Creating a freshwater community fish tank is included in every aquarist wishlist. However, we have to look for multiple factors when adding different fish species to the same tank.
When creating a community tank, it is necessary to ensure that all the fishes get their ideal living conditions and live peacefully. So, How do we decide what fish to add to a 100-gallon community tank? Let us find out.
When creating a community tank, it is necessary to ensure that all the fish have a similar temperament and water parameters requirement. Also, we have to ensure that they are compatible with each other. These are the best community fish for your 100-gallon community tank:
- Guppies
- Harlequin rasboras
- Molly
- Platy
- Neon tetras
- Pictus catfish
- Bristlenose pleco
- Diamond tetra
- Cardinal tetra
- Cory catfish
- Swordtails
- Zebra danios
- Dwarf gourami
- Kuhli loach
- Rainbow fish
This article will also discuss how to set up a 100-gallon community tank. So let us get into it.
Contents
- 1 How to decide what fish can go together in a 100-gallon community tank?
- 2 How many fish can I keep in a 100-gallon community tank?
- 3 How to decide what fish to keep in a community tank?
- 4 Here are the 15 best fish for a 100-gallon community tank.
- 5 Ideas of stocking community fish in a 100-gallon tank.
- 6 How to set up a 100-gallon community tank?
- 7 Conclusion:
How to decide what fish can go together in a 100-gallon community tank?
Setting up a 100-gallon community tank is a great idea, as your tank will look very colorful and attractive.
However, it is necessary to ensure that the fishes you will add to your community tank are compatible with each other when planning to make a community tank.
You should always consider adding non-aggressive and calm fish to a community tank.
Adding non-aggressive and calm fish will help you eliminate aggression and territorial behavior, which will help all your fish live peacefully.
We have multiple options when it comes to adding peaceful fish to a community tank.
Now, to decide what fish we can keep together in a community tank, all these things are necessary to consider:
- Water parameters requirement
- Size of the fish
- Minimum space requirement of the fish
- Nutrition requirement of the fish
- The hardiness of the fish
Also read: Best Fish For A 15-Gallon Column Tank?
Water parameters
All the fish you are going to keep in a community tank must have a similar water parameters requirement.
The water parameters include water temperature, water pH level, Water TDS level, and water hardness.
If your fish lives in a tank with inadequate water parameters, it will suffer from various issues like stress and illness, and even it can pass away in the worst case.
Size of the fish
The size of the fish also matters a lot when making a community tank.
It is natural in fish that big fish will try to chase and hunt down the small fish.
You should know that every carnivore and omnivore fish will try to feed on fishes that are smaller than them.
So, if you add small and big fish together in a community tank, your small fish will be at risk of getting eaten by the big ones.
Adding fishes that are similar in size is recommended as doing this will make them live peacefully without any threat.
Minimum space requirement of a fish
When we keep fish in captivity, we should ensure providing ideal living conditions for fish, and giving them enough space is one of them.
Providing your fish with enough space to live and swim comfortably is necessary to ensure their stress-free and longer lifespan.
The one-inch one-gallon rule makes it easy for us to calculate the space requirement of the fish.
The one-inch one-gallon rule means one inch of fish per gallon of water.
Following this rule will help you to provide your fish with enough space to live comfortably.
Also read: How Many Fish In A 10-Gallon Tank?
Nutrition requirement of a fish
Food plays an essential role in keeping your fish fit and healthy.
Now, when we add different and lots of fish in a tank, it becomes difficult for all the fish to eat food in a regular manner.
When fish don’t get food regularly, they become weak and prone to various diseases and parasites.
You can consider adding bottom, top, and middle swimmers fish when creating a community tank.
There are varieties of food available for bottom and surface swimmers.
Sinking pellets, bottom feeder tablets, and other sinking food are present for bottom swimmers, and floating flakes and pellets for top swimmers.
So, adding the top and bottom swimmer fish will make it easy to feed all your fish.
Also read: How Often Should I Feed My Fish?
