Florida-Spotted-gars......They're-like-swimming-alligators-or-dragons.

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I do like cichlids as my favorite freshwater fish as they interact with their habitat and are a real hardy and active fish. who also can be very dangerous amongst themselves as they become territorial over-time even predatorial with each other over-time as well... But my ultimate favorite is the salt-water fishes and these have a much higher interaction level with their habitats as well as with the fish keeper as long as you interact with them back as well. Be interested in them and they'll get interested in you!

I do like freshwater fish, and I would love to have a set-up of at least 400 Gal tropical fish/planted set-up!!!!
And I have been thinking and hoping to afford one day a Big ol' Cichlid streamer!!!! like this link shows But refined to my own specs plus a stream reaching around the back!!!!
Here! http://travel.mongabay.com/china/images ... 71820.html
ok to get back on subject!

Salt water fishes which i Know arent listed, btw "is not as expensive as everyone thinks.. it only cost you at the beggining to set it up!" from micro,nano, to big 100gals, i wish i had a 12'x12' corner tank in a nice big house! can't afford it though. = (

My:
#1 Salt water - Lion fish! most clowns, snowflake eels, wrasses, dragonets, damsels, tangs, gobies, blennies are all so fun to watch and to have !!!!

#2 Cichlids - Pseudotropheus Demasoni, Aceii "resembles a blue yellow-tail damsel" ,Venustus, calingo, cobalts, scofoli, johanis, saulosi, bumble-bee and the lite colored and translucent types amongst many other colorful and expensive cichlids, I prefer the malawian types, and would look into others if i had a HUGE tank!

#3 beta! - These are real tough fishies that too many people ignore in those lilttle *#*#@! bowls that some fish stores have and that most pet stores keep them in and can't see much detail when aren't in an aquarium, like deseases and occasional handicaps mainly within the fins. Though they can get real colorful and breed givin proper environment which require a little researching. They can be an excellent addition to any freshwater tropical environment!
i know they only do this as a safety measure because males can fight other males to the death or to the point of damaging each other but still. they should set up tanks with dark dividers!!! not completely dark so can see each others silhouette and find the non-agressive betas! Easy to breeding fish so im told. The females are much more docile! and do not fight to the death like the males do and reguarldess of shorter and glamorous fins they can be as colorful as any other colorful males!!!!!!!!

#4 Gouramis - Opaline, Pearl, powder blue dwarf, licorice, honey and gold

#5 Guppies - so many types here!!! so colorful, and small, which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on tanksize and what else inhabits the environment

#6 Tetras - any one with a fresh water tank should have tetras, not just the neons which are probably the most common type of fish known to any freshwater aquarium owner, but the're are many other types which are real nice to keep in a live plant environment.

#7 Danios - which are'nt listed but are also a very nice freshwater fish... they are real active and swim at all water levels un like angels who remain at a certain water level which are also best kept in planted tanks, this goes for angels.

I hope this help you in your future freshwater selection needs, do some researching on these as they are all a nice addition to any tank but watch closely if u select a mix of cichlids and non-cichlid tropicals, You can always search for compatibility charts to give you an idea of what types can be kept together and don't rely too much on them as many other aquarists and aquarium keepers have had different results with an unlimited amount of combination possible! agressives beeing docile and dociles beeing agressive, you cant always believe what you here. I know one good way to buy tank mates though from a fish store which i think is best because you can actually see their temperament and behavior before you buy them and take them home to your new or already housed aquaria. Watch the ones you are interested in a while, observe their behaviors even if housed with many other individuals and some seem agressive, go for the ones who are on the deffensive or retreating end, in other words ignore attackers but do not overlook the ones that get attacked then attack back in deffense to retreat away from an unwanted attack. This goes for mainly cichlids as they can get REAL teritorial eventually in a well established tank overtime, i've had mine for 6 months and they have been setting boundaries for the last 2 weeks, the bigger guy is no longer the "BIG" guy, he is over-runned by a much smaller female auratus now so don't be thinking that the big guys are meaner then the smaller fishes, I am considering moving all my rocks and plants around to "reset" the atmosphere as safety measure so the fish mates need to RE-explore and re-learn the setting as this may cause an aggressive behavior reversal amongst each other! which is what i am hoping for. And would have to redo it again after 6 months? not bad huh!

This is the best help i could provide you from knowledge and common sense, and can be used for everyone !!!

I like cichlids. Knifes too. Oscars and Jack Dempsys are some of my favorite freshwater fish. I used to have 2 jacks and 2 oscars that would eat out of my hand if I held the food just above the water and they would jump and grab it.