G'day from Australia,

by **elm6061** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:03 pm

G'day all;
Signed up looking for info/advise for relatively new tropical tank that my misses/partner and daughter have setup.
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[attachment=3]Tank_1.JPG[/attachment]
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Tank is 4' x 2' x 18" deep being cycled with a Fluval 405 pump/filter and being heated with 2 heaters. Light is just a single tube fluro, supposedly for fish and plants. We would like to look for some LED's in the future, but info is hard to find.

Fish include;
1 x Black Shark (approx 3.5" now)
1 x Ghost Knife (approx 3.25" now)
2 x Bala Sharks 3"
2 x Flying Fox 2.5"
2 x Red Fire Gourami
1 x Powder Blue? Gourami (were 2, but one disappeared overnight)
4 x Plati
2 x Black Phantom Tetra
2 x Black Widow Tetra
2 x Bristlenose Pleco 1.5", 2"
1 x Leopard Pleco 1.5"
1 x Pictus Catfish 2.5"
5 x Glass Catfish
2 x SuckerFish 1.5", 2.5"
1 x Angel Fish 2" (were 2 but one was attacked and died from stress only recently)
2 x Molly 2"
16 x (approx) Guppy (2x blue - 2x black - rest colorful small tail male, plain female)

As mentioned above, we have had two losses.
First one of our Angles (the dark one), was attacked at some stage and died from stress.
[attachment=1]IMG_Angels-Axle-n-Rose_2968.JPG[/attachment]
We do not know who was the attacker but I have my suspicions that it is the Black Shark.

Then only 2 days ago, we noticed that one of the Powder Blue Gourami were missing, assume eaten as there is no sign of a carcass.
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Again I suspect that it was the Black Shark. While my partner disagrees, it is the largest fish in the tank and I believe becoming quite dominant, though all the fish still seem quite happy and there is a reasonable amount of cover. More plants would be nice for both aesthetics as well as more cover I personally think.

Any idea's/suggestions?

Anyway, G'day and hope to get to chat some day.
Eddie

by **natalie265** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:29 pm

Your tank looks really nice now, but as these fish mature, you are going to have more and more problems with incompatibilities and size.

The black shark can grow up to 2 feet. Much too large for your tank. Unless you meant red tailed black shark--these only grow about five inches. The ghost knife can grow over a foot. Bala sharks can grow up to a foot. Suckerfish, if you meant the common pleco, can grow up to 2 feet. These larger, more aggressive fish will harass the smaller, more peaceful fish in your tank.

Also, the bala sharks, pictus catfish, and the tetras should all be kept in schools of five or more.

by **elm6061** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:15 am

G'day and thank's for the reply natalie265. I here what you are saying. We were given a list of compatible species and the missus and daughter went out buying fish. They have been keeping a list of fish purchased and inquire if the fish they are interested in, will be ok, what do they need.
Interestingly, I went along for the first time to one of the local aquariums when "I" picked the Pictus Catfish and was told it would be fine on it's own with the fish we have.
Only in recent times have I started to do a little research and noticing the problems we are heading for and no (sadly) it is not a "Red Tail Black Shark" it is definitely a Black Shark (I saw one when we bought the Pictus and went "what the hell") and was bought from the same store at the same time as the Ghost Knife .
Sadly I think some of these stores are more interested in a quick sale rather than sound advise and long term custom.
How quick/slow will these larger species grow and what, how many do you believe could survive happily together in a tank (89 gallon) like ours?

by **natalie265** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:14 am

Yes, unfortunately, many fish stores are either completely ignorant, or intentionally misleading. It pays to do a bit of research on your own, or find a good fish store you can rely on.

Your tank is actually bigger than i thought. A quick glance at your dimensions and i thought you had a 55 gallon. So, you aren't as bad off as i thought! :)

You can either go one of two ways here. Do a semi aggressive tank with larger fish, and take back the smaller community fish, or you can do a community tank and take back the larger more aggressive fish. Some of your fish, like the angel, could probably go either way, but others can't. The black shark needs to go no matter what, and at least one of the common plecos. Personally, i would take back the bala sharks. They are very skittish and really do better in a larger school, which you don't have room for.

But with such a big tank, you really do have a lot of options. Should be fun!

G'day from Australia,

4 posts