Advice On New Fish For Tank

xtra_time · Jan 13, 2009

Hi,

I have a smallish tank which i believe to be 95litres (30cm top, 38cm bottom angled , 61cm wide and 46cm tall)

As some fish I had in it have died I feel its time to add 1 or 2 back into the mix.

It currently houses ghost knife fish, tiger barb, 2 Mollys, and about 6 tetras.

I was thinking maybe a Bristlenose catfish would be ok. Are they ok in this environment and what others do people recommend?

Thanks.

foley69 · Jan 13, 2009

you will need a bigger tank for the knife fish as they grow large but apart from that a BN will be fine also you will need another 4or 5 tiger barbs as they are shoaling fish and need to be in groups of 6 minimum ideally so that they can feel more at home and you will see more activity in them

benmate · Jan 14, 2009

i think the tank is uderstocked
get more tiger barbs 6 min
then they will live happily in the community

xtra_time · Jan 14, 2009

benmate said:
i think the tank is uderstocked
get more tiger barbs 6 min
then they will live happily in the community

There did used to be another tiger barb in there but it was always chased about by this current one which I guess may have caused his death in the end. Is that why you suggest 6 as the same one wont be picked on all the time.

xtra_time · Jan 14, 2009

foley69 said:
you will need a bigger tank for the knife fish as they grow large but apart from that a BN will be fine also you will need another 4or 5 tiger barbs as they are shoaling fish and need to be in groups of 6 minimum ideally so that they can feel more at home and you will see more activity in them

I didn't see that you had edited your post to say the same thing about the barbs. We have a big shipwreck in the tank which takes up a lot of space so maybe I might get rid of that and get something smaller or else there might not be enough room for these extra barbs to swim in.

foley69 · Jan 14, 2009

you could replace it with a smaller cave type ornament how big is the knife fish now ?

saz326 · Jan 14, 2009

Think for the future as well tho.

It is ideal that the Barb have some "friends" around, but if you are hoping to try a new fish, or the Barb is more than 5 years old then I would either leave the barb as it is, or see if someone else will take it.

It would be pointless for you to get more barbs in a portentially crowded tank just to make one barb happy, especially if it is in old age and likely to pass on soon.

Have a think about other more suitable species, perhaps a shoal of smaller fishies that could enable Mr Knife fish more space as it grows. Bristlenoses are great. They do hide a lot of the time, and need wood to eat (they slowly chew away on wood like mopani roots etc)

6 barbs take up a suprising amount of space.

xtra_time · Jan 14, 2009

foley69 said:
you could replace it with a smaller cave type ornament how big is the knife fish now ?

I would say its about 4inches approx

xtra_time · Jan 14, 2009

saz326 said:
Think for the future as well tho.

It is ideal that the Barb have some "friends" around, but if you are hoping to try a new fish, or the Barb is more than 5 years old then I would either leave the barb as it is, or see if someone else will take it.

It would be pointless for you to get more barbs in a portentially crowded tank just to make one barb happy, especially if it is in old age and likely to pass on soon.

Have a think about other more suitable species, perhaps a shoal of smaller fishies that could enable Mr Knife fish more space as it grows. Bristlenoses are great. They do hide a lot of the time, and need wood to eat (they slowly chew away on wood like mopani roots etc)

6 barbs take up a suprising amount of space.

I am not sure how old the barb is (I got the tank (and fish) second hand). I have had it for 18 months myself but not sure how long the previous owner had it.

Didn't know they would need wood to eat so thats helped thanks.

stang1 · Jan 14, 2009

Bristlenose do not eat wood, it's believed they rasp on it to release lignin which helps aid their digestion.
I always recommend having bogwood in the tank, not just to rasp on but also to help create hiding places for them.
If you like Tiger Barbs and would like to keep them in the future, then I would also recommend upping the numbers. a shoal of 6 would be fine in that size tank.
I would also suggest rehoming the BGK as it can reach 50cm and will outgrow the tank.
What type of tetras do you have?

xtra_time · Jan 15, 2009

stang1 said:
Bristlenose do not eat wood, it's believed they rasp on it to release lignin which helps aid their digestion.
I always recommend having bogwood in the tank, not just to rasp on but also to help create hiding places for them.
If you like Tiger Barbs and would like to keep them in the future, then I would also recommend upping the numbers. a shoal of 6 would be fine in that size tank.
I would also suggest rehoming the BGK as it can reach 50cm and will outgrow the tank.
What type of tetras do you have?

WOW 50cm. How long do they take to get that big? It doesn't seem to have grown much in 18months since I took it.

I am not sure what type the tetras are to be honest. They were in with the tank when I bought it.