Need some guidance in a bad way!

[Chiroptera]

I would recomend sending the balas back after cycling. Minimum recomended tank size for them is 220 but that might even be small for a 14 inch schooling fish. Bristlenose plecos are awesome. After that the possibilities are endless. Cichlids are beautiful though I do not know much about them. A general community could be gorgeous as well.
Fish stores give alot of sketchy advise. One of our first tanks was a 10 gallon that "cycled" for a week and then was stocked with a red tailed shark, a common pleco, one or 2 neon tetras, one or 2 painted tetras, a a handfull of other fish I cant remember. We were told to go by the 1 fish per gallon rule....

Are you insane? A couple of Bala sharks can do very well in a 125. They're ONLY 12" usually, and even active that's plenty. Apollo sharks are 12". Okay for a 125. Hell, even common pleco at a whopping 18" are ok'd for a 125, but that is minimum. AROWANA, are fish that may need a 220, and they get huge. Whatever source you've used is absolutely over exaggerating. I'd say that the OP should rehome the balas, but not because he's ridiculously overstocked now.

 

[Samzter]

Are you insane? A couple of Bala sharks can do very well in a 125. They're ONLY 12" usually, and even active that's plenty. Apollo sharks are 12". Okay for a 125. Hell, even common pleco at a whopping 18" are ok'd for a 125, but that is minimum. AROWANA, are fish that may need a 220, and they get huge. Whatever source you've used is absolutely over exaggerating. I'd say that the OP should rehome the balas, but not because he's ridiculously overstocked now.

No he's not insane. And he's not exaggerating. It's actually a 90g... Not a 125g. I would rehome them because of their size. They like to school and if he wants other fish it's not gonna go down well. This person wants cichlids. There's no way the balas are going to get on with them?! I don't know if you know but it's a 90 and he would like cichlids!

 

[butterfly_koi]

No he's not insane. And he's not exaggerating. It's actually a 90g... Not a 125g. I would rehome them because of their size. They like to school and if he wants other fish it's not gonna go down well. This person wants cichlids. There's no way the balas are going to get on with them?! I don't know if you've read the whole thread or not but it's a 90g and he wants cichlids!

With all due respect, I believe that Chiro did read the thread as she has mentioned twice now about it being a 90G. She was just stating the fact that Balas can do well in a 125G tank. And about Balas schooling, it's not that they like to school but keeping them in a school will keep down on aggression issues. It's hard to focus aggression on one target when so much is going on.

 

[Samzter]

With all due respect, I believe that Chiro did read the thread as she has mentioned twice now about it being a 90G. She was just stating the fact that Balas can do well in a 125G tank. And about Balas schooling, it's not that they like to school but keeping them in a school will keep down on aggression issues. It's hard to focus aggression on one target when so much is going on.

I understand I just don't see why they would need to know balas can do well in 125g.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Because she was debating with GodFan's statement about them needing a minimum of 220 Gallons. A little off-topic yes but is a common debate among members here.

 

[Wyomingite]

Thanks guys so much, defiantly answered alot of my questions, I think I'll stick with the balas for now till I'm cycled. I wish I could find a different fish store but the one I went to (ironically) is the biggest store in Edmonton (close to where I live) and they are the only ones that carry the filter media for my ehiem. But I could always buy that online from now on since I am set up. I'll keep my eyes open for a better fish store.

Rainbow fish. Hmmm I'll have to look those up!
I'm sure I could get rid of the balas if I need to in a hurry. That awful store i went to in the past takes in fish and resells them. What a crock! The more I look at cichlids the more I like them!

So I put my driftwood in the aquarium after I had boiled it for many hours over a course of a week and a half. Soaked it in between being boiled and now the water in my tank is tea stained. Any ideas about how to remove it? I'll start by pwc.

Howdy. Rainbows and some of the more peaceful South American cichlids would make a nice set-up. Not all cichlids are hyperaggressive, psycho-killers.

Some suggestions for SA cichlids that would get along well with the rainbows would be cupid cichlids, keyhole cichlids, flag cichlids (genus Laetacara), any of the dwarf cichlids from the genus Apistogramma, Bolivian rams and some of the smaller Geophagus sp. Another good species would be the kribensis, a West African species. There are others, these are just common ones I thought of right off.

WYite

 

[GodFan]

Ok I have rwad about Balas that were not healthy without a school but were great after a school was made. Also a 125 is only 6 feet long and 2 foot wide at most. That means the 12 inch fish would only have 6 times its body length to swim down and 2 times to turn around. Sound fun for an extremely active schooling fish? They are very active. Maybe I am off but then again I am personally of the opinion that fish deserve more swimming space than most people generally accept. It has nothing to do with being overstocked biologically-just in swimming space.

 

[Chiroptera]

I have Balas in my household. They are not extremely active, a lot of the time, as long as they're comfortable, they're chill. Swim around a lot less actively than most fish. When they're scared or stressed is why you need a large tank. They go extremely fast, and will slam their heads against the sides. Apollo sharks get 12", are MUCH more active, and you can easily have two in a 125. As long as you don't have other aggressive fish stressing sharks out, they don't need a school. It's not like if you only have 3 fish instead of 5 they'll magically die. I'd have 5 or so in a 220, which yes, is considered a proper school, BUT they honestly don't need it if they don't have anything wearing at their nerves. Either way a 90 is too small, but as a species they don't need a 220, unless you want a full school. Bala sharks are one of the most peaceful sharks as well, and the pair my roommate has, while one is clearly dominant, and the other is tiny compared to him, never squabble, another reason why they don't need a full school. It's ideal in case something does scare them, but my household is usually a very calm place with only peaceful fish, and unless you have kids and pets screaming, running around, and making noise, or aggressive fish, I just can't see it.

 

[GodFan]

I have Balas in my household. They are not extremely active, a lot of the time, as long as they're comfortable, they're chill. Swim around a lot less actively than most fish. When they're scared or stressed is why you need a large tank. They go extremely fast, and will slam their heads against the sides. Apollo sharks get 12", are MUCH more active, and you can easily have two in a 125. As long as you don't have other aggressive fish stressing sharks out, they don't need a school. It's not like if you only have 3 fish instead of 5 they'll magically die. I'd have 5 or so in a 220, which yes, is considered a proper school, BUT they honestly don't need it if they don't have anything wearing at their nerves. Either way a 90 is too small, but as a species they don't need a 220, unless you want a full school. Bala sharks are one of the most peaceful sharks as well, and the pair my roommate has, while one is clearly dominant, and the other is tiny compared to him, never squabble, another reason why they don't need a full school. It's ideal in case something does scare them, but my household is usually a very calm place with only peaceful fish, and unless you have kids and pets screaming, running around, and making noise, or aggressive fish, I just can't see it.

I think its best if we agree to disagree