u/BeefUdonNoodles

Hi! I’m starting my research as Im wanting to start a big fish tank in the next year-ish. i am a big animal lover and have always wanted fish but never been in the right spot to get them. 

Tank info
•Will be either 65/75/85ish gallon tank depending on what fish/how many fish I get
•Freshwater

Preferences
•Ideally fish that look different to each other yet somewhat compliment each other aesthetically
•I’m fine with same species deff prefer mixed Species (As long as the combo is safe for all the fishies and realistic care wise)
•My favourite colours are pink, and purple though i do like sunset colours and rainbow colour combos from tanks ive seen lol But again that’s not really my priority I rather find the most compatible combination of cuties
•i love the look of vibrant and glo fish a lot
•I also don't want to get something too big and have them grow and have to upsize the tank unexpectedly before im ready financially/mentally lol

Wondering if anyone has recommendations on species/compatibility etc that work well together. Tips/advice/suggestions on good groupings based on:
•Are they territorial/aggressive or do they do okay sharing a tank with the other fish suggested
•Are they compatible environment wise (Water type, temperature, feeding schedule etc.)
•Breeding wise (Looking for fish that will not really multiply as I don’t want to suddenly have 1000 fish and be scrambling to find 50 new tanks and rehome them all)
•Lifespan (Ideally i don’t want to be mixing fish where some die within a year and the other last like 60 years)
•Kind of goes w the aggressiveness/do they get along, but the size. I don’t want a big guy eating any lil guys or scaring them or something. Also don’t want a big guy who gets even bigger to the point he doesn’t fit comfortably in the size tank i have anymore.

I wanna make sure the fish i get require similar living environment as i want them all to be comfy, so not fish who along perfect but one kind hates a specific plant type and the other requires it y’know?

So far I've been reading about:

•Discus
•Blue Acara
•Glofish
•gourami
•black molly
•angel fish
•tetra
•clown fish
•Betta
•Sailfin Pleco
•harlequin rasbora
•Guppies

So I guess right now this is a “hey fish lovers! I have the time to research for a yearish-longer and wanted community input on which species/gender/lifestyle/lifespan/aggressiveness/size/compatibility mixing you think would work together for a large shared tank!” and less so a “this fish requires this temp and this food, and these plants and here is the exact amount of food this one fish needs” as this is just me deciding my next point of research not a “im going r to get whatever fish u tell me tmr”

So what fish that are kind of similar to the vibes of the ones i listed that would get along together, approx how many of each is a good combo (such as schooling fish vs more territorial solo type fish)  

I also don't want to get something too big and have them grow and have to upsize the tank unexpectedly before im ready financially/mentally lol

i am open though to talk about “oh if you do like this combo of fish just know you will prob need these snails or these shrimp etc w it at some point so youd have to plan for that as well” as that’s definitely an important thing to note while still picking the combos of fish before narrowing it down

Once I have some input I'm gonna narrow research to those specific kinds of fish, what they require/compatibility
Then once I narrow what fish I'm looking into I can do more targeted research to ensure I can give em the best life possible! 

Additionally, what do you think is a better approach? Should I be looking in neighborhood groups for rehoming, trying to save uncared for fish from larger corporations, or going to more legit local fish stores/sources? :)

Thank you! open to all advice, just be kind about it! I’m pretty new to it and want input from more skilled/knowledgeable people to make sure I’m learning and researching the right things! 

***I’m also open to advice like “cost wise these get very expensive very fast” or “these fish start off good together but then can randomly start to hate tank mates” or like “these fish look nice together but unpredictable and could randomly eat each other one day etc lol

Sorry for the yap, I just wanna make sure i get my point across as well as possible so i can get the most helpful input possible from you guys :) I look forward to learning all about these different fishies! Feel free to leave photos of fish with your suggestions of species and groupings, amounts of fish!