Newbie needs answers please

[counrtygirrl828]

Hi I am very new to the aquarium world, this is my first and I have been reading everything and now feeling pretty much over whelmed and sadden, even wishing I wouldn't have chosen the tank I bought. I walked into the store, I checked out so many fish and that's when I fell in love with the Roseline shark. So I started looking around at different tanks and considering I am limited to space in my house I had to choose one that was going to fit. So I brought home and was very excited to set up my 45 gal. 3' long tank. and now during the cycling process I started doing all this reading to find out what fish would be compatible with the Roseline shark only to find out that my tank isn't appropriate for Roseling shark, I am devastated Although I am finding other fish that are cool, I had my heart set on the Roseline. Now why couldn't the salesperson give me this info when I mentioned to him I would be back for the Roseline? Any way I have to ask would it be so horrible if I had only 3 Roselines? I do not want to do anything that would cause unhealthy or unhappy fish though. Any and all feedback would be very appreciated, thank you

 

[mistersprinkles]

Hi I am very new to the aquarium world, this is my first and I have been reading everything and now feeling pretty much over whelmed and sadden, even wishing I wouldn't have chosen the tank I bought. I walked into the store, I checked out so many fish and that's when I fell in love with the Roseline shark. So I started looking around at different tanks and considering I am limited to space in my house I had to choose one that was going to fit. So I brought home and was very excited to set up my 45 gal. 3' long tank. and now during the cycling process I started doing all this reading to find out what fish would be compatible with the Roseline shark only to find out that my tank isn't appropriate for Roseling shark, I am devastated Although I am finding other fish that are cool, I had my heart set on the Roseline. Now why couldn't the salesperson give me this info when I mentioned to him I would be back for the Roseline? Any way I have to ask would it be so horrible if I had only 3 Roselines? I do not want to do anything that would cause unhealthy or unhappy fish though. Any and all feedback would be very appreciated, thank you

Denison's barb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denison's Barb/Roseline Shark grow to 6" and are pretty active fish. I wouldn't keep anything over 4" in a 36" tank, personally. Even 3 of them, I would say, would not be a good idea.

Quite often, the advice you receive at the pet shop is not good. The workers there do not know the requirements and maximum sizes of all the different fish they sell, and stock changes regularly, making it even harder to memorize it all. That's probably why you didn't get good advice.

There are a lot of very attractive fish you can keep in a tank that size.

Pseudotropheus saulosi are a small (4") lake Malawi Mbuna cichlid that does well in smaller tanks. Males are blue with black stripes and females are an orange-yellow. They're very easy to keep, hardy fish. They don't need much in the way of aquascaping either. Just a nice rock scape with lots of caves. They are vegetarian fish, so feed them a vegetarian diet like Dainichi Veggie Deluxe or Veggie FX (available online). You would keep these alone in a species tank, along with (if you wanted) some synodontis catfish such as Synodontis petricola.

Angelfish work in a tank your tank's size. You could make a pair of them your centerpiece fish, and round the tank out with smaller fish like

Bleeding heart tetras

Bushynose pleco

Kribensis

Or, you could do a shrimp tank with just some small fish, or you could do a Tanganyikan community, or shell dwellers, or a tetra tank, or barb (Odessa/Tiger/Cherry/Black Ruby) tank. Etc etc.

What fish do you like other than roseline sharks?

 

[Fishperson]

You still have tons of cool choices! African cichlids are cool, or an amazon themed tank. This is a good idea:

1 angelfish
10 rummynose tetras
8 neon tetras
8 bloodfin tetras
2 apistogramma cacatuoides
5 otocinclus vittatus

 

[mistersprinkles]

You still have tons of cool choices! African cichlids are cool, or an amazon themed tank. This is a good idea:

1 angelfish
10 rummynose tetras
8 neon tetras
8 bloodfin tetras
2 apistogramma cacatuoides
5 otocinclus vittatus

Good list, but I don't suggest apistos or neons to beginners. They are sensitive fish. Same goes for GBR's. I just don't think they're beginner fish. Beginners are bound to make mistakes, despite their best intentions, and those mistakes often kill sensitive fish.

I would take your list and substitute in similar fish like this-

1 angelfish
7 bleeding heart tetras
7 lemon tetras
2 (pair) Kribensis or Bolivian Ram
6 corydoras aeneus (bronze)

 

[Fishperson]

Actually, many say that apistos are rather hardy. Bolivian rams are certainly not. But you're right about the neons. Maybe black neons could be better? I think neons are just hit or miss because of poor breeding.

 

[mistersprinkles]

Actually, many say that apistos are rather hardy. Bolivian rams are certainly not. B

????? Blue rams are not hardy. Bolivan rams are tough as nails. Apistos are much less hardy than Bolivians.

You can't keep Bolivians happy in acidic water. That's the only thing.

 

[Brookster123]

From experience, apisto's cac's are pretty forgiving, not sure about the rest. Blue rams, not so much, had horrible luck with my first pair.. As a beginner of course..

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Kribs are not a good community fish, especially with angels and small tetras. They can be very territorial and would tear up the angel fins. They should be housed with other semi-aggressive to aggressive fish that can stand up to them. Bolivians Rams are usually very hardy. Blue Rams can be very sensitive. Apistos are in between, it really depends on the source.

I think the roseline shark would be fine. I have never seen them bigger then 4". My local fish store always carries a lot of them. Also most websites have them listed at 4"-5". In a 36" tank that give them enough of room. 3 of them, with 5 stratia botia, 1 keyhole cichlid, and a bushynose pleco would be nice. With that setup up you would probably even have more room if you keep up on water changes and have good filtration.

 

[Fishperson]

I had a bolivian ram die from a nitrate spike of around 30 ppm. I hate to raise the {mod edit} flag, but have you even kept them?

 

[DragonFish71]

Bolivians are very hardy compared to blue rams. I've got both and let me tell you, when cleaning my blue ram tank I'm very, very careful. I've lost too many blue rams over the years and haven't lost one bolivian.

Kribs can work with some of the larger tetras like the flame von rios, or the skirted (black skirts etc.) They really aren't as aggressive as people think for being an african riverine cichlid.

 

[mistersprinkles]

I had a bolivian ram die from a nitrate spike of around 30 ppm. I hate to raise the {mod edit} flag, but have you even kept them?

Only for about five years, and I bred them.
I seriously doubt your bolivian died from a 30ppm nitrate spike. It was probably already sick and the nitrate spike did it in, but the nitrate spike by itself would not have caused this. When I was new to fish keeping I became very sick for a month, and wasn't able to change my water for 24 days. The Bolivian Ram pair I had survived it just fine, and nitrates went over 40ppm during this period.

As far as Kribensis being kept with Angels, I knew somebody who kept a large colony of Kribensis and a large colony of Angels together in a 55G tank and they got along just fine.

Kribensis are only aggressive when they spawn IME. A single Kribensis living with Angels would be fine.

Also, "The Rick" on Youtube has a 55G with Kribensis, Geophagus, Blue Rams, and Angels. No issues. It's well planted though.

PM him and ask him about his combo of dwarf cichlids.

 

[Fishperson]

Hmm well it seemed fine but it's color was always a bit washed out.

I don't know if I got a bad one, but I really still don't think that they are all suitable for beginners.