jglove276

Hello, this is my first post here at FishLore. I am planning to start my first freshwater aquarium so i have loads of ?. But to start i would like to know fish selection possibilities. I am purchasing a approximately a 50g tank with all the filters, pumps, heaters, ect. from local pet store. My kids have seen and are dead set on having a bala shark. I now know these get BIG but I was told that it would be fine until it out grew the tank and I can return it to the store. If that is true would that be ok if so what other fish would be ok with it and how many so not to overstock. I have a small list of ones I like

Hand full of Harlequin Rasbora or Tiger Barb

Dojo Loach

Would absolutely love to work in a angle fish

Any info be great for at this point I know nothing but what little I have read.

Lucy

Hi Welcome to FishLore
The best advice I can give to someone new to the hobby is read read read.
Here's a great place to start:
Beginners
Pay close attention to the link explaining the nitrogen cycle and consider cycling your tank with out fish.
Here is our sticky that explains Four Methods of Fish Less Cycling.

I get attached to my fish, returning one once it's gets too big wouldn't be an option for me. I'd like to suggest only getting fish that you plan on keeping and a tank big enough to accommodate that fish along with any tank mates.

Best of luck, again, read through the forum, there's lots of info here with plenty of members happy to answer questions.

jglove276

thanks for the cycling info good stuff. and i understand getting attached to something perhaps i can upgrade to accommodate when they get larger. as for the other species any ideas on being a good match or perhaps others you may suggest.

peacemaker92

Hi Jg and WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

Great info and links given by Lucy. After you have read and started cycling your tank. You can post a thread in the aquarium stocking section for fish stocking advice. We'll be kind to help you and give our opinions and suggestions. Feel free to continue asking any of our members questions of anything you are not sure of. We're all here to help Good luck!

P.S Sorry that you have to keep reading all the articles, etc. I know it's challenging, was tough for me too!

EDIT: If you want a community tank, you could get a juvenile Angel along with a school of tetras and a shoal of corydoras catfish.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!!!! I wish I had got my girls into the hobby when they were younger..now they are just jealous of my fish LOL
great advice from the others....a pair of angels would be awesome with that tank...maybe a few loaches for the bottom and a pair of firemouths or a school of guppies would also be great...but I agree with the others about bala's...they prefer to school with others of their own and are skittish when kept alone....stuting bala's are the biggest issue with these gentle giants and I see more and more at LFS that have been returned but are bent all out of shape as they grew up in a small tank...although 50gs seems large, bala's grow pretty fast ...also, sometimes life throws us a big curve ball and even though the famous words of "ill upgrade as they grow" are made with good intentions, something comes up and it doesnt happen (ive been there unfortunately and its not fun having to rehome fish you love)good luck in whatever you choose!

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore!

Everyone here has given you good advice. As Shawnie said, there is a great chance that fish will become stunted. And you really won't know it has outgrown the tank until it becomes stunted. You never seem to notice how much your fish have grown, because you look at them everyday. Also, the logistics of switching tanks when you have larger fish can be a nightmare. Especially since you will probably want to put the larger tank where the smaller tank is located. So you need to find a place to temporarily keep your fish, empty the old tank, move it out, move in the new tank, fill it and put your fish back in.

I'm not real familiar with freshwater sharks, but aren't there some that look similar to Bala's but stay small enough for a 55 gallon tank?

Good Luck!

jglove276

Im so glad to have found a resource like this at FishLore I will take all info to hart and weigh all options before moving forward at purchase time. As far as the bala I am convinced that may not be suitable for me at this time so if there are smaller but similar “sharks” out there throw me some names so I may investigate thanks all

midnightwolf

Welcome to fishlore! all of the links Lucy gave you will really help u out, its hard to get to reading them all but it is essential to the fish keeping experience. i think having an Angel fish or two would make an awsome tank and live plants are really nice also if u want to spend some extra money for their care. anyway i hope your tank turns out well and make sure to post up some pics when its done
goodluck.

bolivianbaby

Shark types-red-tailed shark and rainbow sharks would be good in a 50g tank. They have to be added last, though. They're very territorial.

iloveengl

Welcome jglove

Tiger barbs have that awesome fierce look about them, especially in a school.