My New Tank

[Tuxyu3]

No offence but a few years does not indicate they were 'fine', they are supposed to live for around thirty years in captivity and grow to two foot long.

 

[Fluval-1200]

I am planning on getting a much bigger tank in the future, but the pleco or the bala's wont grow full size within lets say 3 or 4 years will they? i had my 2 common's for about 5ish years and they were about 12'' long (they had to be given away as one flicked a stone and shatterd the tank)

 

[Questions?]

bala sharks are shoaling as mentioned before and they need 3 or more to be happy and prefer 6 and they are as active as danios or tetras. so those with a common pleco in that size tank is not a good idea sorry, if you want a pleco get one of the smaller species and you could have a couple depending on the size and still have room for more fish

 

[Fluval-1200]

Well reading on the net i can have as little as a shoal of 2 balas in my size tank fine, also read that my tank is suitable for the common pleco/3 bala sharks , also have seen in person commons fairly big in size in a tank smaller than mine.

I understand that these fish CAN get big and also that they may not grow past a certain size.

Ive also read that people have bought a common pleco expecting it to grow to 2ft as they are know to grow, but has stayed 14'' for years.



Ive done my fair bit of research now but every answer i get is different, i mean not every common pleco will not grow its full size.....same as most living things ?

 

[Questions?]

a common pleco could fit in the tank, same with the bala sharks, but i don't know if they will together

 

[Fluval-1200]

Ive been researching all night and ive decided against the bala's due to when there big they wont have enough room to swim/ might nip my pleco.


So atm its
1x common pleco
4x tiger barbs or five banded barbs
2 x torpedo barbs (lfs have black ones which look stunning)

Theres so many breeds of fish and online they dont look very good but in person most of them look amazing. Im taking my time and researching each fish before i buy + doing it a step at a time so i dont overload.

My slate cave/new plants roughly set up

New pleco 2.5''

 

[sebn]

Beautiful Plec!

 

[Fluval-1200]

Thanks, people keep telling me to getrid of him ''cause my tanks to small'' lol, hes to good to get rid of an no doubt someone will put him in a little 20gal or summin.

Goldfish has now been put in the pond due to him harrasing the pleco.
Bought 6 tiger barbs today and there awesome fish, i put my hand in the tank and they all start nipping me lol. Some of them there stripes turnt green and were fighting eachother for the leader position.
Also got a delivery of a nice peice of bogwood which ive boiled and put in the tank, will add pictures later on.

Tank is starting to take shape now.

 

[leighton_87]

A good idea if you have tiger barbs is to look for at the green tiger barbs and the albino tiger barbs. They are the same species as the Tiger barbs so will shoal together but ate different colours so will add some variety to your tank.

Also I know what you mean about the torpedo barns they look stunning - my aim one day is to get a tank big enough to fit a shoal of those in.

 

[Fluval-1200]

Yeah i was actually wondering if they would shoal together, may get them next.


The torpedo barbs are stunning but come at bit of price, i wil probably pick up a few in the future.

 

[Fluval-1200]

Well, fish have carmed down now and have noticed 2 of them have symptoms of swim bladder. Also looking closely some of them seem to have frayed fins so im guessing theve been nipped alot or have finrot, all 6 of them have been moved to a small tank to have treatment. Hoping nothing has gotten into my big tank that will cause a problem.

Nearly all the fish ive bought from the lfs have had problems, luckily im not a complainer and il just put them back to health.

 

[dbanner]

Common plecs will get to its potential size which is around 18 inches... If its given the correct size tank to do so. Even if the tank is big enough (which would be 5-6foot) then it can still take years for the plec to get to their full size.

The problem with keeping them in tanks that are too small is they will get stunted. Meaning they will only reach a certain size before they stop growing. Although they stop growing on the outside, their organs continue to grow on the inside. Resulting in deformity and an early/earlier death

Whilst you might be OK with a common pleco in a 4 foot tank I personally wouldn't recommend it.

Bala sharks are definitely a no go in a 4 foot tank.... This is because of their potential size, which is around 14 inches but not only this, also they are very active fish and very fast swimmers. They need 2 feet of space just to get up to speed in the tank. Yes they can be kept in groups of 3 but the tank would need to be around 6ft long x 3ft wide x 3ft high... Although they will be far more shy and skittish if kept in small numbers. This is why it's recommended to have a group of at least 6 but preferably 10. A group of 10 would mean needing a tank around 12ft long x 3ft wide x 3ft high. This is why they are not a recommended fish to keep to the average fish keeper as you can see, not many people can give them the space they truly need.

Sorry, just seen your post saying you decided against the Bala's... Wise choice

Torpedo barbs are a much better choice although again they are need to be in larger groups. 5 or 6 would be a good number. In case you didn't know torpedo barbs are temperate fish meaning they need lower temperatures. Around 20-22 degrees c is good for them. Your 4 foot tank will be ok for them for a while although they will need a bigger tank eventually. Good luck

 

[dbanner]

I had 5 torpedo barbs in my 4 foot community tank for a year and they were stunning. As to whether your tiger barbs will go with them, I'm not sure. Tiger barbs are notorious for nipping... 1 of the worst and you will find a lot of threads on here to back this up. They are (or can be) tricky to stock around due to this reason. Although some people have had luck adding more tiger barbs to spread their aggression. The more the better it seems with them try to get around 10-12 and you SHOULD be ok

 

[Fluval-1200]

There's lots of opinions on the common, tbh i think they shouldnt be sold in lfs and they keep a handful in a 1ft tank, i seen 2 16''ish plecos in a 3ft tank up there today i was very tempted to buy them as they couldnt even turn around in the tank.

The barbs seem to nip me and i was very curious is they will nip the pleco, but atm there all just hanging around him but when he moves they swim off (they all must be thinking look at this dude hes weird looking lol), ive got the 6 atm but may get ome of the albino or green ones to mix the colours/make the shoal bigger.

 

[dbanner]

Iv just got a common pleco to go in my 5 foot 450 litre tank. A common pleco is the only fish I could safely put in my tank. This is because I have a 5 inch blue thai silk flowerhorn in there and he is VERY aggressive. He killed a 6 inch jack Dempsey and a 7 inch buttikoferi overnight. Common plecos will tolerate ALOT. My common is around 9-10 inches and doesn't take any messing around from the flowerhorn. I wouldn't worry about your tigers with your plec.



I also don't agree with 10+ inch plecs in 3 foot tanks and I'm not surprised you wanted to take them home to give them a bigger tank. Although when you see dozens in a very small tank you understand that they are only held in these tanks for a matter of weeks before being sold on. Although many may not go to appropriate sized tanks which is a shame.