Treated well a Bala can grow to around ten inches long so you are correct about not keeping them in a 30 gallon tank. I would try any of the medium barbs, in particular rosey barbs. There are a few color varieties of rosey barbs that have come out recently including Neon and blushing rosey. They grow to just under four inches long and in tanks with undergravel filters it is possible to spawn them in a community tank.
What happens in a tank with an undergravel filter is that some eggs are sucked down far enough in the gravel so that they are not eaten by the fish in the tank. Then when the eggs hatch the baby barbs are pulled down through the gravel and end up living under the filter plate feeding on food pulled down through the gravel layer. After some time the babies swim up the lift tubes and then you wonder where the new fish came from. While judging a fish show where the fish were judged at the home of the aquarist I noticed some small under 3/4 inch rosey barbs in a tank and asked where she had bought some so small. She answered that they had just appeared one day. I looked under the tank which did not have a solid bottom and saw two more little barbs still under the filter plate. Needless to say this will not work if the lift tubes have electric powerheads on them.
Thank you very much for that! That was veryyyy interesting
That was quite interesting
I thought about barbs, but I heard they can get a bit agressive and nip on other fish tails
As for the undergravel filter, I dont think I would be able to afford it
Do you know where they sell playsand too? I'm trying to go for the more natural look, but I can't seem to find playsand. I tried homedepot in my area, but for some reasn they don't have it either.
