My Big Debate

[PaulEbs]

I currently own a 40 [uk] gallon tank, it's pretty big.

In there at the moment there is...

3 Bala Sharks
2 Angels
1 Gourami
7 neon tetra
3 harlequinn
2 zebra loaches
2 penguin tetra
5 red phantom tetra
1 common plec
2 guppies
and a poor little snail, who burried into the gravel to hide.


this tank has been this way for a year. [well to be honest they were ALL in a 30Gallon until recently].

i would really like to start a-fresh, take them to a nice LFS, have an empty tank.

It's just that I've become attatched to these fish now for ages, some of them even have names!

heres a crappy pic [taken with webcam]....

What are the possibilities for such a tank? I was thinking maybe monospecies, or possibly just giving the bala's and the plec away and getting another gourami?

So many other people's aquariums have given me ideas as to how I would maybe want theis tank to look, but it's so hard deciding what to do. Any ideas?

 

[drango91]

well i would go for less agressive fish, im working my money for a 29 gallon community tank at the moment but im clueless as to what to put into it

 

[Cobain89]

I say keep it how it is, that's an awesome list of fish and the tank looks pretty decent!

 

[MegTheFish]

3 Bala Sharks
2 Angels
1 Gourami
7 neon tetra
3 harlequinn
2 zebra loaches
2 penguin tetra
5 red phantom tetra
1 common plec
2 guppies
and a poor little snail, who burried into the gravel to hide.

In my opinion, you should:
Find a new home for the balas and common pleco, as they need a much larger tank.
Then get more harlequinns and pinguin tetras as these are schooling fish and should really be in groups of atleast 5-6.
And then you'd be pretty much fully stocked. Maybe add a small shoal of cories to make the bottom part of your tank more interesting (since it would only be the loaches down there)?
By the way, beautiful angel! How big is she/he?

 

[Iron Man]

3 Bala Sharks do NOT belong in a 40 gallon square tank like that.

A common pleco has NO business in a 40 gallon tank as well.

Harlequin Rasboras are schooling fish, you should have at the bare minimum at least 6.

You need more than just 2 Guppies whether male/female.

Neon Tetras AND Guppies do NOT go in tanks with Angelfish.

You're very lucky your "pair" hasn't killed each other if they're not a breeding pair.

I feel sorry for the snail as well. That's just terrible.

 

[PaulEbs]

3 Bala Sharks do NOT belong in a 40 gallon square tank like that.

A common pleco has NO business in a 40 gallon tank as well.

Harlequin Rasboras are schooling fish, you should have at the bare minimum at least 6.

You need more than just 2 Guppies whether male/female.

Neon Tetras AND Guppies do NOT go in tanks with Angelfish.

You're very lucky your "pair" hasn't killed each other if they're not a breeding pair.

I feel sorry for the snail as well. That's just terrible.

Iron Man, calm yourself.

The angels are a breeding pair, thanks.

All of the fish get along fine. The 2 female gupps were in a herd of 30+, they now get on very happily just the 2 of them. i used to have 6 rasboras, 3 of them have died of old age, and I didn't want to re stock as i know I'm fully stocked. I saved the bala's from a friends 10 gallon I have arrangements at a local waterlife studio for them to be 'show' fish in a 300 Gallon tank. The plec came in on a plant, well atleast i didn't buy him, somehow we have one? And the penguins were my dad's old fish, 8 yrs old and have never had problems being together with no more. The loaches don't like the snail, either, they prefer algae and the plec's food. Infact he is the healthiest snail i own.

'Neon tetras and guppies do NOT go in tanks with angelfish'... rubbish, absolute rubbish.


MegTheFish, thank you, they are my favourites, and fully grown now too, they spawn every month, and the display is beautful to watch.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you can have tetra's and angels together..... not in all cases admittedly as the tetra's are a natural food source for angels, but if they grow up together or you get the tetra's as adults and the angels as babies then they should be fine as they won't see the tetra's as a food source, if Paul's had them in the tank for a while with none getting eaten then they probably won't get eaten!

Yes the Bala needs a bigger home, but you've got one set up, I'd maybe see if you could give it to them early to free up room in your tank and not stunt it's growth, see if they'll take the plec too.

Personally I'd re-home the livebearers and do something a bit more unusual. so keep the angels and gourami, add a couple more gouramis, I've some opaline gourami's that are lovely. Get some cory's for ground crew 6-8 of them, maybe something colourful like the lazer's. Then a couple of pair's of different sorts of apisto's. Would give you a nice colourful tank, still community but just a bit more unusual (except for it being almost identical to one of mine! )

 

[dwarfgourami]

Yes, afraid I'm going to join my voice to the consensus: it is those balas and the plec, isn't it? Unless we can tempt you into a larger tank.... If not, seems you have a home for them to go to, so it's just a question of steeling yourself for the parting. Will you be able to go and see them in their new home?

Can't see a problem with a pair of female guppies as long as they get along; I've done that several times and they've been fine. Now males would be a different kettle of fish, but that's not the case here.

