Tropical fish ideas...

[GoBlues]

I have a 33 gallon tropical tank that currently holds 6 fish (2 bala sharks, 2 angelfish, 1 clown loach, and 1 plecostomus), they're all very small for the tank, so there's a LOT of room in there...

I need suggestions of what I should add with these guys... I want colourful fish, and NO, don't suggest an Oscar.... I like what's in there, I'm looking to add, not remove!!

Thanks for your input!!

 

[Heathen23]

Well, I see a few problems with that mix as it is. Angel fish are very docile and are prone to nipping while bala sharks at times are often perpetrators of fin nipping. Also, properly raised angel fish should have water similar to bala sharks but that's not a big deal.

My suggestion would be to get away from the south american chichlids and go to African Chichlids. They are far more hardy, active and colorful. Once you have the PH and salt balance right (and no they aren't salt water fish but they do require a % salt mix) they are impossible to kill. Keep in mind average sized fish should have somewhere around 5 gallons of each.

 

[clownphish]

I'd be careful with adding too many, I've heard that Balas especially need a lot of room (i.e. long tanks) to swim fast in. How big are they? I'd check out www.aquariumadvice.com - it's a pretty nice forum and has basically everything you'd want to know about tropical and freshwater setups. Good luck!

 

[MackDadam]

hey i know someone that owns a tropical fish farm. tons of fish, if you want them just ask i may be able to hook you up

 

[Sdrotary2]

Here goes;

The Clown Loach need to have multiples, they are schooling fiosh, but they get 6-7" eventually so have a bigger home for them. the pleco too will get 18" eventually so he needs room and more than algae to eat. The Bala sharks will get big too.(8") I would recomend african cichlids like E. yellows or kenyi's but they will probably appreciate more room. But you can get them @ 3/4" so they will be ok for a while. And hell no on the Oscars because they need 75 gallon minimum grown up. Try Africans at your LFS and upgrade your tank adn filtration, it'll happen sooner or later. boy do i know. good luck

 

[FC3s Boy]

Fish Geeks unite...

 

[Sdrotary2]

PS when you get a bigger tank, and you will, get it for peacock bass (ocelaris) and bichirs of any sort

 

[Sdrotary2]

chris @ FC3S is just jealous because his wife, i mean girlfriend wont let him keep a freshwater ray tank LMAO

 

[FC3s Boy]

chris @ FC3S is just jealous because his wife, i mean girlfriend wont let him keep a freshwater ray tank LMAO

Ahhh a fresh water ray tank ..that would be the s***

 

[Sdrotary2]

give me 6 months and i will have one up, work on the mudskippers now

 

[Heathen23]

I say flush them all and scrub everything in the tank. Then go African. It's the only way to go. They have the looks of salt water fish but the maintenence of freshwater. All you need is a cheap little PH tester and salt balancer or your friendly fish shop will often test water for free.

 

[GerardPRO5]

get rid of all the fish, get two male bettas...then get some popcorn and beer, a bunch of friends, and start placing bets.



just kidding. I'm a Betta Splendens person myself...easy fish to take care of...and I've never had so much fun with a small mirror.

it also helps that I only have a five gallon tank...just need to find some java fern and I'm set.

I used to have brackish water fish (balloon mollies)...and they were initially easy to take care of, but the more my fish mated, the more fish I had...and the more I had to worry about salt concentration.


I say, stay away from brackish water...stay with fresh water.

 

[TexP5]

African Cichlids are durable, but they are both very aggressive and territorial. I have been keeping a tank for 4 years now. The fish look good, but tend to hide from one another behind rocks etc. The tank often looks empty even with 6 fish in there. Something to consider

 

[azeli73]

I worked in a salt/freshwater fish store with a guy that had a tattoo of a african ciclid with the words "No Dead Fish" written below it.

Is this a 33 Hex tank?

Fish Geeks unite...

