did i pick the wrong fish?

[bumblebean]

I just added two red-tailed sharks to a 50 gal tank of very peaceful types that include: a group of gold barbs, a few peaceful albino tiger barbs, 4 very shy gouramis, two slow but friendly red-capped orandas, and a koi (just visiting prior to moving on to outdoor pond).
These sharks are very beautiful and I have been watching them carefully. I read that they can be aggressive.
Have I made a erroneous choice? I am happy to find them alternative housing if recommended.
thanks

 

[d9hp]

I would give them a fair chance, see if they act aggressive, if not I would leave it.

 

[coolkidthatlike]

umm arent you not supposed to mix tropical fish and goldfish??? I always thought it was bad to mix the two because of the different wastes they put off. well good luck. what kind of food are you feeding them, because tropical food in goldfish creates gasses in the goldfish and messes up their swimming. I just keep 2 tanks
one for tropical and one for goldfish. Oh well, best of luck to you! Oh and i heard that if you keep 2 red tail sharks when they get older they will be aggresive but only towards each other.

 

[justDIY]

i once had two red tail sharks ... they fought constantly a few days after being introduced

there was clearly an alpha omega relationship, one shark was a lot larger and brighter colored than the underdog which was getting picked on ...

the alpha died from a o2 shortage i had about a month ago, and now the omega has taken it's place, but with no other sharks to fight with now chases mollys and platys around instead ... they mostly don't pay much attention to it though

now the omega has grown and its color is very defined and bright

 

[bumblebean]

Well, I am totally new at aquariums and never knew about why one doesnt mix tropicals with goldfish aside from water temperature. I feed goldfish flakes, tubifex worms, and shrimp pellets (which everybody loves). I feed the shrimp pellets to the koi in the quarantine tank because the ingredients match those recommended by some ppl in koivet.com. I drop them close to the koi in the aquarium so that she doesn't pig out on all of the flake food and the other little guys get something to eat. I am glad you told me this because I will not feed tropical fish food to this gang...unless somebody else comes along and tells me that goldfish flakes are not good for tropical fish )

 

[justDIY]

i keep my 'unwanted' livebearer studs in a goldfish storage tank, they seem to be doing good enough, it's been several months now

it's real neat seeing small golden platys and black mollys swimming with huge comets and fancies

I was feeding everyone goldfish flake, but I noticed the tropicals weren't eating it, and were getting kinda small (loosing weight) ... they take in the food but spit it out right away ... so now i feed the goldfish their Omega One pellets first and then sprinkle in some Wardley's Total Tropical for the others ... the goldfish for the most part don't bother with the flakes when I grind 'em up good in my fingers before sprinkling

 

[bumblebean]

I just checked the ingredients in fish food...tetrafin for goldfish and tetracolor for tropicals and really cannot find any differences. Could it be in the additives?

 

[coolkidthatlike]

i am not sure about that, but people at my lfs said that. Oh, well good luck

 

[justDIY]

well ... the ingredients in pretzels and wheat bread are nearly the same, but they're still different foods, and have different tastes

most farm raised tropicals will probably 'learn' to eat whatever you feed them as long as it's compatible to their prefered diet ... like anything algae for herbivors, anything protein for carnivors, mixed flakes for omnivors

goldfish, heck, they eat anything that can fit in their mouth, including chards of glass (lost a few that way) ... i'm not sure what kind of food is best for goldfish

mine have been living for a few years on Omega One pellets, which claim they is forumlated for goldfish

i've also noticed mollys and platys nibble at the pellets, and the pleco will try to steal one now and then, so it's probably good stuff

 

[RogerMcAllen]

How did chards of glass get into your tank for the fish to eat?

 

[bumblebean]

Day Two: All seems peaceful. The red-tail sharks chase each other when two are out which is rare. The koi seems to be attracted to stress in the tank and moves to the center of it where it then dissipates. ....not easy to be mad at an opponent you cannot see for the fat belly of a friendly koi I actually put the koi in there to serve as peacemaker of sorts. I observed the social behavior of Koi in the pond and felt that the aquarium needed the koi to help residents sort themselves out. It worked well except that soon she will need her freedom in the pond and another tiny koi will be selected to replace her. They grow fast and need depth and space to race.

