hummingbird

Hello,
Let me say first that I have never used a forum. So, please excuse any faux pas and feel free to correct me.
I have a 53 gal. flatback hex with a Cascade 700 filter. It is fully cycled and the water parameters are good. I listened to the fish store and know that I made poor fish choices. Before I make more, will you help me? I have 4 bala shark, 6 tiger barbs, 1 pimadella catfish, 6 red barbs ?, and 1 redtail shark. They told me that I needed to have 4-6 of the bala to school. I now know that they get huge and the tank is too small. They aren't schooling anyway. Would you please make some suggestions about the number and kind of fish to put with the tigers to have a visually satisfying and healthy tank? The tigers were the original inhabitants and I'd like to work around them. The PS also suggested 4 gouramies, but I didn't get them. Would you make some suggestions of compatible fish that will swim at different levels.
Thank you very much.

Lucy

Hi hummingbird welcome to the forum.

I usually stink at stocking but I'm sure someone will be here soon to help you.

Good luck

Edit: There's no such thing at stupid mistakes, it'a just a learning curve. lol

MinxMermaid

I'm not a stocking expert either, and you may very well have too much already.

But I will say in our 110 gal community that has balas and some barbs, what's done really well are, Glass Cats, Leopard Loaches, Clown Loaches and Head Standers. Angels have been problematic.

Just some ideas of what's worked for us, good luck.

Christian Patti

Well definitely get rid of the bala sharks. They will outgrow your tank, and if they remain in your tank their lives may be stunted. Also they like TONS of swimming space so a hexagon tank is a bad idea.

And as far as stocking new fish. If you want to keep the tiger barbs you have to choose fish wisely. Tiger barbs love nipping fins of other fish. Do not get a fish that has long flowing fins. I would recommend getting some more barbs or maybe a school of tetras. Remember, the more tiger barbs in the tank the less they will pick on other inhabitants.

Blub

Red barbs are more commonly known as Rosy barbs. Return the Balas, Rosys and Pimpadella catfish (I have no idea - it sounds like a tankbuster though). Then, you can have a lot of fun with a semi aggresive tank. 6 Tiger barbs, 5 Albino tigers and 5 Green tigers. That would be really neat and active!

hummingbird

Thanks so much for your advice. I don't know about returning. Petco may not be too accomodating. I like your ideas. I will consider buying other barbs. Petco didn't have any though. What type of tetras are you all recommending? About how many total fish do you all think? Any ideas on easy growing plants?
I love this site. I'm so glad I found you guys. Wish I had done it a little sooner.

hummingbird

Here is a picture of the cat. He's a great looking fish. But, again, he's going to get huge.
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...epimodella.php

Blub

Ah. Now I have the scientific name... http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=653

'Peaceful but will eat smaller fish' is worrying.

You will want to get a lot of tiger barbs - the more the less aggressive. Rosy barbs get large (6") and 6x6 = 36", which is a fairly large amount of your stock. In fact, just the rosys and tigers could stock that tank to the brim. You could get away with leaving the RTS in with the Rosys and Tigers. So, either have 6 Tigers, 6 Rosys and 1 RTS, (You will really need to return/find a new home the cat and Balas) or if you returned some something else.

hummingbird

I bought my fish at PetSmart. They will exchange..no slip. I'm about to start trying to net these guys. If anyone if out there, please weigh in on other possible substitutions. I'll check before I leave.

eaglescout316

Petco lost my business when they sold me the common pleco and said it would be fine in my 29 gallon. I've found 2 local (non-chain) stores and visited one of them. They took my pleco and traded me a smaller species. They also had far more species, and a guy that remembers me after the first visit instead of the petco guy that asked if i was sure i bought the pleco from them. He was the one that bagged it for me.

I didn't push the matter with petco, but i know most big chain stores are more heck-bent on whether or not you have a receipt, even if you used a credit/debit card and there's a record in the system.

jdhef

eaglescout, if you want to take a little bit of a drive, there's a pretty good fishstore called the Aquarium Center in Blackwood or Clementon (not sure where that dividing line is). It's on Blackwood Clementon Road just off Rt 42. Should be less than a half hour away from U of P.

hummingbird

I went to PetSmart and returned everything but the tigers without a slip. They remembered me and were good about it. To acknowledge prior comments, I don't know of any decent fish store where I live in RI. If anyone knows of anything, please let me know. My 53G flatback now has 11 tigers, 5 albino tigers (I want to get 5 green when I can find them), 5 cory cats, and 1 pleco. They encouraged me to buy 5 giant danios (which I did). I find they take away from the harmony of the tank. We'll see. I may donate them if the numbers are prohibitive to my buying the green tigers. Whaddya think guys

Blub

Pleco will outgrow that tank as well! Lets see how many inches you have (without pleco).

11 Tigers = 33"
5 Albino tigers = 15"
5 corys: 12"
5 giant danios: 20"

80"!!!

It would be incredibly wise to return a lot of fish now (So there is only 5 left) because adding so many fish at once WILL throw your tank into a mini cycle. You should only get at the most 4 fish at the same time. If you return most of them now you might be lucky and avoid the mini cycle. If you left it like that you'd be doing daily water changes for a long time!

