Fish Finder
Find the right tropical fish and aquarium fish for your tank and discover which aquarium fish you can combine in the one fish tank without starting any fights.
If you want to find the right tropical fish to start your fish tank, or add extra aquarium fish to your established tank, find out about the compatibility. Fish Finder provides you with tips for maintaining several fish in your tank and shows you which fish you can keep together.
Here at Fish Tank Fish, we know that it can be difficult to choose the right aquarium fish. This is why we gathered all the information you need about tropical fish and aquarium fish to help you choose the right fish to add to your fish tank.
We have grouped together different categories of fish that are generally compatible. Purchasing fish from one category is the safest way to maintain a range of tropical fish or aquarium fish within the same fish tank. Some of these fish can be categorised into a couple of compatibility groups. Freshwater fish and marine fish are not compatible as they prefer different water conditions. If you would like to find out the compatibility of specific fish, please e-mail us.
General Rules of Stocking Fish
When you are stocking aquarium or tropical fish in one fish tank, keep in mind the following tips:
- Size matters: There must be enough room for both the fish in the fish tank. If you are purchasing a schooling fish, the whole school must be considered. The adult size of the fish is also important – they may fit now, but may not later.
- Demand equal conditions The water conditions in the fish tank must be suitable for both fish.
- Friends, not food One fish must not be able to fit the other fish in its mouth or that’s where it will end up in most cases.
- Stop bullies in your school (of fish) One fish must not be significantly more aggressive than the other. This includes situations where one fish cannot be housed closely with conspecifics (fish of the same species, e.g. Saratoga).
- Please sir, may I have some more? Ideally, one fish will not have dominating feeding behaviour that would prevent other fish from feeding. This is more easily avoided than other factors, by feeding different fish at different ends of the tank.
A general guide when stocking fish is 2cm of fish for every litre of water in the fish tank, assuming that the water is well filtered, and 25-30% of the water is being changed fortnightly (remember to base all measurements on the mature/adult size of the tropical or aquarium fish. Most fish are sold as juveniles and will continue to grow, thus producing more waste.)
Some fish will produce more waste than other fish of similar size, and this needs to be considered when stocking a fish tank. Goldfish, Axolotls, Turtles and Loricariid catfish (plecos and their relatives) are among the highest of waste producing aquatic organisms. To factor this in to your calculation, add an extra few centimetres to your estimated size of these fish.
Avoid overcrowding your fish tank, remember – less is more (and your fish can exploreore freely!).
Fish Compatability
When you are planning to combine various marine fish, consider the temperament of the fish as well as your fish tank size.
For example a large lionfish can and will eat a dwarf lionfish if kept in the same tank. Some of our marine aquarium fish include:
- Angels
- Frags
- Anthius
- Hard Corals
- Batfish
- Soft Corals
- Butterflies
- Clams
- Cardinals
- Live Rock
- Clownfish
- Invertebrates
- Eel
- Wrasse
- Hawkfish
- Triggers
- Gobies and Blennys
- Tangs
- Groupers
- Puffers
- Lionfish
Group One
- Angel fish
- Gourami
- Sharks
- Loaches
- Barbs
- Catfish
Group Two
- Discus
- Tetras
- Rasboras
- Dwarf Cichlids
- Danios
- Snails
Group Three
- African Cichlids
Group Four
- American Cichlids
Group Five
- Goldfish
Group Six
- Mollies
- Platys
- Guppies
- Swordtails
Group Seven
- Australian and New Guinea Rainbows
- Australian and New Guinea Natives
Group Eight
- Axolotyl
Group Nine
- Siamese Fighters