I was wondering what other fish everyone keeps in their
BN tanks. I'm down to one tank and was going to set up for
BNs again but I want to breed and keep some other fish
so the tank don't look to bare. It's going to be black gravel
black background lots of wood and some plants. I'm
not really into tetras and want something to add some colour.
I know it cuts down my choices.

Hi munter

Depends on what size tank you are talking about here, but find that the Endler's Livebarers [Poecilia sp. wingei] make for a nice looking and active tank.



Hope This Helps
CHEERS

p.s. They breed like Rabbits when established!

how long is a peice of string?

we cant answer you with out knowing more info..tank size, planned water parameters.

I keep all sorts of fish with my peppermints in my big amazon display tank. I keep rams, discus, L333, L201 and i have kept many different american chiclids with them in the past.

If you intend to breed the BN then the smaller fish would be the go. As mentioned above, endlers are good, as are guppies. You could even get a single male Betta if the tank is not too big as to freak it out.

can i suggest even some shrimp. they will keep the plants spotless for you and wont even think about the fish. colour and cleaners all in one, cant loose!

I have some dwarf platys and cherry shrimp in with my albino BN and no issues.
I was pondering on adding an ancistrus to my 20 gal with 4 african dwarf frogs among other tankmates. They are both peaceful species, so thinking it may work.

It will depend on your parameters, as others have said, but I want to promote Gourami. They breathe air sometimes with the labyrinth organ, so float around the top of the tank, and most are very pretty. They come in all sizes for what tank size you have, just be careful of two fish fighting as the males are very territorial.
They also tend to require similar water to BN so they thrive pretty well with BN (well my Pearls have )

Tiger Barbs also seem pretty cool if kept in a school of 6, and require similar water parameters to BN although I have never owned them.

tank is a standard 3 footer, lots of wood, a few plants, ph is 7.4
have some shrimp. was thinking maybe some dwarf cichlids like
apisto's? but not sure how they will go.or maybe pacific blue eyes.
i had to change the black gravel, they guy at the lfs i bought
it from told me it wouldnt change the ph and i double checked with him.
well the ph rose to over 8 i lost a few fish.ill never go back and ill boycott others who tell me they go there.
i couldnt adjust the ph so i took the gravel out and then i could adjust it. tank is back to normal.
tiger barbs are no good as barbs are avid egg eaters.
ive done guppies before.ive been thinking a school of black neons.

Big fan of apistos personally - obviously need excellent water and can be pricey - but they're lovely to look at and exhibit really interesting behaviour. They don't bother my BN at all.

Yeah I was looking at Apistos and Blue Rams for my BNs as well they both look good and interesting, it ended up being the cost of them at my LFS which switched me to Pearl Gouramis.

Thanks for the heads up bout barbs eating eggs, I will make sure if I do get some Tigers they will go in a different tank

Gouramis are nice fish.

My wife had a pearl but it was way too aggressive towards the platys in the tank. Especially during feeding time. Had to put him in a tank by himself until we could find another good home for him. He now lives happily with other pearls in a 90 gallon courtesy of a co-worker of hers.

I have Corandras, Mollies, and a Butterfly Fish in with mine.

I have mollies with my BN. Mostly because they are readily available and like the local water. Over the years I have had two particularly large mollies who would go after the occasional tiny fry that just emerged from the cave but most do not. Individual fish personalities are a component in the end. I have a betta in my L-144 tank, that started out in a tank with some browns. I had to move the betta because he was being harassed by a male BN.

Thanx for the replies. I think I'm going for the aspiato s or the tetras.

I have three tanks all with BN in...

Tank 1-Fluval
2xBN + 120 bN FRY + a couple of mollies, 4 guppies, and 2 cory's.....

Tank 2-Clearseal
1xBN (4inch) + 5 BN fry... and one red male betta (picture in the current comp)

Tank 3-Rekord
3xBN + 5 mollies and 3 female betta.

Have to admit I dont have much luck with the male fighters, he is in tank 2 now as whenever I put him in a tank with guppies or mollies he always attack them and kills them- I have had a handful of male betta's in the last few years and each have been
very aggressive to other live bearers as well as cory's

I know some people have had some success with male betta's in community tanks, but I at this moment i time have not...lol..

Can be quite expensive since the first betta I had finished a my first school of panda cories off...

So most new fighters I quarantine now in a samller tank until I have monitored their aggression,
or just watch closely until you know they not going to go psycho....lol

On another matter you bring up, tank 3 above is a Rekord 80,
and it as about 1inch depth of very fine black gravel.., some bog wood and a couple of plants and ornaments,
and I have had no problem establishing a breeding pair of BN in that tank before moving them to a bigger tank.

You do have excellent ways of altering PH as some other guys in here will state-however my tank with blank gravel as needed no adjustment as yet and all the fish I have in there seem quite happy at the moment.

Regards

LJ

what type of other fish may eat the shrimp,

and what is best type of shrimp to have in a BN set up, and how many shrimp in one tank...

Regards

LJ