Open Discussion...center Piece Fish

When I think of a center piece fish, I think of it being the biggest and most colorful and interesting fish in an aquarium community. The fish that first catches the eye when some else first sees my tank. For the year that I have been fish keeping all I thought about was designing my community tank around a center piece fish. An angel fish, a large or dwarf gourami, or a colorful cichlid. At first I tried a beautiful blue vale tail Betta, and that turned quickly into a disaster for my community tank. He was just too aggressive, so now he lives in his own ten gallon.
In my 29 gallon after moving out my betta, I tried dwarf gourami, and both died from the disease related to being over bred by fish farms out to make a profit instead of producing quality fish. So no more DG.

So more to my point do I really need a center piece fish, well of course not, my community tank, while not quite as interesting without one does not live or die on it.

Issues sometimes associated with a center piece fish..
1. The first thing that comes to my mind is tank size. It needs to be at least a medium sized tank. 10 gallon or smaller just want do.

2. Is compatibility, mainly in temperature and aggression. A person that decides on an Oscar will soon see all his Neons disappear as fish food. (Just an extreme example.) But most larger sized center piece fish tend to be more on the aggressive side. I have found most center piece fish as Angel Fish, chiclids, and gourami to need warmer temps than most common place schooling fish.

I feel that one of my failures in a community tank is my desire to design it around a center piece fish.
I do know there are a lot of options out there that I have yet to explore, but now I decided I just don't need a center piece fish. I can have a very balanced community tank easier without one.

 

Maybe a center piece school?

 

I agree with the above. A centerpiece school is fun too.

 

Very well said. I've had a centerpiece fish on my mind for awhile now for my 75 gallon. I was considering an angelfish for a bit, but finally decided against it. Now I've been considering quite a few different bottom dwellers, but I'm weird and feel like a bottom dweller just can't be a centerpiece fish. Lol

 

I have a beautiful black male swordtail as a center piece. I feel like he is a happy medium. Not agressive, but bigger than the schooling fish I have!!

 

Perhaps you could get a female betta, I had one in a community and it did great

 

Perhaps you could get a female betta, I had one in a community and it did great

Yes but then I run into temp compatibility. I have found in doing my research in the temps of fish to be a bit arbitrary. To go on one website all about fish, one will list the temp range of a fish as such and such. Then I go to a different website and I find a slightly different or even completely different temp range for that given fish. All these people that create these websites are supposed to be experts right? I really don't know for sure.

 

I agree with the above. A centerpiece school is fun too.

A center piece school is what I have decided on in my 29g.

 

Just Keep Rainbow Fish. They're all insanely beautiful and peaceful. Problem solved! Haha

The only other thing I've considered is a school of Pictus Catfish.

 

I have a beautiful black male swordtail as a center piece. I feel like he is a happy medium. Not agressive, but bigger than the schooling fish I have!!

I've somehow never seen a black swordtail. I bet he's gorgeous.

 

Hello, have you considered a blood red parrot. They are a man made chichlid hybrid (min tank sz 1×30gal)? I have 1 in 35gal & 1 in 55gal. They are very interactive & w/ big personality but very shy till they know you(took mine 4-5 wks). They are slow growing(bought at 1.5")& took 8mo to double in size. They get 6-7" in length & have a potbelly like a fantail goldie. I really enjoy mine!!!!! Hope this helps!

 

I've somehow never seen a black swordtail. I bet he's gorgeous.

He is!! Compliments of coralbandit
Excuse the poor pic quality, he is quite fast!!

 

He is!! Compliments of coralbandit
Excuse the poor pic quality, he is quite fast!!View attachment 529115

Wow

 

Hello, have you considered a blood red parrot. They are a man made chichlid hybrid (min tank sz 1×30gal)? I have 1 in 35gal & 1 in 55gal. They are very interactive & w/ big personality but very shy till they know you(took mine 4-5 wks). They are slow growing(bought at 1.5")& took 8mo to double in size. They get 6-7" in length & have a potbelly like a fantail goldie. I really enjoy mine!!!!! Hope this helps!

Sounds like a really nice fish, but I personally believe these fish get a bit to big for my 29g. But soon I will be setting up my new 55 gallon and will for sure take a closer look at the Blood Red Parrot.
Thank You so much for your reply and help.

 

I wasn't familiar with “centerpiece fish” until I started visiting forums a few years back. I like the idea of schools or groups of fish personally. I’m only running 2 tanks currently 1 being a 10 gallon pea puffer tank and the other a 29 gallon community tank. I guess the centerpiece fish in my community tank would be the 3 (was 5) peacock gudgeons. Although the school of pencilfish is a clown school!

 

Moon Gourami?

 

Never heard of pencil fish or peacock gudgeons, so I had to look them up. Very interesting fish the peacock gudgeon is beautiful.
I love all things gourami, my favorite species of fish and looked up Moon Gourami for a really good idea for my tank.
Right now I am in the restocking faze after my last great dying, I still have a few of my older fish. But this time for some odd reason, (beyond why even to me) I am going with an all albino colored theme. I have five albino corys and six white or albino colored danios. I am going to hold on getting new fish for awhile to see how my new fish survive, so crossing my fingers. I have no plans in giving up, love a good challenge and this is one of them.
I really do want to try a couple of Moon Gourami, but that will have to wait for awhile.

 

Some honey gouramis? Much less likely to have disease than dwarf gourami and can be kept in groups.

 

Some honey gouramis? Much less likely to have disease than dwarf gourami and can be kept in groups.

Finding honey gouramis can be a challenge in the LFS close to me, I have seen them maybe once or twice just can't remember. But they are a much better option to dwarf gourami with all their problems. And the honey would fit right in with my albino colored theme. Great idea, I will keep my eye out for them. Moon Gouramis is still a good choice but they get up to six inches so might not be the better option for my 29 because of that.

 

Here’s a look at my pencilfish. There’s only 6 in the picture but I have 7. There ALWAYS at least one off by itself starring at the cherry shrimp. One of my peacock gudgeons snuck into the pic too along with my pair of flying foxes (the Siamese algae eaters).

 

Here’s a look at my pencilfish. There’s only 6 in the picture but I have 7. There ALWAYS at least one off by itself starring at the cherry shrimp. One of my peacock gudgeons snuck into the pic too along with my pair of flying foxes (the Siamese algae eaters).

View attachment 529852

Very nice tank, I like the pencil fish, cool looking fish with nice colors. The problem I have is availability of types of fish to choose from at my LFS. The closest is just under 40 miles away. I have never seen these fish in any of the ones I have visited. I try not to do impulsing buying, so when I see a species that I am not familiar with, I wait until I do my research to find out their water requirements and other information. I have only been fish keeping for little over a year, so still have a lot to learn. This is why I started another thread on water movement to learn more about helping my pets thrive and live longer. So far I have had lots of problems with this, with some successes.