Below is a table with general guidelines for fish species at Rick's. Behavior characteristics are by observation and written material on the species. It should be understood that sometimes a fish within a species behave completely opposite to what is expected and that the behavior guidelines below are the general nature of the species.

• good community fish • proceed with caution • aggressive behavior

Species
pH
Temp.
Size
Behavior
Location
Comments / Info
Leporinus Fasciatus
5.5-7.5
72-79
12"
•
Central S.A
Generally peaceful - will eat smaller fish, sometimes nibbles on fins of same species
Bloodfin tetra
6-8
64-82
2"
•
Argentina
Good community fish - can live more than 10 years
Blind Cave fish
6-7.8
68-77
3.5"
•
Texas to Panama
Good community fish
Black Tetra
5.8-8.5
68-79
2.25"
•
Brazil
Hardy
Silver tipped tetra
-
72-82
2"
•
Brazil
Good community fish - needs lots of oxygen
Buenos Aires Tetra
5.8-8.5
64-82
2.25"
•
Central S.A.
Hardy, peaceful, schooling. Eats plants. Java fern will not be eaten
Glowlight tetra
5.8-7.5
74-82
1.5"
•
Guyana
Peaceful, best kept in schools
Head & Tail light
-
72-79
2"
•
Amazon
good community fish
Rummy nose tetra
6-7
73-79
2"
•
Columbia, Brazil
Frequent water change - watch nitrite levels
Bleeding heart tetra
5.6-7.2
73-82
2.5"
•
Upper Amazon
Keep at least in pairs
Flame tetra
5.8-7.8
72-82
1.5"
•
Brazil - Rio
Good community fish
Black neon
5.5-7.5
73-81
1.5"
•
Brazil
Schooling, peaceful
Lemon tetra
5.5-8
73-82
1.5"
•
Brazil
In hard water the fish looses color
Diamond tetra
5.5-7
75-82
2.5"
•
Venezuela
Will not do well in hard water, Use peat to soften
Neon Tetra
6-7
68-79
1.5"
•
Peru
Larger fish will eat neons, most popular aquarium fish
Penguin tetra
6.5-7
76-82
3.25
•
Brazil
plenty of oxygen
Marble hatchet fish
5.5-7.5
75-82
1.5"
•
Guyana
will eat flake food but need frozen bloodworm, larvae etc.
Silver Hatchet
6-7.5
73-86
3.5"
•
Central S.A.
Need water movement, can fly up to4'
Pencilfish
-
77-82
2.5"
•
Amazon
Peaceful, schooling fish
Silver dollar
5-7
75-82
5"
•
Guyana, Amazon
Lots of plants real or artificial, will eat plants
Red Piranah
5.5-7.5
72-82
<8"
•
Amazon, Argentina
Easily kept in large tank, strong filter flow
Coolie Loach
6-6.5
75-86
4"
•
Southeast Asia
lone night feeder
Clown loach
-
77-86
6.5"
•
Indonesia, Sumatra
Good for ridding tank of small snails
Red tailed Botia
-
79-86
9.5"
•
Southeast Asia
Nocturnal, will kill certain species
Rosy Barb
6.5
64-72
6"
•
North India
 Cooler water
Tiger Barb
6.5
68-79
3"
•
Thailand,Sumatra
 Will peck at fins of slower species (angels, gouramis,bettas)
Cherry Barb
6.5-7.5
73-79
2"
•
Sri Lanka
 A timid loner, becomes nervous with others of it's species
Pearl Danio
6.5-7
68-77
2.25"
•
Thailand, Burma
 Active species, breeding pairs are loyal
Zebra Danio
6.5-7
64-82
2.25
•
East India
 Active good community fish
Giant Danio
-
72-75
4"
•
Sri Lanka
 Active good community fish
Siamese flying fox
5.8-6.5
75-79
6"
•
Thailand, Malaysia
 Good algae eater,dense vegetation, does not eat plants
Red tailed black shark
7
72-79
4.5"
•
Thailand
 A loner, aggressive with own kind, large fish will be very territorial
Black Shark
7
75-81
23.5"
•
Thailand, Cambodia
 A loner, intolerant of own species, less aggressive to other species
Harlequin Rasbora
6.0-6.5
72-77
1.75"
•
Southeast Asia
 Densly planted, at least 8 in school
White Cloud
64-72
1.5"
•
China
 Peacefull fish, keep in schools
Banjo cat
5.8-7.8
68-81
5.75"
•
Amazon
 Burrower, peaceful
Corydoras
5.8-7.2
72-79
•
South America
 These are schooling catfish
Plecostomus
5-8
72-82
11.75"
•
South Brazil
 Harmless loner, nocturnal -good community fish
Guppies
5.5-8.5
64-82
2.25"
•
Central America to Brazil
 Livebearer, parents chase & eat fry immediately otherwise peaceful
Molly
7.5-8.2
64-82
2.5"
•
Mexico to Columbia
 Livebearer, peaceful, good algae eater
Swordtail
7-8.3
64-82
4"
•
Central America
 Livebearer,peaceful, will eat fry
Platy
7-8.2
64-77
2.5
•
Central America
 Livebearer,peaceful eats algae
Betta (Siamese fighting fish)
6-8
75-86
2.5-3"
•
Thailand, Cambodia
 2 males cannot be kept together, Bettas generally make great community fish
Dwarf Gourami
6-7.5
72-82
2"
•
India
 Keep in pairs, heavily planted tank
Paradise fish
6-8
61-79
4"
•
China, Korea
 Males will fight as fiercly as Betta's
Pearl Gourami
6.5-8.5
74-82
4"
•
Borneo,Sumatra
 Peaceful, males may fight occasionally
Three spot Gourami
6-8.8
72-82
4"
•
Southeast Asia
 Hardy, do not keep with very active fish
Kissing Gourami
6.8-8.5
72-82
<6"
•
Thailand, Java
 Peaceful, males may fight occasionally
Oscar
6-8
72-77
12"
•
Amazon
 Generally peaceful with fish of equal size will eat smaller fish
Frontosa Cichlid
8
75-79
15"
•
Lake Tanganyika
 Territorial but tolerant
Auratus Cichlid
7-8.5
72-79
4.25"
•
Lake Malawi
 Territtorial, can be aggressive
Kribensis
6.5-8
75-77
4"
•
Nigeria
 Territorial but usually tolerant
Angels
6-7.5
75-82
6"
•
Central & South America
 Territorial, but usually tolerant of other species, will eat small fish
Discus
6-7
79-86
8"
•
South America
 Peaceful, do not mix with active fish
Black Ghost Knife
6.5-7.5
73-82
19.5"
•
South America
 Can grow large in an aquarium, will be aggressive with smaller fish. Hiding places
Elephant Nose
6-7.8
72-82
9"
•
Central Africa
 Peaceful with tank mates, may harass it's own kind
Butterfly fish
6.5-7.5
73-86
4"
•
West Africa
 Often intolerant of surface fish
Transparent Knife
6-7
72-82
13.5"
•
South America
 Nocturnal, timid, rigid social structure.
Spotted Pufferfish
7
74-82
6.5"
•
Southeast Asia
 Aggressive towards smaller fish, thier own species. Keep with fish of similar size