 

[GoBlues]

Is this a 33 Hex tank? [/B]

No, it's a rectangle that's quite a bit longer as compared to its depth.

And the advice on the cichlids is nice... but NO, I'm not going to scrap the fish I have... I've had them all for about 8 months, and the angels don't bother any of the fish, and the balas have a lot of room.

I just want to know what other tropical freshwater to ADD to what I already have... the tank looks empty!!

 

[azeli73]

off topic here, but if you put a < B R > after each link to your images in your sig it won't stick to one line like that.

 

[Heathen23]

African Cichlids are durable, but they are both very aggressive and territorial. I have been keeping a tank for 4 years now. The fish look good, but tend to hide from one another behind rocks etc. The tank often looks empty even with 6 fish in there. Something to consider

This is 100% true but you have fallen victim to a classic cichlid mistake. You must keep atleast a minimum of 3 of each breed and you also shoud overcrowd them once the water is balanced (as yours clearly is after 4 years) then rebalance for amonia issues. Once they are overcrowded they will still attempt to claim space but never successfully hold ground (with the exception of a few caves and corners). Yes, every now and then a half eaten fish will rise to the surface and you will see 2 left (of 3) of the same breed looking horribly frightened but you have to see who can handle the stresses of moderate overcrowding. I have had a rediculous number of cichlid tanks and this is by far the most successful comprimise I've come up with. It results in an active tank with hardy fish. However this may be too hard to manage in a tank smaller than 50-60 gallons because over crowding in a 30 gallon tank means 7 fish lol.

EDIT: Oh wait, this thread is about adding tropicals to an existing tank
<----- goes to get tropical fish books from bookshelf.

 

[Protege5Gurly]

Coming from a PetsMart employee (my bf) ....

1. Your 33 Gal tank is already WAY to small for what you have.

You should base your decision on this rule : For every inch of fish (FULLY GROWN), you will need 1 gallon of water. In the case of the Bala Sharks you will need a minimum of 10-12 gallons PER SHARK. Yes they have room now, but they wont when they start to grow. We have a 44 gal tank with 1 pleco, 1 bala, and 1 boesmani rainbow (dont ask).

2. You need to watch your mix of fish. The Bala's and Angel's arent really suited for each other -- both in water conditions and in behavior. Obviously dont add cichlids to your mix now, that will only make matters worse.


3. MOST IMPORTANTLY - Dont add any more fish. Ideally, get a larger tank for your bala's and leave the angels and the loach and pleco in the 33 gal. This way you could add more angels in the one tank and you could add others that are more suited for the Bala's in the other tank with em.

4. If you want, ask some pet stores around you if they take fish back from customers. This way you could get rid of the fish you currently have and start over. You wanted color -- besides salt water, the only way to really get some nice colors are to do cichlids -- sad but true.

Pe@ce

 

[GoBlues]

off topic here, but if you put a < B R > after each link to your images in your sig it won't stick to one line like that.

Are you serious??

The symbol - car - symbol look was kinda what I was going for... I'm not quite sure how they'd look stacked?? But thanks for the tip!!

For those who mention how large the sharks and pleco will get... just how long does this take?? Like I said earlier... I've had the fish for about 8 months and they honestly don't look any bigger than when I bought them?!?!? I'm hoping they start growing... maybe I'll take the advise and not add any more... but man, the tank just looks so empty!!

 

[Protege5Gurly]

After having my shark for almost 3 years, he is about 11 inches in length.

Make sure you are feeding them the right things as well. The foods I feed are:

1. Tetra Pro
2. Hikari Algae Disks

I feed the flake daily - no overfeeding - the food should GONE in less than 3 mins. And the disks about every other day. I go thru a good deal of these since the shark will fit 4-6 of them in his mouth at once! I also from time to time add a chunk of zucchini rubber banded to a rock for the pleco to eat. Just make sure the rubber band is a medical grade type since there are chemicals in the others that can harm the fish.

Pe@ce