The compatibility of the fish species you select must be carefully considered in order to create a peaceful and vibrant aquarium environment. Certain fish in the tank may even be dangerous to the other fish because they don’t get along. You can guarantee a harmonious coexistence among your aquatic pets by being aware of the typical behaviors, sizes, and requirements of various species.
Temperament is an important consideration when choosing fish. Certain species are more timid by nature, while others are inherently hostile. Size disparities can also result in predation, as larger fish may perceive smaller ones as food. The secret to keeping an aquarium stress-free and balanced is knowing which fish get along well with one another.
The habitat needs of every species should be taken into account. Fish that live in similar environments—temperature, pH, tank size—are more likely to get along with one another. You can design a lively and dynamic aquarium that will delight you and your fish alike by carefully considering your options and selecting fish that get along.
Fish Species | Compatible with |
Guppies | Mollies, Platies, Corydoras |
Angelfish | Gouramis, Tetras (large species), Plecos |
Neon Tetras | Corydoras, Rasboras, Small Gouramis |
Betta | Snails, Corydoras, Kuhli Loaches |
Goldfish | White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Dojo Loaches |
- – When choosing aquarium fish, first of all, take into account their compatibility.
- – When choosing a specific type of aquarium fish in a pet store, evaluate their health status (fish should not be lethargic, pale, etc.D.)
- – When buying fish, take into account their features and intraspecific aggression.
- To prevent your aquarium from looking empty, select fish that live in different layers of water.
- Below is a table of compatibility of aquarium fish. It is often criticized by aquarists, however, as a guideline, she can serve a good service
- Below are all other compatibility tables of aquarium fish
- Video on the topic
- How to choose fish for an aquarium. Fish compatibility.
- Compatibility and maintenance of aquarium fish! How to choose fish
- Selection of fish for an aquarium using my example.
– When choosing aquarium fish, first of all, take into account their compatibility.
Certain fish are incompatible with one another;
– Fish that are reasonably compatible exist;
– It is entirely compatible;
– When choosing a specific type of aquarium fish in a pet store, evaluate their health status (fish should not be lethargic, pale, etc.D.)
Determine the level of aggression exhibited by a specific fish species. Although most of this species is peaceful, aggressive species can occasionally be encountered; blue gurs are a common example of such behavior.
– When buying fish, take into account their features and intraspecific aggression.
For instance, you need to take a few females to form a "harem" for one male, and you also need to take a school of fish where males will predominate, like danios or barbs.
There are three distinct layers of water in which fish swim: the bottom, middle, and top layers.
Because compatibility between aquarium fish helps prevent aggression, stress, and disease among fish, it is essential for maintaining a calm and healthy environment in your tank. You can design a harmonious and balanced aquarium where all fish can coexist and thrive by having a thorough understanding of the requirements and behaviors of various species.
To prevent your aquarium from looking empty, select fish that live in different layers of water.
This rule frequently holds true for fish that are relatively compatible or even incompatible at times. For instance, because danio fish are nimble and swim in the upper layers of the aquarium without bothering the cichlids, they can coexist peacefully with small and medium-sized cichlids.
– Consider the comfortable water parameters for fish maintenance when selecting and purchasing them. Fish with different needs cannot be combined; some will be hot while others are cold, and some require soft water while others require harder. – It is generally advised to keep large fish with large fish, sedentary fish with sedentary fish, and nimble fish with nimble fish.
– Consider this when purchasing plants for your aquarium if you plan to include "herbivorous" fish. In this situation, it is preferable to purchase hard-leaved plants or artificial plants, as well as inexpensive plant varieties for the fish themselves, or to cultivate duckweed.
-One more rule to follow! If "both" is what you truly want and the fish are somewhat compatible. Remember that it is preferable to purchase and place these fish in the aquarium simultaneously when they are still young (fry). In this instance, the fish can, as they say, "get used to each other," despite the fact that they are not particularly friendly.
While we do not consider the aforementioned rules to be particularly novel, they do serve as a useful starting point when discussing fish compatibility.
Now let"s get down to the issue of compatibility.
1. Consistent with one another;
2. Incongruous
3. As well as comparatively harmonious.
Everything is evident from the first two points: neons or goldfish will not coexist peacefully with cichlids for very long, and astronotics view guppies and other small fish as live food. Conversely, platies and mollies are friends with guppies.
