FishFolk

I just received 6 albino greshakei. They are about 2 inches long. For now they are in quarantine but I bought them for a male who has been a bully of sorts in the tank. He needs friends! The male is about 5 inches.

Please post your opnions on how big the girls need to be before I can put them in the 55 with the male. The 55 also houses 3 msobos (1 wild 4 " adult males and 2 juvie females 3")

I think the greshakei are all female but am not sure as they are just old enough to begin coloring. Five of the six school so one may be a male. I plan to keep 3 females (provided I have that many true females) with the male.

Okay guys and gals - what is your opinion on when (size wise) I can put the new greshakei in the 55g?

steveangela1

I might be a bit of a risk taker but I have mine in the 55 at all dif sizes. The smallest being the little labs (there are 2 that are spawning) and the greyshaki girls I just bought. They are getting along in the tank fine even w/ one of the lab males that is at least 4 inches long and a electric blue hap that is the same size as the large lab.

I guess I should also put in this post that I have rocks from front to back and side to side all the way across w/ varying sizes of caves so the fish have plenty of places to hide (the smaller ones can hide where the bigger ones cannot get to)

FishFolk

Okay - I got brave and followed your lead. I put the greshakei in last evening. So far so good. They are too small to be of any use to the male yet so he just sort of ignores them as continues to pile sand all over! But the extra fish have adjusted the mood of the tank. I know the quarantine wasn't over, but they looked very healthy...

Shawnie

Do you have pics? id love to see them!! and make sure you keep an eye on your tank perimeters, you want to make sure that adding that many fish at once, doesnt throw your ammonia up because of the bacteria not being able to adjust to it so fast

FishFolk

Thanks for the reminder on water quality. I haven't taken any pix yet - but I will soon. They are little bitties, so shouldn't have a huge impact, but I will watch carefully. I'd be truly heartbroken if this tank went belly up!

Shawnie

Cant wait to see them!! I love looking at others fishies n tanks...sometimes we think, "if they are small, the bio-load shouldnt be too bad" but what happens is the bacteria grows to the amounts needed to carry whats in your tank..thats why they say adding 1-3 fish then waiting a couple weeks to add more, is so the bacteria can catch up..I learned the hardway so was just passing it along doesnt mean your tank will belly up!

Allie

We put the smaller fish in with the bigger ones as soon as they are big enough not to fit in the biggest fish mouths.

FishFolk

After I read the post before this, I started worrying and went to check. The water is perfect - whew - and then I started obessesing and went to check the albino pleco tank - another whew!

I will keep a close eye on it. Thanks.

FishFolk

Just a few. They are very hard to photograph - It is hard to get them in focus!

(Note the sand piles the adult male has made!)

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Allie

Aw they are cute.

FishFolk

The greshakei are doing quite well. They are voracious little things - feeding time looks almost like a pirahna feeding frenzy They also nibble on the romaine I keep in the tank.