Fish Help Please

[nuzik]

I've got two tin foil barbs nice and big now and a severum and two plecs all fish above 5" some as big as 8".
I'd like to now make my tank more for cichlids will they go together any suggestions and if I've posted in the wrong forum sorry!

 

[crazyforcordoras]

What size tank do you have? They should go together, but if your tank is large enough to hold tinfoil barbs, get a few more.

 

[nuzik]

Hi Crazy, my tank is a 60/65 gallon tank. I did have 4 of them, but two died. I wanted some Cichlids as they add some great colour. My tank looks bare!

 

[dbanner]

Tinfoil barbs need tanks much larger than 65gallons. I'd say you would need double that as a bare minimum.

Not only do they get as big as 14 inches, they are also schooling fish that need to be in groups of at least 5 and they are very active. If i was keeping them I'd want nothing smaller than a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank which would be approx 130 IMP gallons/ 160US gallons (600 litres)

 

[nuzik]

Tinfoil barbs need tanks much larger than 65gallons. I'd say you would need double that as a bare minimum.

Not only do they get as big as 14 inches, they are also schooling fish that need to be in groups of at least 5 and they are very active. If i was keeping them I'd want nothing smaller than a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft tank which would be approx 130 IMP gallons/ 160US gallons (600 litres)

Wow hi and thanks for the comment, ive had them for a few years now they were one inch the guy in the "shop" said my tank would be big enough! Its a shame if its not, as i said i had 4 but the other two died they used to fight a bit. I dont have the space to double the tank! nor the cash. What shall i do? i wanted to go down the Cichilds route anyways so that may have made my mind up!

 

[dbanner]

Fish stores are notorious for giving out false information unfortunately. the way they see it is they just want to sell you a fish regardless to whether it will actually be good for your tank or not.

If it were me I would rehome the tinfoils and go down the cichlid route. There are lots of cichlids that are available for a 65gallon.

What kind of cichlids do you want? You could have African cichlids or central/South American cichlids (central/south american include things like jack dempseys, green terrors, red devil, texas, blue acara, firemouth and so on) Bare in mind u can't mix the 2 types. Do a little research online and see which type you prefer. Or you could always go to your local store and have a look.

 

[nuzik]

Fish stores are notorious for giving out false information unfortunately. the way they see it is they just want to sell you a fish regardless to whether it will actually be good for your tank or not.

If it were me I would rehome the tinfoils and go down the cichlid route. There are lots of cichlids that are available for a 65gallon.

What kind of cichlids do you want? You could have African cichlids or central/South American cichlids (central/south american include things like jack dempseys, green terrors, red devil, texas, blue acara, firemouth and so on) Bare in mind u can't mix the 2 types. Do a little research online and see which type you prefer. Or you could always go to your local store and have a look.

hi Fella, thanks for the respone again. Im open to suggestions, whatever looks the best. Nice bright colours would be idea im happy to home as many as my tank would fit.
Would my plecos be ok?

 

[rob_cool1]

Ellioti's are so brightly coloured, that's what my pic is <<<<<<<
she was only 1.5-2 inches then, now she's about 3 and more bright I've had blue acaras too which are nice but not as bright as others. JD are good too

 

[dbanner]

As rob said, another nice colourful fish that would do well in your tank is the ellioti. There are really too many "colourful" fish to mention that would go into a 65gal comfortably. Your really better off researching some online or go look at some in your local store and see which you like and then let us know on here. We can then let you know if they will be ok for your tank and so on.

There are also "dwarf" cichlids like apistogramma's (1 male to 2 females) and kribensis (1 male, 1 female bur can be aggressive when breeding) which get to say 3-4 inches and them that would then give you the option to add other fish to the mix. Kribs have got amazing colours IMO.

If you wanted something that gets a little bigger, like 6-7 inches then you got things like the blue Acara and the firemouth.

Then after that you start getting to bigger cichlids like jack dempseys, again awesome colours when older and you could get a pair in your tank, or as rob said, there is the green terror, you could possible get a single red devil, nice colour and a mean attitude (they get to around 12 inches)

So many options when it comes to "colourful" fish

 

[nuzik]

As rob said, another nice colourful fish that would do well in your tank is the ellioti. There are really too many "colourful" fish to mention that would go into a 65gal comfortably. Your really better off researching some online or go look at some in your local store and see which you like and then let us know on here. We can then let you know if they will be ok for your tank and so on.

There are also "dwarf" cichlids like apistogramma's (1 male to 2 females) and kribensis (1 male, 1 female bur can be aggressive when breeding) which get to say 3-4 inches and them that would then give you the option to add other fish to the mix. Kribs have got amazing colours IMO.

If you wanted something that gets a little bigger, like 6-7 inches then you got things like the blue Acara and the firemouth.

Then after that you start getting to bigger cichlids like jack dempseys, again awesome colours when older and you could get a pair in your tank, or as rob said, there is the green terror, you could possible get a single red devil, nice colour and a mean attitude (they get to around 12 inches)

So many options when it comes to "colourful" fish

Ah AHHHH!!!
Ok imagine i came to your shop and told you what i already had minus the tin foil barbs and said ideally i'd like some bigger fish but lots of smaller ones (keeping to the cichilds) what would you suggest. Im happy for your opinions i'd like to know what you'd get and how many etc.

 

[DrRob]

Depends a lot on your water conditions. If you're using Swindon tap water then it's fairly hard, so the simple approach would be to take a look at the African or central american cichlid information and then have a ponder of which ones you like that are good in your tank size.

 

[nuzik]

Depends a lot on your water conditions. If you're using Swindon tap water then it's fairly hard, so the simple approach would be to take a look at the African or central american cichlid information and then have a ponder of which ones you like that are good in your tank size.

Hi rob, tanks well established now and my water isnt hard in my house i have some form of softener in it and its as lovely as can be... i'l have alook though

 

[DrRob]

Is it one you have to keep charged up with salt? If so then you're probably better off finding the bypass tap and filling the tank and doing water changes from there, as they dump sodium in the water to replace the calcium (I have one of these, and they are great).

If it's the electronic kind then your water will still be hard, but should be fine to put in the tank.

 

[nuzik]

hi sorry its neither its something built in at he mains. I don't know enough it just makes it a little softer than the rest of Swindon. Never had an issue with the fish with it before, but i usually treat it when i put it in and never do that big of a change.

 

[dbanner]

What are the dimensions of the tank? A standard 65gal usually tends to be 36 x 18 x 24, I think... If yours is 3 feet long then I wouldn't advice any fish with a max size of over 6 inches. If your tank is 48" long then you have a little more room to work with when it comes to cichlids as most tend to like longer and deeper tanks over height. Discus and angels are the only ones I can think of right now that prefer hight over length