The following characteristics establish if fish are completely compatible or incompatible:
– fish family, order, and suborder;
– characteristics of aquarium water and fish keeping circumstances;
In other words, mixing fish from the same family, roughly the same size, or kept in aquarium conditions that are the same will help to ensure success! Aside from one, though. There are exceptions to every rule.
I will give an example. Guppies and swordtails belong to the family of pecilia – viviparous fish, they are approximately the same size (almost, that is, both are not large fish. Swordtails, of course, will be larger than guppies) and their conditions of keeping are practically identical. It would seem that the fish are absolutely compatible with each other. However, this is not so. Despite the absolute similarity of fish according to the specified criteria, skirmishes and fights can occur between them, swordtails can chase and bite the tail fins of guppies. Moreover, both species exhibit intraspecific aggression, which also has an adverse effect on their joint maintenance in a common aquarium.
Angelfish, South American cichlids, and swordtails, livebearers, coexist peacefully at the same time. Additionally, they look stunning together, particularly when the swordtails are red and the angelfish are black and resemble veils. Even though fish from different families and sizes can coexist peacefully, they do.
An aquarium in the picture unequivocally attests to the compatibility of swordtails and angelfish.
Given the foregoing, it is not possible to choose fish based solely on factors like size, type, and maintenance requirements. Fish should not be grouped in this manner or it is erroneously assumed that all fish in a given group will always get along. To put it another way, nobody can promise that the fish you purchase will be compatible 100 percent of the time; there are always subtleties and characteristics that are best understood by you ahead of time.
We believe that there is a more intriguing question regarding the relative compatibility of fish. because it presents the topic in its entirety and encourages thought and conversation.
Usually, p.p. 4, 6, and 8 of the aforementioned Rules make this compatibility possible; by following them, you can occasionally achieve a striking "combination of the incompatible."
To give a clear concept of RELATIVE COMPATIBILITY, I will give an example from personal experience. Not long ago, an article about Ternetia was updated on our website, where it was indicated that they are compatible with Sac-gill catfish. When the article was ready and released on the "air", I contacted the expert of our website on fish breeding – Vitaly Chernyavsky with a request to review the article. So, as a comment to the article, Vitaly expressed his opinion that Ternetia and Sac-gill catfish are not compatible, since the latter are terrible aggressors and predators. To which I responded in surprise – how so, because in my aquarium ternetia have been swimming for a long time with two Sac-gill catfish and everything is fine between them. Our discussion reached a dead end, since the arguments that the expert gave did not correspond to the real situation in my aquarium.
Time passed, and somehow on the Internet I came across a book by I.I. Sheremetyev "Aquarium fish", 1989., where the author describes the natural habitat and behavior of the fish in natural conditions. When I started reading the section of the book about sac-gill catfish, my hair stood on end. It turns out that these catfish are not just predators, but "fierce killers". In their homeland, in Asia, they exterminate all the fish that are in their pond, and when there is no one left, they crawl out onto land and crawl to the nearest new pond for a “new victim”, while simultaneously, on land, eating insects and small frogs that come “to hand”.
As it turns out, sac-gill catfish are incredibly dangerous animals, proving Vitaly Chernyavsky was correct.
The primary paradox is that the "Radish" platies, which are the most innocuous livebearers, have been swimming calmly in my aquarium for the past six months, along with the tetras and the "killer" catfish. Here’s a picture for those of you who don’t believe me.
SO, THIS IS EXACTLY THIS COMPATIBILITY OF FISH THAT IS CALLED RELATIVE COMPATIBILITY
How can this be accomplished? First things first, don’t go overboard; second, follow the previously mentioned Rules to the letter; and third, and maybe most importantly, have experience, read up on the subject, and handle your pets and the aquarium with care.
Determining the individual compatibility of a specific aquarium fish is very challenging. You must write a different article for each type and consider the unique maintenance requirements in order to accomplish this. As a result, I advise you to discuss any questions you may have in the article’s comments section.
In order to bring the piece to a logical end, I would like to at last call the reader’s attention to the errors that aquarists commit when mixing fish.
