Looking for preferrably hardy fish for office tank

[vegas2k]

I have been tasked to help my wife's office set up a tank for their office. They have a few requirements.

They need 8 fish that need to be orange or red in color(not goldfish..tank would be too big for them).

They need one black fish. I am thinking a nice bottom feeder would be nice. This fish needs to be black.

It can be coldwater or tropical.

I am thinking of a maximum size of 30-40 gallons.

The more red or orange you see in the fish the better..meaning tiny red/orange fish that never get any bigger, probably not as good as say a fish that is very flat and tall, showing off a lot of orange and red.

The easier to maintain the better. A setup where the fish are relatively clean fish, and I can get away with a WC maybe every 2 weeks, with decent filtration would be ideal.

Any kind of a fast growing low maintenance plants that helps with the nitrates would be nice.....I was thinking some amazon swords...but my artistic skill is just about nil, so any combo of good plant suggestions would be nice.

if you need any more info lemme know :)

[Lolita]

What about glofish? They seem like they'd be perfect for that tank! If they want a black fish too you could to a midnight molly? Not a bottom feeder, but the first thing that popped into my head that would fit into a 40 gallon. I wouldn't do a sailfin though--glofish can be nippy as I've heard.

Anubias, anacharis and amazon swords would probably work for you. They all need medium lighting and grow pretty well. Java ferns would work too!

[vegas2k]

yah doesnt need to be a bottom feeder, but i figure it'll probably help keep things clean in there. thanks for the suggestion. more please everyone :)

[Lolita]

No problem!

If the fish doesn't have to be solid black, panda cories are bottom feeders! There's also apparently a black cory called corydoras schultzei. Not sure how common they are, just did a google search on "Black cory fish" and it came up.

[Deleted User]

What about serpae tetra, platies, mollies or orange "glofish" (which are genetically modified zebra danios -- I find those "regular kind" to be indestructible, and think the colored ones are tough, too!).

Serpae: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tetrafish/serpaetetra.php

Glofish: http://www.glofish.com/

Orange Platy: http://www.utterlyfishkeeping.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/platy.jpg

Orange Molly: http://blog.hada.org/naoki/media/img_20060523T013452277.jpg

[Deleted User]

Oh oh oh!!!

If the black fish doesn't have to be a bottom feeder, what about a pitch black angel fish, and some bright orange platies?

There are actually "dwarf platies". I don't know if that's what they honestly are, but we have some and they are BRIGHT beautiful orange, about 1/2 the size of regular platies, but seem to be really hardy (just like regular size platies).

[Scrup]

you can get all of those colors with mollies and platties.

coral platties and a black molly (although one molly just makes me a little sad :scry: ) would fit the bill nicely.

black mollies look amazing btw.

[Scrup]

OH or you could go with the mexican sailfin mollies, aka giant sailfin mollies..saw some in the store the other day...I thought I was seeing things.

they get about 4-5" long, and I believe they come in both black and orangeish-red.

good site to tell the difference between the two-

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+1911+1958&aid=2620

[vegas2k]

What about serpae tetra, platies, mollies or orange "glofish" (which are genetically modified zebra danios -- I find those "regular kind" to be indestructible, and think the colored ones are tough, too!).

Serpae: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tetrafish/serpaetetra.php

Glofish: http://www.glofish.com/

Orange Platy: http://www.utterlyfishkeeping.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/platy.jpg

Orange Molly: http://blog.hada.org/naoki/media/img_20060523T013452277.jpg

the Serpae isnt orange enough, glofish sounds cool if they like the glow effect...the reds can be a good choice because they're such a strong red color. The orange platy and Molly seem nice too. Mollies I think are a bit dirty, so that's a maybe.

[vegas2k]

ooh one black sailfin molly..would be cool seeing that guy grow to it's full size in the 40 gallon amongst all the red/orange fish.