There are times in the aquarium hobby where your tank sometimes gets… Bland, even after hours of aquascaping, choosing the right lights, filters, fish, and even plants. If you ever do find yourself at that point, why not add an oddball fish! Something you and your friends can look at and say “WOW this isn’t the same tetra or barb I’ve seen in every other tank ever!”.

For all of my pant tank people, why not try shrimp, no… Not those dumb 5.99 cherry shrimp that you have to rub your corneas on the glass to see. No, why not a badass colorful Viper shrimp. They’re Super friendly, come in a variety of colors from white, blue, brown, and red (although red and white are sometimes hard to find). From personal experience, I built a U shaped cave facing the front glass out of an arched piece of driftwood, and my Viper shrimp was always visible. Plus they get to the size of a small mouse and won’t hurt even the lamest of fish! (like neons).

Next, for you larger more semi aggressive tanks, why not try an eel? No, not an electric eel. A Fire/tiretrack eel! They can handle their own with bigger cichlids like carpintus, oscars, and green terrors, without actually murdering everything like a marine eel. The only few downsides to them is that when they are small they have a tendency to burrow in the substrate like the graboids from tremors, they mostly only eat meaty foods like bloodworms and krill (I used to hand feed mine 5 krill every day)….. Aaaaaannnddd they

can get big. How big? Uhhhh like 2.5ft. So yea… Only big tanks for fire /tiretrack eels. BUT spiny and zig zag eels average around 6″ so not all hope is lost for our noodle friends.

 

Lastly I have to show you African cichlid tanks some love. And how else other than a big ass Jade goby to spice things up. Super interactive! Super sparkly! Suuuuupeer… odd. They come from fresh and brackish waters, so the high ph that African cichlids require is perfect for them. Plus they have a weird oblong body shape so African cichlids don’t see them as a possible mating threat. I’ve seen bumblebees swim right by them without batting an eye. Jade gobies are definitely a fish you want to watch grow with your cichlids since they max out about a foot and a half in aquariums, but 26″ in the wild. Just don’t expect the cichlid fry to survive with one of these bad boys in the tank, they love the taste of newborns.