i got a question

[mamba]

im new to the board youll be hearing alot from me from time to time . my name is shaun im 25 years old and married 1 kid and one on the way i got married young so i can do all the things i wanted for i have a bad heart which seems to get worse as the years pass... now that i am formally introduced my question is. i got a 55 gal , 3 red eye tetras, 5 blackskirt or black widow tetras, 4 red tail sharks , 2 tin foil barbs, 1 pleco, 2 pink kissing gouramis and 1 dragon eel (freshwater of course). i want to get more fish yet. these fish all live together with zero problems . i was wondering what else could i put with these fish. i wanted tiger barbs but was told not to get them . this tank was set up for my son. he loves the fishys. so far i think i did quite a job on this tank and soon youll be seing pictures once the dwarf lilys have grown any suggestions on the fish welcome please something that will catch my sons eye would be great.

 

[Somonas]

I think the tank is pretty much stocked.

 

[Abercrombie6202]

First welcome to Myfishtank.net!! Yeah barbs would be okay for you'r tank except i think you'r tnak is stocked already!! You could always get rid of the kidding gourami's as they get 8-10 inches and might make a snack out of the smaller fish after awhile!!

Barbs need to be in a school of 6 or more they get to be about 3 inches!! They are very active and i think that you'r son would appreciate a fish like that!!! Since most boys are pretty active...

I would know that becuase i was little just a few years ago and most people would probably still call me young, by the way my name is Adam i'm 13 years old and i'm learning about fish every day!!! LOl, You'll notice i say LOl a lot i'm that kind of person Welcome!!

Bye

 

[YZFR1rider]

Yes welcome to the site. I agree with Adam get rid of the gouramis because of the reason Adam gave and actually I really don't think they are an atractive fish. I think you will do well with tiger barbs as they are one of my favorite fish, the more you have the nicer it will look. Another way you could go would be to go brackish fish they are very active. You could start off with some scatts which are really active and playful fish. Well whichever way you go good luck and have fun with it.

Matt

 

[cody]

He would have to get rid of all of the other fish if he wanted to have a true brackish tank (except for the 'dragon eel' which I assume is a Violet Goby). Scats also get 10-12" and prefer groups.

I would recommend giving the tinfoil barbs to your LFS as opposed to the kissing gouramis. They really like alot of space to swim and they grow 13" themselves. If you got rid of them, you could probably replace them with a group of about 5 tiger barbs.

Good Luck ;-)

 

[mamba]

wow thanks for all the great responses .. i got some thinking to do now. yes that is a violet goby . he is about 6 inches or so and doesnt take up much space at all he just likes hiding in his cave all day. interesting to watch to say the least. im gunna weigh the possibility of the gouramis and the tin foil and see what i come up with im looking for more color forgot to add one thing. is there a link or something so i can learn more about these scats im not to familiar with them. thanks in advance

 

[YZFR1rider]

Well I don't believe you have to get rid of all your other fish to get some scatts but you can go completly brackish which is like partial salt water. I have 3 scatts and have had them for awhile and they do fine with all my other fish. Here is a pic of my fish and a link to another site with information on scatts. Good luck let us know what you get.

Matt

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hpusersam7/fishtank3.JPG
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/brackish_water/scats.htm#top2

 

[wayne]

I tihnk you're pretty well stocked up, but I guarantee that the redtail sharks will start to fight a bit, so when that happens, return 2 or 3 and get different fish. What sort of fish do you like - tetras for colour, the goby for behaviour..?
The brackish scats won't work with the softwater tetras, plus they'll probably eat them at some point, though scats are nice fish for sure

 

[mamba]

its hard to explain . i like the semi aggresive fish but at the same time i like the non agressive. mainly i wat fish that will be flashy that will attract my kid to it . my mom when we goto visit her she has black skirts and tin foil barbs. my kid goes nuts for them. i dunno maybe im just trying to please him too much . it may just need something simple

 

[jf228]

Hey, my name's Jorge and I'm also 13. I have a 55g tank that I really like. It has:

