angelfish, paradise fish alternative?

[kromagg]

Hi so my first idea was to get 1 pleco, 4 corrypanda cory, 12 neon tetra, angelfish and dwarf gourami... since most of people stand last 2 most likely turn nasty... I decide to try keep my fish in similar lvl of size..

so:
1 bristle nose pleco, 4 panda cory (that my bot covered)
12 neon tetras (or 6 neon and 6 cardinals), 4 platy (I will be moving them from my 25 l tank as someone mentioned it is to small for them, so I can keep this tank for QT)
now instead of angelfish I was thinking I could get 6 guppy and maybe 6 mollies (are those top swimmers?)

would that be not to much and would they likely get along?

p.s. I have 180l tank.

[TwoTankAmin]

The biggest problem I see with your plan are the mollies, they really need some level of salt to be happy. They are able to withstand full sw and have been used as a way to do a fish in salt water cycle,

If you have platys, guppies and mollies you have 3 live bearers- they will be fry factories. Also the pandas should be more than 4. They lie in groups of 100s in the wild as do many of the schooling tetra. Pick one or the other and get 10-12. I am partial the cardinals and have had as many as 65 in a tank at once. That is a neat thing to see.


A single angel should not be an issue and will help a lot with eating all the fry with which you might be overrun .

[kromagg]

Yes thank you. Is just I seems to see everyone putting guppy with molly.. I will cross  them off.

So I really like bristlenose pleco more than anything ( just love the way they are)
Than my 4 platy
6 guppy ( im thinking only males so no fry?)
12 tetra
Angelfish

Apparently honey gouramis are calm so could I have one/pair?and if  6 pandas is still not enough .. What other bottom fish I could have? Otocinclus?

[TwoTankAmin]

With honeys you should be getting a group, not just one.

Though not gregarious in the sense of schooling fishes it does seem to require interaction with conspecifics and displays more interesting behaviour when maintained in numbers, meaning the purchase of no less than 4-6 specimens is recommended. Groups develop noticeable hierarchies and you’ll often see dominant individuals chasing away their rivals at feeding time or when occupying their favorite spot.

from http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trichogaster-chuna/

If you can manage to get all male guppies, that will help. The same would apply to Platys. By eliminating the mollies you also eliminate the potential for them and the guppys to cross. Since platy and guppy are different families, they can not cross in terms of producing fry.

6 pandas will be fine. The rule with schooling or shoaling fish is that more is always better as long as it is withing reason considering the other fish and the size of the tank.

Otos are about the least aggressive fish you ca get. The biggest issue folks have with them is insuring they get enough food once they have cleared any algae/diatoms from a tank. It is also important when you buy them to make sure they do not have sunken bellies. If you are getting them from a store it is best to wait for them to have been in the store tanks for a while so you know they are OK.

Are you considering live plants?

[kromagg]

In petshop in uk ( at least one near me) new fish stay covered for few weeks. My guess it's kind of quarantine.they just got young angelfish.. 3 for 10£..  bur is way too many for me..
And if I go for 4 honey gouramis, 1 pleco and 6 pandas, 12 neon and 6 guppy would there still be enough space for angelfish or should I better top up gouramis /tetra eventually add platy?

[Pat Mary]

Kromagg, what fish do you actually like?  I can't tell if it is angelfish, honey gouramis, paradise fish, tetras or others.  Don't try to please anyone else in stocking your tank.  You should love the fish that you buy and look forward to keeping them happy and healthy.  You have a 47 gallon tank.  You already have platys so pick some others who get along well with platys.  You don't need a whole bunch of species to have a great tank.  Pick, one schooling species, for the middle and something for the bottom.  Make the school as large as you have room for.