Oh, and take my advice and don't listen to PetCo. They'll sell you anything for cash - I believe one member here is an ex employee and he said they where supposed to sell pecto cat food for iguanas because it was own brand!

hummingbird

My husband will take me back before the fish if I take anymore back. Eventually the inches will probably be on target. But, right now, most are pretty small. I tested the water after reading this. There are no nitrites...the nitrates are 40. I will do a water change now and keep and eye on it daily. They sold me Prime to remove nitrites and nitrates. I added 2.5 ml when I added the fish. Do you think I should add more today? This tank has a very well cycled canister filter. We've had it for three years. When we changed it a few weeks ago, I left one of the dirty pads. I guess I thought that would take care of things.

Blub

nitrate should be be 20. So, do daily water changes until you can thin the fish stock out a bit. The giant danios are excellent candidates to be returned - it would give you good stock levels (but no room for green tigers) and get rid of your worst fav fish. Kepp on top of those water parameters: what's you ammonia levels? test daily before the water change until you have less fish in there. That way if a mini cycle hits you don't miss a second of it.

Never change the filter pads, just rinse them in tank water when you water change.

hummingbird

Hi. Don't give up on me. I don't think there's anyone else here. Am I really supposed to rinse those filthy filters in the tank? They had so much crud on them I would have had a carpet at the bottom of the tank. I will try to put the danios and two cats up for adoption. Will I then be able to have 5 green tigers? I don't know the ammonia level. The test strip doesn't do that. Do I have to do daily changes if the nitrites and nitrates are in safe range? How long do you think I should do it for. I bought all of these fish because they told me if I didn't add them together they would get picked on. I've torn the tank apart three times to try to elimin ate territories. I was originally thinking of cichlids (thank heaven I didn't). But, I know I read to add everyone at once. I thought it would be the same.

Shawnie

hi hummingbird!! you are getting some good advice and no one will give up..a few things to add...you rinse the filter in tank water you remove in a bucket..not int he tank itself....then replace the filter back into the tank....ammonia and nitrites always should be 0 as they are poisionous and will kill your fish...id get a liquid API master test kit as soon as u can as test strips are notorious for false readings...so to be totally sure what your tank water is, the liquid kit is a must///at this point id invest in the kit, some prime (it will neutralize the ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours until your next water change) and do daily 50% water changes until you are finished with your cycle...as far as returning fish, I agree the bala's have to go for now and just hold off on buying anymore fish until your cycle is complete...goodluck!!

hummingbird

Hi Shawnie. Nice to hear from you. Hatchet has been great..so patient. I'll get the liquid tests. I have the Prime. I've used 2.5 ml twice. Should I max it? I'm still confused about the filter. We changed it. It had two fiber filters and a charcoal. We replaced all and left some of one fiber. They fell apart when we removed them. We had to put new ones in.

Shawnie

the liquid test is your best friend in fish keeping...id max the prime with your daily water changes...as far as your filters, if there is charcoal (carbon) in it, just cut a hole where its held and dump it in the trash. the put the filter media back....although during a cycle, ive used the carbon as it helps remove the ammonia..BUT it has to be changed out every two weeks or it will pour all that yucky stuff back in the tank..(the carbon has to be changed NOT the filter media itself) but either way, you are on the right track...cycleing with fish is so frustrating but not impossible...

Fish Addict

Yeah, also, I would get rid of the pleco, danios, and depending on how big you want your barb schools, some of your normal tiger barbs. The cories will look and be best if they have a school/schoal.
How about:
4 tiger barbs
4 albino tiger barbs
4 green tiger barbs
5 corydoras
a pair of small cichlids (maybe GBRs?)
Total Inches: 54
That would be a cool tank, since you'd have 1 huge school in the top/middle, 1 school on the bottom, and then 2 fish for all over. Also, the good thing about tiger barbs, is they are fast & agressive enough so you won't have to worry about the cichlids hurting them.

Blub

Dwarf cichlids are not actually that aggressive. I own Panda apistos, and they don't hurt a fly. They are only really aggressive when spawning. FBR's are INCREDIBLY sensative, so forget that.

If the filter media is falling apart, then put the new stuff in for a week with the old stuff before taking the old stuff.

Don't bother doing charcoal - it needs replacing every week and gets rid of chemicals like meds that you actually need as well as the bad stuff. I never run chemical filters on my tanks and thy do great!

Shawnie... Isn't No ammonia, no Nitrites and some nitrates (but not that much) cycled? I guess we need the liquid test first.

Hummingbird - in order to get the tank in balance, you need to get trid of the danios. If you then want green tigers, then return either the corys (I recommend returning the corys since the barbs will easily outcompete them) or some of 5 regular tigers. That would let you have 5 Green tigers. Just don't add them all at once - add 4-5 fish at a time, and leave a 2 week gap between introductions. Either way, Pleco must come out.

Fishies-for-me

Even if they are falling apart and you add new ones ( filter pads that is ) you can still leave the old falling apart ones in the filter if there is room so as to seed the new pads...also you can float or hang them in the tank itself for a week or so till the bacteria colonizes the new pads. I always have extra sponges and or filter floss tucked away in my tanks so I can add them to another tank if I am having a problem with water parameters....good luck. I also recommend the liquid api test kits ..just make sure that you really bang and shake up the second bottle for the nitrate test or you will get a false reading.

Jess

Hi Hummingbird,
Have you heard of the 1" of fish per gal.? Its a rough way to estimate how many fish to stock. Take in to consideration the adult size fish. Also keep in mind your gravel, rocks, wood. . . ornamentals take up space too.
When you're done how about posting a picture of your setup?