1 albino red-tail shark- very small
2 goldfish - medium size
1 bala shark - about 3 in.
1 rainbow shark - same as bala
1 tinfoil barb - about 4 4 1/2 in.
1 clown loach - about 1 in.
1 silver dollar - about 1 1/2 in.
1 blue gourami - 2 1/2 in.
1 tiger barb - small
1 albino tiger barb - small
1 culombian shark- small
1 serpae tetra - small
1 longfin tetra - small
1 blue teta - small
2 pink tetras - small
1 blue tetra - small
1 green tetra - small
1 red tail shark - about 1 in.
1 pleco - about 1 in.
and 1 fish that is yellow with vertical black lines - 4 4 1/2 in

my fish tank is pretty much over stocked to everyone but it seems perfect ive had the fish in there for more than 6 months. everyone's fine. i've never had any problems. well 2 goldfish got eaten alive once. you should get clown loaches, they're great! i might get 2 more lol, or one. open for comments, (oh boy!!)

*laughingc

 

[Abercrombie6202]

HOLy God, LOL no offense, but i think that's kind of a bad combination of fish DAMN!! Sorry no offense!! LOl i think you should keep the same species of barbs? and let them school i've noticed different colored barbs don't school!!

Never heard of a pink or blue or green tetra!! what r they?

Ur goldish will get to big and make ur tnak way to overcrowded!!!! And they will make way to much waste

 

[Pooky125]

mamba, I suggest getting rid of both the tinfoil barbs and the kissing gouramis, and expanding your schools of tetras. you pleco will also get quite big, and will outgrow the tank in a year or 2... They get about 16 inches. Your sharks will start to fight as they get bigger, so be ware, that, at some point a few of them will have to go.

jf228, the green, pink, and blue tetras you speak of, are died tetras, they are not naturally that color. they were injected with color early in life, the color will fade, if the fish don't die first... Your barbs need to be in a school, or they will start picking on the other fish, schools of atleast 6 work best. The goldfish get about 10" and if goldfish are really your thing, then those should be the only thing in the tank. I suggest minimum 20 gallons per fish, they are very messy. Bala sharks are schooling fish, and do best in groups of 3 or more... they also get to be pretty big, and will outgrow the tank, given time. Clown loaches also get pretty big, 16" in the wild, in captivity they max out at 10-12", which is still a pretty big fish. Your pleco will also outgrow your tnak, and will need to be removed as he gets bigger. Columbian sharks get huge, over 3 feet if memory serves, and are also schoolers. All your tetras are schooling fish, and need minimum of 6 per school to be happy. The albino redtailed shark and the black retailed shark will eventually fight, and one will have to be removed. Silver dollars are herbivorus, and are also schoolers. They can not be kept in planted tanks. Silver dollars also get pretty big, about 8-10 " I belive. The yellow fish with black verticle lines is probably a Julie, in which case they need hard water, and are very aggressive, tetras need soft water, and are not.. I also suggest getting rid of him, before he causes problems. HTH sorry I kinda tore apart your tank...

 

[jf228]

I'm gonna keep it like this for a little longer and I'm most likely gonna take out my tinfoil barb which is the biggest fish in the tank. Do lfs take them back?? The albino red tail and the red tail shark already fought before but they never seen themselves in this trank anymore. They stay on their own sides of the tank. Like I said before I never had any problems for like 6 months, if anything does happen I'll start removing, but for now I happy with my tank. Actually, it looks like there's space for more fish.

 

[jf228]

anyone got pics of their tanks?? post em'.

 

[colesea]

You want bright colored fish that will attract your son, try African Cichlids. You could do several different species in a 55 gallon tank provided they are small.

The only thing is you will have to re-decorate your current tank and get rid of all your current fish.

Just a suggestion. I know what you mean about kids and fish, my nieces and nephews and little cousins all love to visit my house because of my tanks. Big, colorful fish attract and hold their attention, as well as fish with personallities. Goldfish are also a good fish, you could probably do four medium sized fantails in a 55 gallon, but those would be the only fish in there.

~~Colesea

 

[jf228]

colesea,

Can you post some pics of your tanks?

 

[jf228]

I'll post pictures of mine once my dad brings the camera. I'll show you that my fish are happy together.

 

[jf228]

I can't post the pictures because I can't do it, I don't know how. I clicked on the image button and i found my picture but it didnt work.

 

[colesea]

There is a pic of my 20 gallon tropical tank in the freshwater top tank section of this forum. The picture does not do it justice. The largest tank I own is 29 gallons (goldfish), and I don't know how to take pictures much less post them. Sorry.
~Colesea