Temperature-Compatible Fishes for Dojos?

[soul-hugger]

Hello...

I am setting up a new 55 Gallon Tank, and I've decided to separate the fish I already have on the basis of temperature compatibility, since some of them are not as compatible as they should be in this way. This leaves me with a 55 gallon (48 x 21 x 14") with 2 dojo loaches and 3 gold barbs. I'm wondering what other fish like the cooler temps, besides goldfish. I have heard danios and rasboras..., wondering what others?? I would like to make sure I stock the tank with fish at all levels. The mid and bottom are easier.., the top...not so much! Any suggestions would be much appreciated...thank-you!

[Diana]

You have enough fish now, that if you divide them up they will fully stock both tanks.

If I were you I would make up a chart and list each one of your fish with their optimum conditions (tank size, temperature and GH, anyway) and match up tank mates this way. The fish you have seem to be reasonably matched for water hardness, but are not well matched for temperature. The Dojo Loaches and Gold Barbs prefer cooler water than most of the rest, for example.

If you want to add some more fish I would make existing schools larger before adding more species. Before adding other species make a similar chart of each of the fish you want to add, and see how well they match up with what you have.

Algae Eaters: Some Otos for the 20 and a single Bristlenose Pleco for the larger tank if you must, but this is starting to over stock the tanks again. Siamese Algae Eaters get much too big for a 20, and you have no room (Bio load) in the larger tank. Plus there is the problem that most of the sharks do not like other shark shaped fish, and you list another shark in your 'want' list. You have no room for either, but if you have to push it, do not get both. They will not get along.

[soul-hugger]

It's amazing how much you can learn in a couple of months. When I bought my dojos, I was told they could be either in cool or warm water, and that they could be either alone or together, and now I have been finding out different. I ended up with two dojos, but only because I bought the second on a hunch after I had already walked away. I have been doing a lot of reading, but personal experience is always better, and that takes time! Of course I want to give my fish the best I can, and for that reason, I am going to look into the water temperature and see who likes the cooler water and who likes the warmer. Then I will divide them on this basis. I am also beginning to see how tempting (and easy) it would be to overstock my tanks. Thanks, Diana for helping me with my decision, and thanks to all who share their experience here

[Diana]

I have found www.fishbse.org to be a good reference. It is a site that reports the conditions that fish are found in in the wild. It does not include as much info about the social aspects of the fish, though.

Another good one is www.aquabase.org even though it is in French. I do not speak French, but simple concepts are easy enough to figure out, and water temperature is in *C.

As a book reference the Baensch series is the best. If all you could afford was the one book that is the index for the rest of the series, get it. There is a lot of info even in the index. I have seen several of the Baensch series on Amazon or E-Bay for around $20-$30 (US $)

[soul-hugger]

Thanks for the links! I will definitely check them out. I have found quite a few books are not very clear on some qualities of the fish that should be most important. Perhaps the book you suggest will have more of this info. I did order the book Loaches that was written partly by the people from this site. I am now (somewhat impatiently) waiting for it to arrive.

I have always been interested in aquariums, fish, and plants. About two months ago I found a 20 Gallon tank for sale in a fish store that was going out of business, and they only wanted 20CDN dollars for it. Of course, I snapped it up right away, took it home, and got to work. Little did I realise how much it would cost to set up, as the tank only came with a box filter and an old (wouldn't trust it!) heater. I bought a second box filter for $2. Then I spent over $200 furninshing it, when a 29 Gallon kit at Wal-Mart is only $109 plus the cost of the heater.

Since then it is like I eat sleep and breathe fish. My husband is slightly annoyed, but I am having fun and learning a lot. Of course it didn't take long for me to decide I wanted a larger tank. That was when my husband found this 55 Gallon with a brand new filter system AND stand for only $230 including taxes. (We have two here; the GST and PST.) I guess he is getting used to this, and he won't admit it yet, but I think he finds them interesting as well. He is mainly the one who likes the aggressive fish, because they are colourful or streamlined. While I seem to be more for fish with more subtle qualities, like loaches and catfish. I think if he could choose some fish, he would find it more interesting, but he always seems to point out the ones that don't belong in a community, or fish such as guppies who like a completely different water quality, which may not be as big of a problem if I were to keep tha pH at 7....I don't want to spoil the fun for him, especially not when he is just starting to take interest, but I can't have fish killing eachother, either! What to do....?

I know as a newbie I am going to make some mistakes, but if I can help it, I'll make as few as possible