New Tank Mates, Any Suggestions?

[lukkylady]

hi, im going to have a look at a large and well stocked fish store to look for some new additions to my tank. any ideas on what i should be looking for that would be good candidates?

i have a vision 180 tank and the following fish already doing well:

1 angel, 1 pleco, 2 african knife fish, 1 clown loach, 1 stripey loach, 1 small bala shark, 1 black widow and a reedfish.

should i buy some more black widows and clown loaches as company for ones i have lost?

any suggestions welcome!

 

[Ian H]

how many gallons is it? i would get a few more clowns and deffo more tetras. Also more loachs

 

[lukkylady]

it works out at 47 gallons, i thought getting more loaches and tetras to complete the wee groups, replace the ones i had lost a while back

 

[Ian H]

hmmm well in that case you tank is too small for alot of your fish!

 

[jwddboy]

1 angel, 1 pleco, 2 african knife fish, 1 clown loach, 1 stripey loach, 1 small bala shark, 1 black widow and a reedfish.

First of all, the tank is too small for a Bala or clown loach (seeing as you need to keep around 5 for them to be happy), I'm also worried you will have a common pleco which will also get much too large. The Knife fish will not be too happy in a pair as they can get agressive to their own species. You can however keep one in there. I'd stock up on more community smaller fish and sell the Bala, pleco (if it is common), clown loach and one of the knife fish.

 

[lukkylady]

well the two knife fish have been in the tank for over 6 months and no aggression between them, they were bought together, although they are different in size, one is alot smaller. the pleco is a common black one i think!

 

[jwddboy]

Common plecos will get much too large for the tank. If they are ok together then that is good, but does restrict the other fish you can have and quantities. How large are they now?

 

[lukkylady]

the largest one would be around 6 inches, and the other 4 inches..

pleco: 4 inches
bala shark 3 inches
clown loach: 5 in
stripey loach 3 in
angel: 5 in

i would plan to get a larger tank in a years time so they can grow and have more room, dont want an overstocked tank though

 

[Ian H]

well assuming its a common plec and not a sailfin it will grow to over 1ft. I believe bala sharks to do aswell as clown loachs!

 

[Snooks1!]

1 small bala shark

No such thing...Bala sharks get pretty big and mean......Not really suitable for your tank.