Advice Needed On Splitting Tanks And Stocking

hackmaster · Mar 9, 2011

i already have a 2 foot mixed community with a breeding pair of kribs a red tail black shark 2 dwarf gourami a bn plec king tiger plec and 1 bolivian ram...

i am getting a 4 foot tank pretty soon and dont know what to do with my current mix i.e the kribs have taken over the 2 foot and everything just about hides in the corner behind decorations...

i'm thinking keep the 2' for the kribs to breed and sell them and have a 4' community but what other fish would go well with my mix..?

i'll get another ram as his partner died not long ago...

i would like something a bit bright and different and sort of largeish that wont eat anything else

KittyKat · Mar 9, 2011

Ouch, kinda surprising that half your fish haven't killed the other half yet!

Plant to move all but kribs to the new tank sounds good.

The shark is a pain and makes stocking more difficult.. maybe a school of 10-15 Congo tetras or red eye tetras?

hackmaster · Mar 9, 2011

why's that then there all fine together... the only aggresion is from the kribs...

what makes you think they havn't eaten each other

KittyKat · Mar 9, 2011

hackmaster said:
why's that then there all fine together... the only aggresion is from the kribs...

Either luck, they're not fully mature yet or they're too scared of the kribs to bother fighting between themselves.. could be a mix of more than one!

hackmaster said:
what makes you think they havn't eaten each other

Are you saying that they are fighting?

hackmaster · Mar 9, 2011

Kitty Kat said:
hackmaster said:

why's that then there all fine together... the only aggresion is from the kribs...

Click to expand...

Either luck, they're not fully mature yet or they're too scared of the kribs to bother fighting between themselves.. could be a mix of more than one!

hackmaster said:

what makes you think they havn't eaten each other

Click to expand...

Are you saying that they are fighting?

Sorry I meant what makes you think they want to each other...

They were all fine on the compatibility charts and online research and everywhere else I've asked. what do you think would be a problem together then

KittyKat · Mar 9, 2011

hackmaster said:
Sorry I meant what makes you think they want to each other...

They were all fine on the compatibility charts and online research and everywhere else I've asked. what do you think would be a problem together then

Which compatibility charts? They're usually worth looking at with a pinch of salt.. but whichever this one was is probably worth avoiding for the future!

* breeding pair of kribs - all cichlids are relatively aggressive when breeding, but kribs are one of the worst out of the small cichlids commonly available
* a red tail black shark - also quite aggressive and require at least a 3ft tank for growth, although as with all fish, it is possible to get a moderately peaceful individual.. sharks are one of the most aggressive groups of fish commonly available for home aquaria, red tailed blacks are no exception
* 2 dwarf gourami - males normally kill each other on sight and in a 2ft tank it is not uncommon for a male to harass a female to death.. is it possible you have two females?
* a bn plec - should be kept in 3+ ft tanks
* king tiger plec - should be kept in 3+ ft tanks, plecos are very territorial, and two males will often fight to death in anything under a 3ft tank.. females are sometimes capable of the same
* 1 bolivian ram - should be kept in 3+ ft tanks.. a genuinely friendly and peaceful species!

hackmaster · Mar 10, 2011

I was only asking for advice on splitting my tanks not what is what and what goes where I'm fully aware of the natures of my fish and I have done plenty of research... Now my fish are still juveniles so not got the problem of being to big for the tank as you say and the guidelines you gave should be taken with a pinch of salt too cause it all depends on the individual fish itself....

My fish all get along other than the kribs so I'm going to keep the kribs in the 2 footer and move the rest I to the 4 footer...

Also adding 3 silver dollars and 3 bala sharks how does that sound...? Remember I'm looking for advice not fish profiles or anything else

Thanks

kevinjames · Mar 10, 2011

advice and fish profiles are pretty much the same. you obviously have done little or no research to have housed all these fish together in a small tank. as for adding bala sharks to the 4 footer, do you know how big they grow. either way you wont listen to what im saying and you will buy them anyway.

hackmaster · Mar 10, 2011

If you'd read my comment you would see that all the fish get along other than the kribs... And you would also know I you knew fish that it all depends on the individual fish... And bala sharks grow to about 12" and would be suitable in a 4' tank according to every bit of info I can find on the net... So stop having a go and kindly voice your opinions like " bala sharks can get a little too big for a 4' tank" instead of saying I know little or nothing about fish when you havent got a clue what I know...

Rant over sorry for asking I'll just go and stock my 2' tank with 3 giant gourami a common plec and about 12 comet's

The 4' I'll put err 4/5 tiger oscars 3 jd's 2-4 green terrors a stingray discus and a breeding pair of convicts hahahaha

KittyKat · Mar 10, 2011

hackmaster said:
I was only asking for advice on splitting my tanks not what is what and what goes where I'm fully aware of the natures of my fish and I have done plenty of research... Now my fish are still juveniles so not got the problem of being to big for the tank as you say and the guidelines you gave should be taken with a pinch of salt too cause it all depends on the individual fish itself....

Actually, you did ask for both: "Advice Needed On Splitting Tanks And Stocking" and "Sorry I meant what makes you think they want to each other..."

Of course you should take what I say with a pinch of salt, I would not have done my best if you didn't!

hackmaster said:
My fish all get along other than the kribs so I'm going to keep the kribs in the 2 footer and move the rest I to the 4 footer...

hackmaster said:
Also adding 3 silver dollars and 3 bala sharks how does that sound...? Remember I'm looking for advice not fish profiles or anything else

Hurm, you're making this difficult.. so are you just asking for me to say "no" without explaining the reasoning? I'm not exactly your walking, talking resource centre.. I would prefer to give you the reasoning so you can understand why I said "no" and learn to make these decisions for yourself. Most people here are after the reasoning, so if you don't want it, you should say in the first post.

Long version of "no": they won't fit into your current tanks because of their sizes (from my experience with both species, they should be kept in at least 6+*2*2 ft tank) and they are schooling so should be in groups of 6+.

KittyKat · Mar 10, 2011

hackmaster said:
And bala sharks grow to about 12" and would be suitable in a 4' tank according to every bit of info I can find on the net...

Actually, I used to look after 16" balas.

The other two dimensions also are quite important because a 16" fish is not going to be able to turn around nicely in a 12" tank.

And from the first two links Google gives me.. "[grow to] 14-16" [...] require at least a 48 inches aquarium" and "[grow] up to 16" (40cm), females smaller [... require] 72 inches + for adults".. so it might be worth if you maybe try a few other resources and take an average.

hackmaster · Mar 10, 2011

Thank you very much kitty kat that is exactly what I was looking for...

I have decided against the bala sharks having scrawled and scrawling the net loads this morning...

With this in mind I am keeping the kribs in the 2' and letting them breed for sale or free...

Now the 4' foot I'm going to keep my original stock and add another ram, 4 silver dollars and a large shoal of something not sure what yet (any ideas..?)