If your harlequins and penguins are very old and seem happy, I'd be tempted to leave things as they are, even if this does go against general rules. Then get a nice school of something new once they've paid their debt to nature. And maybe some new bottom dwellers.

 

[Iron Man]

Oh it has nothing to do with being calm or not. Its a fish forum and you asked for opinions, so you got them.

The fact is no one can break rules but you and if they do they need "educating".

I've seen people break one little rule regarding housing fish and get TOTALLY beaten down for it, but since its you I guess you can break 10 at a time and its VERY excusable and totally acceptable, and since they're YOUR fish there NO chance of anything bad or negative happening AT ALL.

The fact that they were in a 30 gallon for "ages" shows you care nothing about fish, period. That's the standard held on this forum for most everyone else, and that's the standard I'm holding to YOU.

Have a nice day.

 

[Erised]

I feel sorry for the snail as well. That's just terrible.

It's probably a malaysian trumpet snail, they spend their days hidden in the gravel, and at night after the lights have gone off you can often see them come out. I don't think that's such a bad thing =)

I do agree that your tank isn't big enough to house the balas or the common plec. Rather than taking it to your lfs though, try and sell it. A lot (not all) of lfs will take fish of a costumers hands just to flush them down the toilet later on to make sure their fish won't get ill through adding new fish. We do have a buy/sell & swap section on this forum, you could try placing them on there.

After they're gone, I agree with Meg. I'd put my shoals up a bit.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Oh it has nothing to do with being calm or not. Its a fish forum and you asked for opinions, so you got them.

The fact is no one can break rules but you and if they do they need "educating".

I've seen people break one little rule regarding housing fish and get TOTALLY beaten down for it, but since its you I guess you can break 10 at a time and its VERY excusable and totally acceptable, and since they're YOUR fish there NO chance of anything bad or negative happening AT ALL.

The fact that they were in a 30 gallon for "ages" shows you care nothing about fish, period. That's the standard held on this forum for most everyone else, and that's the standard I'm holding to YOU.

Have a nice day.

I know you two gentlemen have clashed recently on a sensitive subject, but leaving that to one side- how many rules does he actually intend to carry on breaking? He has admitted that the balas and the plec will have to go, and everyone who has posted on this thread so far agrees with him, so you can hardly say we are condoning any illtreating of these fish.

I have never heard of any rule that says that snails must not hide in the gravel.

Nor one that female guppies must not be kept in pairs. Why must they not?

The angels are a breeding pair- problem sorted.

As for the tetras and harlequins, yes I agree in principle, but if they are the sole survivors of their respective schools and nearing the end of their lives, then that is a bit different. We have had similar threads on the forum in the past and the posters have not got slated under these particular circumstances.

If you feel the need to carry on threshing out your personal differences, rather than the actual stocking questions, we have a pm system for this purpose.

 

[PaulEbs]

Iron Man, I am sorry for our dispute over global warming, as I stated clearly in the banned topic, I am sorry for getting annoyed with people who seem to think it's an inevitable thing. But let's not go into that. I have also appologised to the admin who had to close the subject, as it was getting out of hand in such a friendly forum.

I don't intend to 'break' any fish keeping rules, most of the community in this tank has lived together for 5+ years, and in my own belief, i think it's more down to the individual fish character, more than general rules on what can be stocked with what.

With the bala's and the plec i didn't have a choice. Same with the fish that were passed down to me to look after. i have gone an extra 10 gallons already at quite a cost because i care for these fish.

Please do not tell me that i don't 'care' for these fish, as i can prove you wrong. If you have something against me, then reply to the PM i sent you, instead of slating me at every oppurtunity.

You have a nice day too.

 

[furryrabbit]

Iron Man, I am sorry for our dispute over global warming, as I stated clearly in the banned topic, I am sorry for getting annoyed with people who seem to think it's an inevitable thing. But let's not go into that. I have also appologised to the admin who had to close the subject, as it was getting out of hand in such a friendly forum.

I don't intend to 'break' any fish keeping rules, most of the community in this tank has lived together for 5+ years, and in my own belief, i think it's more down to the individual fish character, more than general rules on what can be stocked with what.

With the bala's and the plec i didn't have a choice. Same with the fish that were passed down to me to look after. i have gone an extra 10 gallons already at quite a cost because i care for these fish.

Please do not tell me that i don't 'care' for these fish, as i can prove you wrong. If you have something against me, then reply to the PM i sent you, instead of slating me at every oppurtunity.

You have a nice day too.

well handled - newsletter team power!

 

[avirex]

balas in a 40 g? LOL

THATS LIKE A HUMAN LIVING IN A CARDBOARD BOX

OR A PLECO IN A FISHBOWL

 

[Iron Man]

It was probably wrong of me to use this to get back at you, I admit that. We probably said things in the heat of the moment we wouldn't normally say and were probably being overly sensitive about it all.

I certainly have nothing against Britain. I have close family there.

I didn't continue in dialogue via pm's because of your tone and felt like I was being personally attacked. Let's just end it all here.


Good luck with your setup.