Fish compatibility can be violated in a number of ways, the most obvious of which is the overcrowding of the aquarium. Every aquarium pet should reside in a cozy environment rather than a "communal apartment." Any fish, even calm ones, can die from fights, injuries, or overcrowding in the aquarium.
Failure to maintain and zone the aquarium in accordance with the rules constitutes the second infraction. You must consider the traits, personality, and specifics of fish when keeping them.
Juvenile Aquantophthalmus, for instance, cannot be kept in an aquarium with coarse-grained soil. Since aquantophthalmus prefers to live on the bottom and burrow in the ground, sand or tiny pebbles work well as their substrate. In rough soil, they will "beat like asphalt," and they can suffer injuries or even pass away.
The process of zoning involves creating influence zones within the aquarium. To prevent internal fighting among scalars, it is advised that each individual zon the aquarium with Wallisneria plants.
And the third transgression. "We are responsible for those we tamed" should always be kept in mind. A poor fish composition has depressing effects. When the weather is bad, fish start to struggle, fight, and eventually perish.
Below is a table of compatibility of aquarium fish. It is often criticized by aquarists, however, as a guideline, she can serve a good service
Below are all other compatibility tables of aquarium fish
They must also exercise skepticism.
Additional information regarding aquarium fish compatibility
From ESTA, our moderator
Purchasing fish for the aquarium is now a happy occasion in the life of every aquarist. Fish make up a very wide and varied range. I’ll attempt to focus on the fundamental guidelines for aquarium fish compatibility in this post. What would I look for when purchasing fish?
The counsel of vendors in specialty shops is not something you should trust. They need to sell as many products as they can at the best prices, just like any other trade worker. Prior to buying fish, you should make a decision, list the fish you like, read up on your favorites, and familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of aquarium maintenance and fish behavior.
Fish compatibility according to keeping guidelines.
Fish that prefer soft water and vice versa are known as cold-water and warm-water fish, respectively. Fish that rip, dig up, and consume every plant in the aquarium, as well as fish that require thickets of live plants. Many aquarists may argue that discus, which require a temperature of 28–30 degrees, live perfectly well with cold-water blue neons (keep temperature 18–22 degrees).
Yes, they do live, but because the water in the aquarium is so hot, all of the neonates’ essential functions speed up, reducing their already short lifespan—they can live for only two to three years in ideal circumstances—and causing them to age and die more quickly.
Furthermore, hard water will not be comfortable for soft-water fish, such as American cichlids. They’ll survive, but they’ll proliferate. This raises doubts. While there are exceptions to the general rule, I will point out that professional aquarium keepers can readily breed angelfish in cities and regions where tap water has a very high hardness index (between 30 and 35). However, this type of breeding necessitates knowledge and resources related to ongoing water softening (installation of reverse osmosis, Tetra ToruMin, etc.).
When an aquarist provides nearly natural conditions for fish, the fish respond very well. This also happened to me when I switched the aquarium’s substrate from discus, which was in the form of granite chips and increased the water’s hardness, to neutral substrate. The formation of pairs and consistent spawning are the most significant indicators of the health and vitality of these amazing fish, who are aptly dubbed the Kings of the aquarium. The fish’s color has also become brighter.
Thus, think about buying hardwater fish, such as African cichlids, pecilia, guppies, mollies, swordtails, etc., if your tap water is extremely hard.
Fish and live plants getting along. I do not advise purchasing goldfish, African cichlids, labeo, metinnis, tetragonopterus, African eels, tilapia, etc. if you want an aquarium with a lot of live plants. While some fish view plants as food, others enjoy turning over the soil and digging up plants, uprooting them and damaging their fragile roots.
Since most catfish enjoy digging in the ground, this also holds true for them. Without plant additives in the diet, ancistrus can harm aquarium plants’ fragile leaves and make up for the lack of plant food.
Fish compatibility with respect to size.
The primary guideline is to pair large fish with other large fish and small fish with other small fish. Any fish that fits in her mouth will not pass up the chance to eat another fish, not even the calmest ones.
There is a belief that if a large fish is placed in the aquarium as a fry, it won’t hurt its smaller neighbors when it gets older. Unfortunately, I did not support these kinds of experiments. Small fish moved to the larger individual’s food when she grew older.