The hardness of the fish
Hardy fishes are fish that can live between a wide range of water parameters and conditions.
In a community tank, we add different types of fish species, making it challenging to provide them with their ideal parameters.
So, adding a hardy fish will extend the range of water parameters, making it easy to house them in a community tank.
A hardy fish will also easily adapt to the surroundings and have a comfortable life in a community tank.
How many fish can I keep in a 100-gallon community tank?
When deciding the number of fish to stock in a community tank, we must follow the one-inch one-gallon rule.
The one-inch one-gallon rule means one inch of fish per gallon of water.
For example, neon tetra can be 4 inches long, so you can add 20-22 neon tetra in a 100-gallon tank.
The plants, substrate, and other decors will acquire some of the space in the tank, so you have to leave some space for that when following the one-inch one-gallon rule.
How to decide what fish to keep in a community tank?
As discussed above, we should always make sure to add fishes that are compatible with each other when creating a community tank.
When creating a community tank, you have two options: a community tank of big fish or create a community tank of small fish.
Some of the best fishes you can consider adding to your community tank when adding small fishes are neon tetras, guppies, rasboras, corydoras, bristlenose pleco, molly, platy, and zebra danios.
All these fishes are peaceful in nature and a great fit in a community tank.
Now, if you go for a community tank with big fish, the options are fewer than small fish.
Also, you can’t make a community tank of big fish with a 100-gallon tank, as big fishes like the Bala shark and common adult plecostomus will require a bigger tank to thrive.
Big fishes like goldfish and angelfish cannot live together as they don’t have similar water parameters requirements.
Adding aggressive and calm fish in a tank will result in bullying and chasing in the tank.
Here are the 15 best fish for a 100-gallon community tank.
Here are the best 15 fish for your 100-gallon community tank:
- Guppies
- Neon tetras
- Rasboras
- Cory catfish
- Bristlenose plecos
- Molly
- Platy
- Gouramis
- Swordtails
- Rainbow fish
- Cardinal tetras
- Kuhli loach
- Zebra danios
- Pictus catfish
- Diamond tetra
Guppies
- Scientific Name: Poecilia reticulata
- Difficulty Level: Easy
- Size: 1.2-2.4 inches
- Tank Size Requirement: 10 Gallons
- Diet: Omnivore
- Water Temperature: 72-82 °F
- Water pH level: 6.8-7.8
- Swimming level: Middle
- Temperament: Peaceful
- Planted Tank Suitability: Yes
Guppies are the best fish to add to your community tank due to their calm nature and attractive color.
Adding guppies to your community tank will make your tank look attractive.
Male guppies especially have more colorful bodies and fins.
Keep your guppy fish in a planted community tank, and they will thrive.
Also, they are schooling fish and like to live in a large groups.
To prevent breeding stress on females, consider keeping 5-6 guppies with more females than males.
Also read: Can Guppy Live With Molly?
Neon tetras
- Scientific Name: Parcheirodon innesi
- Difficulty Level: Easy
- Size: 1.5 inches
- Tank Size Requirement: 10 gallons
- Diet: Omnivore
- Water Temperature: 68-82 °F
- Water pH level: 5-7.5
- Swimming level: Middle
- Temperament: Peaceful
- Planted Tank Suitability: Yes
Neon tetras are also a good option for your community tank.
They are small fish with very much attractive blue and red colors.
You will love to see them moving back and forth.
Keep them in a large group of at least 6-8 and provide them ample space to live; they will thrive.
Harlequin Rasboras
- Scientific Name: Trigonostigma heteromorpha
- Difficulty Level: Intermediate
- Size: 2 inch
- Tank Size Requirement: 10-gallon
- Diet: Omnivore
- Water Temperature: 73-82 °F
- Water pH level: 6-7.5
- Swimming level: Top to mid dwelling
- Temperament: Peaceful
- Planted Tank Suitability: Yes
You can add harlequin rasboras to your community tank as they are very peaceful fish and will live peace