Fish Compatibility

[isubrian]

I am fairly new to the hobby, and had a question about what types of fish I could add to my existing set-up. I have a 46 gallon freshwater tank that includes: Bala Sharks, Clown Loaches, Tiger Barbs, 1 Gourami, 1 pleco, Ghost Glass Catfish, and Silver Dollars. I would like to add something that will add some color. Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[The-Wolf]

46 gallon? U.K. gallons or U.S. gallons?

How many of each fish do you currently own?

 

[isubrian]

46 US gallons. I have:

4 Bala Sharks
4 Tiger Barbs
3 Ghost Glass Catfish
2 Clown Loaches
2 Silver Dollars
1 Pleco
1 Gouarami

 

[parker313]

Do you have plans for when your fish get bigger? The clown loaches, silver dollars and bala sharks are all going to get too big for your tank As of right now I wouldn't add anything else to the tank til you decide what to do with these as they get bigger...

 

[isubrian]

As they outgrow the tank, I plan to either trade them in at my LFS or I may have a larger tank by then. Right now the balas are only about 2.5 - 3" and the larger silver dollar is 2 inches across.

 

[The-Wolf]

Do you have plans for when your fish get bigger? The clown loaches, silver dollars and bala sharks are all going to get too big for your tank As of right now I wouldn't add anything else to the tank til you decide what to do with these as they get bigger...

I totally aggree!

 

[gixer]

i would try to have a word with the lfs that sold you these fish and try to get them to take most of them back..(all those mentioned above)

Sorry...must be pretty horrible being told all your fish are unsuitable for your tank..but sadly thats life.

At least you now have found a place you can research what fish will be ok for that size tank.

Good luck.

 

[parker313]

As they outgrow the tank, I plan to either trade them in at my LFS or I may have a larger tank by then. Right now the balas are only about 2.5 - 3" and the larger silver dollar is 2 inches across.

Then they should be OK for now, but I really wouldn't add anything else, well maybe another couple tiger barbs b/c they should be in groups of 6+ to help minimize aggressiveness.

 

[pendragon]

Yeah. You're pretty heavily stocked as it is, and you will have to move those fish eventually. I couldn't condone adding anything else at all. It's really a bad habit to stock for 'now' and just intend to do something down the road when the need arises. LFS salesmen will often tell you it's fine to do that, but it's a bad practice that often leads to trouble. It's better wisdom to think long-term when you make stocking choices. If a fish is not a good choice for your tank three years down the road, it's not really a good choice for your tank now.

pendragon!