Which Tank For Which Fish?

[gunman]

Guys, I have just moved my topical community fish into a 210l 4ft tank. List is:

Tinfoil Barbs x 4 (I think they are the red tail variety)
Clown Loach x 2
Bala Shark x 1
Pink kissers x 2
dwarf Gourami x 2
Ruby Shark x 1
Yellow labs x 2

Now, I know I was given poor advice from a LFS and ended up with a some of 'tankbusters' as well as malawi in a community tank.

I intend to set up a malawi tank and move the 2 yellow labs out, now my old tank is 160l 3ft job (which I am actually trying to sell) but I may this evening be going to look at a 350l corner tank. Would the corner unit be better suited to the community? I know the 210l 4ft tank will make a good malawi tank and would it actually be a better shape for malawis as submisive fish could perhaps get further away from aggressive ones? The dimensions of the corner tank are basically 3ft along the back(s), 4ft along the front and 2ft high? 4ft is 48x18x15.

BTW, I am happy to let the tinfoils go as well, I realise they were a mistake.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

i think your bala shark might be a mistake as well. They get pretty big and are much happier in a shoal. Same with teh clown loach...

Personally, i would agree with having the 4ft as a Malawi and the other as a community. But if the corner one is bigger (im guessing it is, if its 4' X 3' X 3') im thinking the loaches would be alright in here. Arguably the bala might be OK on its own (tank size wise), but as i said you really need 4 or 5 more, and you dont have space for that!
edit: just re-read and saw the corner was 350L.

Final point (sorry) but i would have thought the two sharks you have would be aggressive to each other?

 

[Wills]

Hi yeah you sound like your on the right track

Keep the 4 foot as an African tank and add more africans to that set up. Then put the community fish to the 350 but I would rehome the tinfoils and the bala shark - a good alternative to them are Denison Barbs similar body shape and behaviour but growing to about half the size they are an attractive fish as well with their red streak and black and yellow flaged tail

Wills

 

[Timmy_Bee]

[sorry if this is double posted. i think my internet is being odd]

How big do Deniosn barbs get? i have always liked these but thought they were too big for my 180L. Im sure they would look great in a 350L though!

 

[Wills]

How big do Deniosn barbs get? i have always liked these but thought they were too big for my 180L. Im sure they would look great in a 350L though!

They get to about 6 inches and get a bit too big for a 180 4 foot tank minimum IMO - but have you looked at Oddessa Barbs? Kind of half way between a tiger barb and a denison.

Wills

 

[Timmy_Bee]

yeah have already got Oddessa great fish...

Ah well, my dreams of Denison will have to wait until a bigger tank!

 

[gunman]

Thanks Guys,

yeah, I think the barbs will have to go, although from what I have read up there are 2 species, one grows to 8" and one to 14". From what I can tell I have the 8" ones (red tailed).

One of the problems is I am in Northern Ireland and there are only 2 tropical fish stores I know of, one has very limited stock. The other is a fair distance away and I haven't seen any denisons barbs or the likes in the months I've been going there.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

have you looked at online store? you might be able to get some posted

 

[gunman]

It doesn't seem right posting fish tho does it? Can anyone recommend an online store?

One thing is couriers charge a fortune to ship to Northern Ireland and I cant see royal mail putting a fish through the letterbox!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

all fish will be posted at some point
Alright - not all - but how do you think LFS's get their stock?

But im afraid it isn't something i have done in the past, so cant recommend any...

Keep an eye on things like E-bay and the classified ads on here though

 

[Wills]

Ebay is quite good for fish - tropical fish finder has tropical fish to your door which have lots of really nice fish.

I have only had one fish posted to me so far and that went fine I am recieving some more delecate on friday though so hoping that goes well

Wills