also I would avoid putting anything larger than 4" in a 30gal.

Look at some dwarf gouramis--- they are also really nice fish, or any other gourami that stays at about 4" long or shorter. Good luck 

Oh and also you should be able to keep 2 in a 30gal quite nicely, my only advice is to make sure no fights break out over females. Either outnumber the males with females by at least 1 (eg 2M:3F, 2M:4F, 3M:4F) or don't add any females at all. Also, they come in 3 color morphs (Powder Blue, Neon Red and Blue and Red) so you could mix and match too!


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## shane3fan (Sep 5, 2009)

I currently have a 29 gallon with 8 Neon Tetras and a Paradise Fish. I will give my vote to the Paradise Fish for your tank. He is in the gourami family. Very pretty IMO. The only issue Ive had so far is getting enough food to the poor guy. The Tetras scarf up any food as soon as it hits the water. The Paradise Fish isnt agressive enough to get much food. I dropped a sinking wafer in the tank a couple of days ago and he ate that--he carried it around in his mouth for a while--it stuck out and looked like a plate-lol. He has done the same thing with shrimp pellets before--looked like a cigar.


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## frdfandc (Aug 8, 2009)

My vote is for the neon blue Dwarf Gourami.

Well at least for my tank it will be. Once I get the remainder stock completed, then I will finish the tank off with one of these.

10 Neon Tetra - 5 currently
10 Black Neon Tetra - 4 currently
6 Cory Cats - picking these up Wed. Going for the Julii
4 Zebra Oto's

I do have a chinese alge eater that might have to go. Its getting big and it might outgrow my 30 gallon. I'm also concerned that it might go after the others once it gets larger.


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