Fish suitability based on the type of food.
Although this is rarely considered, it wouldn’t hurt to consider this indication. Predatory fish and plant-made fish are both present. The name refers to aspects of their diet.
Any fish that feeds on plants won’t turn down animal food, like a bloodworm.
Fish that are herbivorous have a unique digestive system because their intestine is long and their stomach is small.
Such fish will eventually develop liver and digestive issues if they are frequently fed bloodworms.
This indicator is particularly crucial to take into account when comparing cichlids because most African cichlids are carnivorous and it is not advised to house them with Tanganyika cichlids (tropheus), whose diet consists primarily of plant material and algae fouling.
It is not advisable to keep peaceful, small fish in the same aquarium as predatory fish, such as the African black knife. This predator hunts at night and eats any fish it can get its mouth around.
I had to take out one ancistrus from a discus aquarium. It hurt the discus by sucking on its big body and using its sucker mouth; it is the only one of the three ancistrus that reside in this aquarium. For fish, these wounds can be extremely dangerous. What was the diet lacking for it? Scales on fish? enigma. This, in my opinion, is a quality of his personality.
Fish compatibility based on behavior.
This is a significant and broad subject. Many fish are highly aggressive, particularly when they are mating, spawning, and tending to their young. These fish include almost all cichlids. The majority of cichlids are big, predatory fish that are aggressive—especially during spawning. Small, calm fish should never be mixed with them.
There are certain fish, like barbs, that will not pass up the chance to pinch the fins of another fish. Consequently, it is not advised to keep them with veil fish, which have stunning, long fins.
As a result, you must maintain fish with similar personalities in your aquarium.
For example, frisky and playful danio fish do not look appropriate next to majestic discus and angelfish. With their sharp movements, they can scare discus. Once, I witnessed how, with a sharp movement near the aquarium, discus darted in different directions, and one of them, quite noticeably crashed into the glass of the aquarium, and the other, darted up, hitting the aquarium lid. By the way, this feature of discus should be taken into account when choosing the location of the aquarium. I would like to note that my aquarium with discus is installed in a very busy place in the apartment. After some time, the fish got used to it and do not react to sudden movements.
Take into consideration the fact that many fish prefer to hide in shelters when choosing fish for your aquarium based on their behavior. Caves and grottoes are examples of the types of shelters that must be included in the aquarium. Catfish, for example, need driftwood in their aquarium. Driftwood features in the diet in addition to shelters. The portion of this soil and how it is processed matter to certain fish that prefer to burrow under the ground. Sand with rounded edges is ideal for these kinds of fish.
Other parameters include the amount of salinity in the water, the lighting requirements, the speed at which the water flows in the aquarium (some fish prefer stagnant water bodies, while others live in rivers with swift water currents), and more.
It is important to remember that you cannot choose fish based solely on one of the compatibility factors. They must be considered, or at least attempted to be, in a complex. When selecting fish, don’t forget to consider the size of the fish once they reach adulthood as well as the volume of your aquarium. This is a crucial matter.
Use fish preparations such as Tetra AquaSafe, Tetra Vital, Tetra EasyBalance, and Tetra Nitrate Minus that reduce fish stress during transportation and relocation to help fish more easily adjust to their new maintenance conditions.
You always have a choice, and this is your experience, in any event.
The most crucial thing is that if you make every effort to consider the maintenance and behavior characteristics of the fish you have selected and provide them with favorable living conditions, they will provide you with years of enjoyment with their health and beauty, and many of them will provide you with a large number of offspring!
We also recommend that you look at the colorful brochure"Popular types of aquarium fish"
All of the common fish species are included in this brochure, along with information on feeding, compatibility, and maintenance requirements.
(Click the image to view or download.)
It is crucial to comprehend the compatibility of various fish species when assembling a harmonious aquarium. Fish that can coexist peacefully are carefully chosen, resulting in a stable and stress-free environment for all.
Remember that every species has different temperaments and needs. A number of factors, including behavior, size, and water quality, are important in determining whether fish can coexist peacefully.
In the end, a well-planned arrangement of complementary fish guarantees a flourishing aquarium where your aquatic companions can live contentedly and healthily.