 

[cdawson]

Aside from the fact you're mixing tropical fish with temperate fish, you've also got WAY too many fish for that tank. The Koi alone is sufficient for that tank. You should NEVER have any more than one gourami in a tank, they are very aggressive towards each other. Also there is no such thing as a peaceful barb, you may not be paying enough attention. All the barbs I have ever known harassed each other and other fish. I never saw it but I'd see evidence of it. Those barbs will eventually harass the slower moving orandas, when they figure out they're each to prey on. IF you want to be a responsible hobbyist, remove all the barbs, the sharks, take back all but one gourami and get another tank for them. Otherwise return all of them except for the koi and goldfish, the others require heated water and will slowly succumb to not having a heated tank. Likewise for the koi and goldfish if the water is heated. Never intermix fish with different requirements, it's like taking a mexican druglord, a 1700 century englishman, a mayan and bill the butcher in one room and forcing them to live there, they may go about their own business for awhile but it's a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[bumblebean]

wow!
Ok I will take this step by step.
I asked many ppl about the reason for not mixing tropical fish with non-tropicals. The only response was that the tropicals need warmer water temperature. Koi and goldfish also love warm water so that didn't seem like a big deal to me. If you go to koivet.com you will find that most ppl recommend that koi and goldfish be given temperatures above 70 degrees. Some ppl even bring their pond fish inside into a heated tank for the winter.

The koi is 5 inches. She started out as 3 inches. When she hits 6.5 inches she will go into the quarantine tank. She is just FINE in the aquarium. You didn't ask me about my filtration or my water specs.

The golden barbs as also the albino tiger barbs have been in the aquarium for two months. They are behaving as the sign on the aquariums where I bought them...as schooling peaceful members of the barb family. Nobody is chasing anybody.

Also as noted on the sign in the store, the gouramis, while shy, are not chasing anyone. Two have been in the aquarium for 3 weeks. Two are new.

I am not certain if the red finned sharks will work out. I will take the advice given earlier and watch carefully.

I do watch my aquarium a great deal. It is located close to my working space.


I have followed the instructions of this site and have less than one inch of fish per gallon of water.

Quite frankly, until you do put a mexican druglord, a 1700 century englishman, a mayan and bill the butcher into one room, you cannot with certainty know the mix will be a disaster.

As a "responsible hobbyist", I intend to watch my aquarium as diligently as I watch my pond. If there are problems I will deal with them immediately.

Every forum has one or two ppl who present themselves as all knowing by providing their information in a negative condescending manner. Most ppl shy away and feel ashamed that they have done what the "expert" states. An easy test of a real expert is the person who shares information without needing to feel good by putting others down.

Some of what you said might be correct...but I will find out that information from others thanks.

 

[cdawson]

I didn't mean to come on as being nasty, I meant as trying to get to the point. Things may be going ok now, regardless of that fact. that tank is way too small for all those fish. Eventually without drastic water changes the nitrates will get too high for those fish. Albeit they are all quite hardy species. I apologize for coming off nasty but I'm finding recently alot of "newbies" will NOT take any of our advice and continue to do as they please because they think it looks nice. Alot of people new to the hobby refuse to take initiative and research such as they would a new vehicle. Fish may not be as expensive, but they are living creatures and not machines. I'm sure that you'll do your best.

 

[Allivymar]

I think what cdawson is trying to get across is there are fish with different needs in your tank, and you need to be aware of potential issues.

For example, yes, all the fish you've mentioned can tolerate similar temps. But they all have different Ph needs (barbs - 5.0 to 6.0, gouramis 6.0 to 7.0, finned shark - 6.0 to 8.0 and koi 7.0 - 7.5. Plus, unless your dH is around 12, then its not meeting the needs of all your fish). Also, as I'm sure you are aware, koi and the others in the goldfish family are MESSY and the waste levels they can produce may throw your water parameters off quickly. www.fishbase.com is a great place to do some research on the needs of different breeds of fish if you wish to look into more info on the ones you have (or ones you may be considering!).

Personally I think having a "peacemaker" in the tank is a neat idea; just be alert to the potential problems you may have with that particular mix of fish.

 

[fishweed]

An unknown fact to new fish keepers is that you can give unwanted fish back to the fishshop (LFS). It is better to give them back than watch the red sharks eat their friends over time - plus they are more likely to eat each other at night when the lights are off.

 

[d9hp]

An unknown fact to new fish keepers is that you can give unwanted fish back to the fishshop

Ditto