well where to begin:
First things first... dont take anything anyones says as condesending to your intelligence or preferences. Anything we recommend to you is for the health and benefit of the fish themselves
The red devils might form a pair and if this happens, almost everything in the tank will most suredly be killed.
If any of the cons form a pair, everything will be harrassed violently and possibily causing serious damage to larger fish which easy get infected and kill them.
The gars... depending on what species it is (one of the largest species easily reaching 6 to 7' in the wild) should not be in this tank. They are rigid backboned fish and unlike fish such as arowana who also grow large, they can not bend their bodies very easily and as a consequence, need very wide tanks (atleast twice the size of the adult size is prefered) to turn around. Some of the smaller species (I believe the shortnose or the spotted is the smallest) can still grow towards and above 2' I believe, so for these guys, you need a huge tank. These are usually in a classification called tankbusters because of their huge adult sizes.
Jags can be very aggressive fish and I have heard experiences about black belts laying down the law
Pacu's should not be sold in the home aquaria market. They can reach lengths of 24 to 30" and need tanks that really only professional aquariums or zoos can give them.
Its not surprising that the eel stays hidden... prob afraid he will run into someone who would like to nibble on him since he is still small for an eel.
Bottom line... things have worked so far because you have caused what is called a "forced truce." This is a style popular in Japan and causes some large and aggressive fish to coexist because not one fish can claim territory or really pick just one tankmate to beat up on. This is not a healthy state for the fish and is very unnnatural. Eventually, something will snap in one fish and a brawl will insue leaving maybe only a few survivors. For information on this read
This
I would say you would be overstocking that tank with just the four cons and one of either the black belt, jag or rd....
So Two choices:
- Look into building a tank in the 100's or maybe even thousands of gallons (depending on what species of gar you have) - not completely feasible for most
- Return prob 75%+ of those fish including: 2 x rd's, the black belt, 3 x cons, the gars, and the pacu
With Just a single con, rd, jag and the eel, it could work for a awhile, but even then, if aggression pops up, you may need to look into a 75G or 90G tank
Just to add too I guess: The inch rule is only realy applicable when looking at smaller schooling fish. With bigger more aggressive fish (ie cichlids) that rule has to go out the window because of territorial needs...
Fishless cycle:
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