Juvenile Monster Fish with Roseline Shark School?

What’s up guys, I recently got myself an aquarium. I was really into it when I was younger, keeping aggressive cichlids and other oddball fish, and it did really well. However, life happened and I had to get rid of it. However, now I’m starting again. Planning on keeping a Royal Clown Knife, Arowana, Florida Gar and several Bichirs. However, I’m trying to think of some kind of “Dither” -like fish to keep the the aquarium active. I was wondering if full grown Roseline Sharks would fit the bill? I plan on keeping about 12, and having the monsters start as Juveniles until I move them to the 300 gallon tank. Thoughts, ideas, concerns. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Those fish are called torpedo barbs because of their shape. And that shape is also a shape that fits in the mouths of larger fish. I would not do it.
Maybe silver dollars? piranha? tin foil barbs?

 

And these fish are triggerhappy jumpers. Once in panic you can't stop them. With fish that might already try to eat them they will either jump or run into the glass. Not a good idea.

Sahyadria denisonii are best kept in tanks 2 meters or longer with peacefull smaller or maximum same sized fish and definitely not with any predators, juvenile or not.

 

You're going to have a hard time finding mates for your set up.
When I had arrowana, knife and even a snakehead in my first 6' tank I added clown loaches.
They were rarely mistaken for food even feeding live goldfish, but the few times someone tried to swallow them they were persuaded differently by the hooks the clown would throw out, not allowing the larger fish to swallow them..
Your stocking choice will make finding mates and peace in your tank difficult to say the least IME.


While the arro is just an oppurtunistic predator that can be trained to eat prepared food[ I fed mine krill] the others are pure predators.Can't think of many fish that want to live with them.
The knife and bichirs will hunt at night in the dark where most fish are easy prey.

 

You're going to have a hard time finding mates for your set up.
When I had arrowana, knife and even a snakehead in my first 6' tank I added clown loaches.
They were rarely mistaken for food even feeding live goldfish, but the few times someone tried to swallow them they were persuaded differently by the hooks the clown would throw out, not allowing the larger fish to swallow them..
Your stocking choice will make finding mates and peace in your tank difficult to say the least IME.
View attachment 868904
While the arro is just an oppurtunistic predator that can be trained to eat prepared food[ I fed mine krill] the others are pure predators.Can't think of many fish that want to live with them.
The knife and bichirs will hunt at night in the dark where most fish are easy prey.

You ain’t kidding lol I’ve been looking at a lot of videos of oddball predator tanks. It’s either additional big oddballs, discus or cichlids. The discus kinda threw me off, I would’ve thought the bigger predators would stress them out too much. But it seems to be working for them? The cichlids looks like the fit well tho. Any thoughts on those? One of the Geophagus? It seems like they tend to school in a small group?

 

The discus kinda threw me off, I would’ve thought the bigger predators would stress them out too much. But it seems to be working for them? The cichlids looks like the fit well tho. Any thoughts on those?

A lot of monsterfish keepers on youtube are really bad fishkeepers and only do it for the thrill and because they have the money. But they don't care for the animals at all.
I'd take combinations like discus or geophagus with predatory fish with a big spoon of salt.

It seems like they tend to school in a small group?

If they do that they are usually young and stressed.

 

A lot of monsterfish keepers on youtube are really bad fishkeepers and only do it for the thrill and because they have the money. But they don't care for the animals at all.
I'd take combinations like discus or geophagus with predatory fish with a big spoon of salt.


If they do that they are usually young and stressed.

That’s what I was figuring, based on previous experience. It’s super tempting to throw together your favorite fish, but it doesn’t mean it’ll work. Imma have to do more research. I’m fine with the big guys being the only ones in there, but it would be nice to see some activity. We’ll see I suppose.

 

I think you have a really nice setup. To me, dither fish don't seem necessary. Just wait until your fish get big.

If you really want to use dithers, a school of Silver Dollars come to mind. They are generally used as dithers for a lot of tanks with larger fish due to their body shape, large size, and generally peaceful temperament.

The issue is, you may have to replace them occasionally to keep the school count "up" if they get picked off. And there's a real danger they will get picked off.

But I don't think dithers are a good idea with your livestock in my opinion, considering your fish will grow to monstrous sizes. For me in the past, dithers never survive in my tank longer than a few weeks and they just end up becoming an expensive snack.