Hi, i am getting a new 3ft long tank on sunday and im not sure what fish to put in it, i want big fish bacause my mum has a 3ft tank downstairs with small fish in it like guppys, neons and mollys, but im not keen on it so i want big fish, like adult plecs and stuff but i want them all to get along, any suggestions xox

First things first, does your tank have all the necessary equipment and do you understand the basics of fishless cycling and water quality?

I'm assuming you want a common plec and a selection of other large fish such as cichlids? Unfortunately your tank will be too small for these, common plecs (Liposarcus multiradiatus) can top 18"/46cm and will grow far too big, most of the larger cichlids and other fish growing bigger than 5-6"/13-15cm will also be too big. I would recommend fish that grow no bigger than around 4-5"/10-13cm. If you did add a large selection of fish that grow bigger than the sizes already mentioned you will have serious problems with overstocking, which in turn will cuase water quality problems.

However there are some smaller cichlids available such as Kribensis and Keyholes that would be suitable for a tank of this size, both of these fish grow to around 4"/10cm.

If this is your first tank I would stick with the peaceful community fish such as platies, tetras, anabantoids (i.e honey gouramis) and small catfish such as corydoras and smaller plecs such as Panaque and Hypancistrus until you learn the ropes. Once you are able to obtain a larger tank (at least 72"/180cm for a common plec) you will be able to start keeping some larger fish.

yep ive kept fish for over 10 years along with my mum breeding many breeds and i get the tank on sunday and wont be buying fish until the tank as been up and running for at least 2 weeks with good and bad bacteria, i am not really looking for huge fish mainly middle sized ones like cat fish and stuff but i really like plecs starting from babies so then i have time to get a bigger tank before they get 2 big, i have a 1 and a half foot tank in the kitchen with my Lobby in he is a blue lobster, he is so cool, lol thanks for replies i really only want fish breed advice... but thanks anyway... xox Danielle xox
Forgot to mention im 16 and i have kept fish before, ive had over 10 tanks starting from when i was 6, i love small livebarers and do already keep baby guppys in my 10 gallon, baby platys in my other 10 gallon and now i keep my neons and adult platys and adult guppys in my other 3ft tank xox

What is the width and height of your tank?

3 feet length, 2 1/2 feet tall and 1 foot wide, i like the keyholes they are cool lol xox

Well in that case...

How about a couple of small plecs such as the L134 plec and the Clown plec (Panaque maccus)? Both only grow to around 3-4"/9-10cm. A pair of Keyholes would also be suitable and you might like a large shoal of pencilfish or congo tetras. You might also like a couple of Synodontis catfish such as the Upside-down syno (Synodontis nigriventris).

they all sound very cool lol i can already see them swimming around the tank lol xox thanks pleccy xox

sorry to double post but how big do oscars grow, i really like them and some 1 has 2 babies for rehoming for a small fee...
omg i found these pics on google and is this tank healthy for 2 oscars of their size the tank looks abit small to me ?? xox

http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...t=IMG_0956.jpg
http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...t=IMG_0957.jpg

As fishyfins has said oscars would be too big however there are a couple of smaller species of Geophagus available, a pair of these would be suitable for your tank.

Malawi cichlids such as Mbuna and Haplochromides would be OK however the tank isn't very wide so very important floor area would be somewhat limited, you would also have a lack of room for rockwork.

i was looking at chiclids last night and i think im going to get into them, i really like the colours and they seem alot eisier than oscars lol, my mum runs the thing for 2 weeks cos we usually buy online at preloved and many other places, they say dont clean the filter and let it run for a week or 2 for the water cycle to be okay, i jut copy my mum as her fish have lived for 2 years straight... lol xox thanks for ur help pleccy xox