Thoughts on a community of reds and golds?

[bksze]

Let's hear your thoughts on combining red aros with gold aros? I've been pm'ing merlion here on this board and he advises against the combination citing the overall look does not achieve a uniform theme and the difficulty in having the proper light to showcase either colors.

Anyone do it before? How did it work out? Reds also grow out a lot bigger than golds. Is this going to be a problem as the fish age?

Trying to do all my research before I stock my new tank.

TIA

 

[chen88]

Mine seems just fine with 6 Diablo Reds, 2 Blue base XB, 2 Absolute Gold XB's all from Pang Long...all my Pang Longs were purchased at import size 6-7". I hear Reds grow larger but my Absolute Goods and Blues grew much faster then the reds...but reds have since caught up. Let's put it this way...I'm not using much lighting other then when I'm showing people the fish and for photos other then that I have a cheapo t5 single tube light that is on 7/24 just to give it ambient lighting..

http://youtu.be/mKaO4CIjedQ
http://youtu.be/uIVYPwKTKmk

 

[bksze]

Always impressed with your tank!

What grade of fish did you end up going with?

I'm looking at the merlions but hesitant to pick up premium quality fish only to have them fight and not show their true colors in a community setting.

 

[chen88]

They were Diablo Reds, Singwing Blue XB and Absolute Golds...wasn't sure on the grading...

 

[RDFISHGUY]

I use different tubes to showcase each one. I use T5 wave point tubes because they offer a great selection. On my SR I use red wave and sun wave and on my XB I use yellow wave (10 hours)and blue wave and sun wave(only on for a few hours mid-day).

The red wave lights don't make the tank look red either, especially if you combine them with other lighting. I noticed a dramatic difference in my red when I switched to these lights. I also noticed an increase in algae if I left them on for more than 10 hrs.

I use the aquatic life programmable fixtures with 8 tubes offering 2 different daytime programs and 1 night program with LEDS - included with the fixture.

I, personally, think Chen's lighting is geared more towards the XB's as they look awesome but his red's full potential could be brought out with different lighting.

 

[chen88]

I use different tubes to showcase each one. I use T5 wave point tubes because they offer a great selection. On my SR I use red wave and sun wave and on my XB I use yellow wave (10 hours)and blue wave and sun wave(only on for a few hours mid-day).

The red wave lights don't make the tank look red either, especially if you combine them with other lighting. I noticed a dramatic difference in my red when I switched to these lights. I also noticed an increase in algae if I left them on for more than 10 hrs.

I use the aquatic life programmable fixtures with 8 tubes offering 2 different daytime programs and 1 night program with LEDS - included with the fixture.

I, personally, think Chen's lighting is geared more towards the XB's as they look awesome but his red's full potential could be brought out with different lighting.

Agreed on the lighting part..