Whole mess of fish in 55G.

[BettaMomma]

I was just talking about my fish with an old friend of mine via IM and here's what she posted:

"I have a dragonfish, one irridescent shark, a clown loach, 5 rosy barbs, 4 tetras (bigger ones, not neon) an enormous fancy goldfish, one albino cat, 2 raphael striped cats"

She has all that in a 55 gallon tank.
I asked her why she had the goldfish in with the warmwater fish and she said "No, he's a fancy goldfish, like a koi. He doesn't mind being in there"

I know that the goldfish shoudn't be in there, but she says he's been in there about a year, so whatever.
What I'm wondering is beyond that, how is this combo of fish? I don't keep anything but bettas so I'm clueless when it comes to others, and size of tank required, compatibility, etc...

 

[OoHeatheroO]

im surprised the small catfish haven't gotten eaten yet by the "dragon fish" or bullied to death by the ID.

 

[troutfly]

one word comes to mind.....

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!.

In a 55gal, the raf cats, IR shark, dragon fish(violet goby I pressume), will be too big in about 5 months to be in there together. The IR shark is capable of reaching 24-30 inches in a tank, the Raf cat can be up to 12 inches, and the "dragon fish" will get to about 18 inches when all is said and done. Too much fish, because I haven't even mentioned the other 12 fish in the tank.....

 

[BettaMomma]

Crap, that's what I thought you'd say.

I didn't even try to tell her about the overcrowding, not to mention the poor little goldie, because she got pretty defensive when I just *asked* about the goldie. Maybe I'll try to drop some hints to her in the near future..

I'm sure there are so very many overstocked fishtanks in this world - it's just sad.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Aboutthe goldfish, tell her the water temperature speeds up its metabolism and it will poop quicker, and die sooner. Not nessecarily true, but its for the good of the fish Also mention that clown loaches need to be in groups. I hate listening to people who know nothing about fish trying to explain their tank, nothing against newbies but when you have a friend with a 3fter (probably about 30g) and two 'sucker fish' that they don't know the names of... its very annoying.

 

[sylvia]

What I simply cannot comprehend is how people can go out and buy a random group of fish without any thought concerning their compatibility or requirements. Surely it is just common sense to assume that fish, which come from all over the world and from so many different habitats, will have different needs? Misleading LFSs don't help either... Good luck with whatever you try to do - I've been in similar situations a few times myself and I know how difficult it is to tell someone you know they are doing something terribly inhumane and unfair. Generaly people feel better if they find things out for themselves though - so maybe direct your friend towards some good fishy sites and let them figure out for themselves what's wrong with their setup.

 

[BettaMomma]

OF - lol, great idea.

sylvia - it frustrates me all the time too, and I don't even know that much about fish outside of bettas. It makes me really mad that places that sell fish aren't more responsible about making sure they have proper homes to go to.

I have an idea, though.
I think I will tell her to stop by the forum... she seems to love to brag about her fish, so maybe she'll come here and post what she has and then the folks here will tell her how overstocked she is! HA!
We'll give that a shot

 

[NinjaSmurf]

OohFeeshy, bad idea on telling her clowns need ot be in groups, she might go out and buy two more to go with the death trap....