Tank Stocking

Vicki70 · Jan 3, 2007

Hello ~

Our family is fairly new at maintaining a tank. We got our first 10 gallon tank in March. It took us awhile to get the tank to the right levels and stop losing fish. Once we finally managed to maintain it for several months we decided to upgrade to a larger tank. The tank (55 gallon) itself has been much easier to maintain. Everyone wanted to pick out a fish to go in the tank so subsequently we have a well stocked tank.

1 Oscar
1 Needlenose Gar (this one came with the tank)
1 Bala Shark
2 Tiger Barbs
2 Chinese Algae Eaters
1 Pleco
1 little gold one... don't know what it

We added a black ghost knife to the tank last weekend and Oscar decided he was lunch. We barely got him out of Oscars mouth but he got injured. We moved him to an uncycled 10 gallon tank so he wouldn't get eaten.

My questions....

How badly are we overstocked in the 55 gallon tank?

We want to use the 10 gallon has a feeder fish breeding tank. It looks like the ghost knife will eat the babies. Will the ghost knife ever be able to go back into the big tank?

Thanks for your input!

PENNYWISE · Jan 3, 2007

I think but im not sure that the oscar on his own needs 55gl. People hear will soon see you through your stocking but i think yu are definatley overstocked

Fishkrazy1 · Jan 3, 2007

The oscare won't need it's own tank, but the gar sure will, they get pretty big! also, 2 Tiger Barbs
2 Chinese Algae Eaters,1 little gold one... don't know what it?! Sooner than later these guys are going to be eaten, either by the gar or the oscar, how large is the pleco and how large is the bala, because if they are under 4-5" they'll get eaten too!!! Get the tigers, algea eaters and whatever the little gold one is out of their ASAP! I've delt with oscars and they will eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths... Aswell why only 2 tiger barbs? They do like to school in groups of 6 or more... if you want tigers, get a 29-36 gallon tank and make it a tiger and cory cat species tank

Good luck and yeah your overstocked :lol:

n3ont3tra · Jan 3, 2007

I think the oscar WILL need it's own tank, they are extremely messy and aggressive fish. I would take the oscar back and find a home for the gar. This is a little bit more controversial, but I would take the bala back to the store too. They are VERY active schooling fish that grow to 14 inches and need 100g+ tanks. Could you post some pics of the little gold one? It'll help us identify it. For all we know it could be anything from a silver tip tetra to some aggressive predatory fish that grows over 3 feet long! :crazy:

What kind of pleco did you get? IF it was a common, they should grow over a foot long and are just as messy as the oscar. That''' need a bigger tank. If it's not a common, then I can't help you. Definately get more Tiger barbs, up to a total of about 15. The rest is up to you!

Fishkrazy1 · Jan 3, 2007

ok... firstly neon , not to sound like a jackass but I know I will anyways, I hate people like you... You think that fish such as Oscars need to be solitary, however I've had experience with oscars and they enjoy to school! also bala sharks don't need 100gallon+ tank, although that would be very nice for them :drool:

, anyways, Balas need minimum of 55 gallons, also a common pleco CAN stay in a 55 gallon tank... I have mine in one and he's fine! aswell, since your undoubtably going to argue about this... I had 3 oscars, a midas cichlid(off breed of red devil), a Jack dempsy and my pleco in my 55 gallon tank... The gar has to go but if he wants the oscar it certainly doesn't! also he never mentioned any sizes of the fish. So for all we know the Oscar may be 5" like my smallest one was or 9" like my largest one was... Wow is it just me or did that make me sound like an EXTREME Jackass?! :lol:

Miss Wiggle · Jan 4, 2007

sorry to say but it is pretty badly stocked.

oscar's don't nescessarily need solitary confinement, however you must be careful selecting tankmates and you must provide a lot of room and filtration. if you wanna keep teh oscar your gonna need at least a 75g tank.... more if you want to keep him with friends.

gar's i'm not too familiar with so won't comment

bala sharks get big, around 12" isn't uncommon, they also like to be in a group of 6+.... lots of big fish means a big tank..... like 100g+

tiger barbs will become a snack for the oscar when he gets big enough

CAE's depending on they're size could also become lunch.... now i can never remember if it's these or SAE's that get massive.... or maybe both. but look them up as I have a sneaking suspiscion they're gonna get to 12" each and become very agressive as they mature.

as others have asked what sort of plec is it, post a pic if you don't know.

same for the gold one

the BGK can get to 20"+ they need a massive tank too i'm afraid!

if you look into getting a 6'x2'x2' (125g) tank you could theoretically keep an oscar, a group of bala sharks, BGK and possibly the plec/CAE's. however this depends a lot on the temprement of your individual fish, if your oscar thinks your BGK is a snack then you shouldn't put them in a tank together again.

:sad:

i think you need to have a serious think about which of these fish you want to keep and we can then give you some advise as to what set up's and combinations of these could work.

cane76 · Jan 4, 2007

that tank is badly stocked no doubt about it
miss wiggle has covered everything except the needle fish which are very skittish and need to kept in groups and grow to 12" so a 55g is way to small for them :good:

cane76 · Jan 4, 2007

Fishkrazy1 said:
ok... firstly neon , not to sound like a jackass but I know I will anyways, I hate people like you... You think that fish such as Oscars need to be solitary, however I've had experience with oscars and they enjoy to school! also bala sharks don't need 100gallon+ tank, although that would be very nice for them , anyways, Balas need minimum of 55 gallons, also a common pleco CAN stay in a 55 gallon tank... I have mine in one and he's fine! aswell, since your undoubtably going to argue about this... I had 3 oscars, a midas cichlid(off breed of red devil), a Jack dempsy and my pleco in my 55 gallon tank... The gar has to go but if he wants the oscar it certainly doesn't! also he never mentioned any sizes of the fish. So for all we know the Oscar may be 5" like my smallest one was or 9" like my largest one was... Wow is it just me or did that make me sound like an EXTREME Jackass?!

btw
how can a group of 12" balas be ok in a 55?

Squid · Jan 4, 2007

Fishkrazy1 said:
also he never mentioned any sizes of the fish. So for all we know the Oscar may be 5" like my smallest one was or 9" like my largest one was... Wow is it just me or did that make me sound like an EXTREME Jackass?!

Fish purchases should be more about what size the fish will be and not what they are when you buy them. I believe they grow.. :hey: